Number: 1987-09
WHEREAS, the growing national deficit has reduced the level of federal funds for the proper management and maintenance of the fish and wildlife resources on our nation’s public lands; and
WHEREAS, recreational user fees may be a means by which funding levels for critical needs of public lands resource protection and opportunity perpetuation can be stabilized and enhanced; and
WHEREAS, recreational user fees, if dedicated to the lands on which they are collected, may be an effective means to offset impacts to the fish and wildlife resources of these lands; and
WHEREAS, such user fees can be charged for a number of recreational activities on federal lands, including, but not limited to, camping, hiking, hunting, trapping, and fishing; and
WHEREAS, such user fees already have been initiated in at least one state and, therefore, would not be precedent-setting;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 19-22, 1987, in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, participate in any assessment of the cost-effectiveness, practicality, and feasibility of establishing a national public lands recreational user fee; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that any such fees should not supplant or in any way replace the need for annual appropriations for federal agencies charged with fish and wildlife resource management on public lands.