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Opinions on proposed Shawnee National Forest fees mixed

HARRISBURG - It's not been quite a week since the Shawnee National Forest announced it is seeking comments about whether a fee should be imposed on six popular areas in the forest, but people have opinions on both sides of the proposal.

In a nutshell, the proposal would be to implement a $5 per car day-use fee for six areas in the Shawnee National Forest. Those areas are Garden of the Gods Recreation Area Observation Trail, Pounds Hollow Recreation Area swimming beach, Bell Smith Springs interpretive site, Little Grand Canyon trailhead, Johnson Creek Recreation Area boat launch and the Pomona boat launch on Cedar Lake. Part of the proposal includes a $30 annual pass that would give the pass holder unlimited access to those six sites.

The proposal also includes raising the price of camping at Pounds Hollow's Pine Ridge campground sites with electrical service from $10 to $15.

Shawnee National Forest recreation manager Laura Lecher said the proposal seeks a way to help fund overdue maintenance at those sites, as well as provide improvements. She said according to use studies, since the Aug. 21, 2017 total solar eclipse, more people continue to visit the forest than recent years previous. Combined with U.S. Forest Service budget cuts and projected declining budgets into the future, the additional use is putting strain on the sites most people are likely to use. Lecher said if such a fee structure is put into place, 95 percent of the money generated from those sites would be earmarked specifically for use only at those sites collectively. That means money generated from one of those six sites could be used at any of the six areas, but not anywhere else in the forest.

While it's early in the process, people who use the Shawnee National Forest have mixed, strong opinions. The Harrisburg Register/Eldorado Journal encouraged people to weigh in with their opinions regarding the matter Monday on the newpaper's Facebook page.

Nicole Stewart of Harrisburg said she's not in favor of the proposal.

"Nope. Our tax dollars go to taking care of these places and now they want to charge us more? It's disappointing," Stewart said. "I understand charging for larger national parks, but to charge for areas that only have outhouses to use the restroom? No thank you."

Likewise, Jeanie Vinyard of Harrisburg is opposed to the proposal.

"No, because our tax dollars are supposed to be supporting that already. Attendance will drop drastically if they implement these fees, especially for local citizens," Vinyard said.

Those not in favor include people from out of the immediate southern Illinois area.

"The national parks and forests were started 100 years ago to be free for all," Ted Miller of Evansville, Indiana, said.

But, many people also said they see the benefit of charging to use those sites.

Nicole York of Junction said paying to use the areas might make people think twice about littering.

"Yes, if it is $5 per car. Maybe if people have to pay a few bucks to get in they will respect the area more," York said. "It makes me sad to see so much litter. Hopefully this money will help improve the area and better protect for future generations."

Sharon Hess of Raleigh echoed those sentiments.

"Yes. It would pay for workers to keep park clean and mowed and create jobs. Not more than $5," Hess said.

Road maintenance is an issue for some of those sites, and if the money was used to fix them, John Capps of Harrisburg is in agreement.

"The $5 fees can help to pay to get roadways rebuilt. Some of the roads are in really rough shape," Capps said. "When the Eagle Mountain main road is in better shape than that one road to Bell Smith, that's insane."

The comment period runs through Dec. 6 of this year, and those who wish to comment are asked to mail or hand deliver them to Shawnee National Forest Supervisor's Office, 50 Highway 145 S, Harrisburg, IL 62946. Additionally, comments may be emailed to mailroom_r9_shawnee@fs.fed.us and must include the subject line "Recreation Fee Proposal." Also, an online comment page at https://www.fs.usda.gov/shawnee allows for comments regarding the proposal to be submitted.

The Shawnee National Forest headquarters building in Harrisburg. TRAVIS DENEAL PHOTO