NEWS RELEASES
Several Campgrounds and Recreation Sites at Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests Get Increased Fee
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through Asheville's Citizen-Times' website.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Starting Jan. 1, the U.S. Forest Service will increase fees at 24 recreation sites in Pisgah and Nantahala national forests. But on a positive note, visitors should see more amenities for their money. Campgrounds include Cheoah Point, Horse Cove and Tsali, and popular day use areas such as Whitewater Falls and Jackrabbit Beach. For sites that are seasonally closed, fee increases will take effect on opening day.
According to Logan Free, developed recreation program manager with the Forest Service, in a statement in The Citizen-Times: "We went through a public participation period in August and September 2017, letting public know what we were planning and getting feedback. We received lots of responses, lots supporting the fee change and some that were a little more critical about the idea." In some cases, new fees will be implemented, such as a new $3 per vehicle fee to park at Dry Falls in the Nantahala National Forest near Highlands, and in some cases, fees will be raised by 100 percent, such as in Mortimer Campground in Pisgah National Forest, where fees change from $10 to $20 per night. An example of where fees are used to improve recreation areas are in the Brown Mountain OHV Trail System, 34 miles of trails for use by mountain bikes and ATVs in the Grandfather Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest. The trails have suffered serious erosion, but recently received significant improvements with $20,000 reinvested from user fees to control erosion, improved the trails and make them more sustainable and enjoyable, Free said.
For more information on the reasons for the fee increases, visit the full article.