The Price of Preservation : Crackdown Planned on Forest Users Who Don’t Display ‘Adventure Pass’

It has been two years since motorists were first asked to pay for something that was once free: day use of the massive national forests around Los Angeles.

U.S. Forest Service personnel, recognizing the controversy surrounding the $30-per-year Adventure Pass, have seldom imposed the $100 fine for those who fail to display it.

But that may change soon.

Terry Ellis, ranger for the Angeles National Forest Los Angeles River District, which stretches from the hills above Monrovia to Newhall, said Friday his staff will soon begin issuing citations, similar in concept to traffic tickets.

Ellis’ announcement came just a day before a national protest of the pass, which is planned locally for this morning.

The pass began two years ago as a way for individual forests to create local funds for improvements. Visitors must purchase a $5 day pass or a $30 annual pass, to be displayed in their vehicles when they use forest areas.

In Southern California, the pass is for Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres and San Bernardino national forests.

The program was supposed to expire this year, but Congress approved an extension of the fee through 2001.

Before, only campers and vendors were charged for the use of the forest.

Thus far, enforcement has taken the form of “noncompliance citations,” which Ellis said may be voided by purchasing an Adventure Pass.

Ellis maintained that he has heard few complaints in the first two years of the program.

“Over the life of the pass, I’ve seen only three people walk through my door with fire in their eyes,” he said.

The nearly $1.5 million generated over the past two years has funded restrooms, bear-proof trash containers, additional personnel for camp and picnic ground maintenance, and graffiti removal.

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The latter is a regular chore for Kevin Hunt, a forest worker whose salary is paid in part by the pass. On Friday, he was spray-painting over some tagging on a concrete bridge in the Stonyvale picnic area of Angeles National Forest’s Big Tujunga Canyon.

“Graffiti is the most destructive,” Hunt said. “It looks bad, it is hard to remove, and both the paint used to spray it and the chemicals sometimes used to remove it are pollutants.”

Hunt has the authority to cite those who violate forest rules, such as building illegal fire circles, but he is not armed.

He said he feels the Adventure Pass fee helps visitors “take ownership” of something they once took for granted.

“It has cut down on the number of people in there for reasons other than recreation,” he said.

Among the few visitors to Big Tujunga on Friday was Syeta Jones of Valley Village, who was having lunch with co-worker Alex Reyes of San Fernando at an overlook site marking the beginning of the Big Tujunga auto tour.

Having recently relocated from the Bay Area, Jones said she began exploring the forest areas around Sunland, where she works.

She did not have an Adventure Pass.

“How can I get a pass if [signs in the forest don’t] tell you where to get one?” she complained.

Ellis said passes can be purchased at ranger stations and, for access to Big Tujunga, at the 7-Eleven store and service stations in Tujunga.

A local demonstration against the pass is planned at 9:30 this morning at the Forest Service’s Clear Creek Information Station on Angeles Crest Highway. Other demonstrations will be held at the Ojai Ranger Station in Ventura County, and in the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County, organizers said.