UNF to rank campgrounds and parks for closures

Remote campgrounds in the Umpqua National Forest could be put on a list of recreational areas to be closed because the agency can no longer afford to maintain them.

According to current budget projections, the forest may need to shed $200,000 from its recreation budget over the next two years in a worst-case scenario, said John Sloan, who heads the UNF roads and recreation programs.

The U.S. Forest Service has directed each national forest to rank parks and campgrounds by 2007 according to costs, popularity and how closely they match what each forest designates as its "niche" audience. The UNF expects to have a list out by fall.

The UNF has identified Diamond Lake and Highway 138, designated as a National Scenic Byway, as its priorities.

The forest will consider cost-saving options such as shorter seasons, as well as closing more primitive sites near Tiller and Cottage Grove. Nothing has been decided yet, and closures would take place over the course of several years with plenty of notice, Sloan said.

"It's about trying to have scarce budgets used to serve the most people in the most cost-effective way. On the down side, there's some places that people may have gone to for years and years that may be less available," he said.

Forest Service officials say the crunch is partly a result of President Bush's Healthy Forest Initiative, designed to prioritize money for reducing fire hazards around rural communities.

In an ironic twist, the UNF has seen hardly any of those funds -- only about 3 percent of the 2005 budget is reserved for fuels reduction. Most of the money goes to Eastern Oregon and Washington forests, Sloan said.

The UNF budget for recreation has been steadily dropping the past several years. In 2005, Congress allocated $840,000 to the forest -- 20 percent less than what was allocated in 2004 and 30 percent less 2001's budget. That doesn't include the rising costs of salaries and expenses with inflation.

Money from park fees, county timber payments and other sources helps pay for some recreation, but the drop still hits the forest hard. The UNF has a backlog of $1.8 million in deferred maintenance for recreation, according to Jamie Stone, recreation and wilderness program manager for the forest.

In the president's 2006 budget proposal, funding for forest recreation would sink by 14 percent throughout the Northwest since 2004, The Oregonian reported. Trail maintenance would drop 24 percent.

The public may also notice "for sale" signs next year on some Forest Service buildings and property in another effort to save money. Sen. Gordon Smith and U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio are among those pushing for legislation to allow the Forest Service to sell buildings and keep the money for maintenance instead of directing it to the national treasury, Sloan said.

The UNF is looking to cut costs by selling some buildings, such as the Forest Service warehouse on Diamond Lake Boulevard and housing in Glide that is currently rented to agency employees.

Lori Depew, recreation manager for the Tiller Ranger District, said it's unfortunate the forest has to decide between sites that attract tourists and sites typically used by locals, such as the more primitive campgrounds and parks near Tiller.

"If we focus our money on the Scenic Highway and Diamond Lake, the residents will suffer," she said.

She said the Tiller district doesn't have trouble keeping up with park maintenance because primitive campgrounds aren't costly to maintain.

"I think they're cheap to operate and we shouldn't get rid of them," she said, acknowledging nothing has yet been decided.

Dick Arney of Roseburg, who retired from the UNF recreation staff in 1994, hopes groups would adopt those sites the forest closes so they can continue to be maintained. He sympathizes with the agency's difficult situation.

"I don't like it, but I believe they have to do it. As I understand it, their budgets are a disaster right now and they have a choice of doing either a halfway job of trying to maintain things or closing some of them."



* You can reach reporter Diane Huber at 957-4218 or by e-mail at dhuber@newsreview.info.