By SUE RYAN
News staff writer
October 17, 2007

No U.S. Forest Service recreational sites in the Columbia River Gorge scenic area will be closed but many other proposed changes are in store for some of the 24 places in Oregon and Washington.

The recommendations came out as part of a proposed five-year plan of work by the agency in early October. The Forest Service is now seeking public feedback on the plan, which is available online at http://www.fs.fed. us/r6/columbia (click “proposed 5-year program of work” under “Recreation Facility Analysis”).

One of the most critical monetary factors is the cost of deferred maintenance that has accumulated during lean budget years for the Forest Service. The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area covers three national forest units in two states.

The proposed work plan is part of the Recreation Facility Analysis. This was designed to look at what needed to be done during the next five years to bring infrastructure up to standards with available resources.

That includes reducing the amount of deferred maintenance by 20 percent and focusing agency resources on sites that match the agency’s recreation program niche.

The process involves several steps: gathering inventory and financial data, and evaluating each developed recreation site against established national criteria and ranking the sites based on those criteria.

National criteria include conformance with the forest niche, financial efficiency and environmental and community sustainability.

Another part of the process is identifying the forest recreation niche, which is a statement defining where people go and what they want to do.

The change in how the public uses federal recreational sites largely drives the Forest Service’s decision to assess its aging facilities. Many of the facilities in the scenic area were built 20 to 70 years ago and have reached the end of their useful lives without significant repair and/or upgrades.

One of the most well-known and heavily used sites, Multnomah Falls, is also the site needing the most repairs.

The study cites that $350,000 is needed to repair the west end of the building, which is sagging several inches; replace glass roof panels above the Falls dining room; replace all exterior windows with energy-efficient versions (while meeting state historic preservation guidelines) and install an underground grease trap.

By comparison, the next-highest price tags are $59,885 for deferred maintenance at Eagle Creek Campground and $15,445 at the Eagle Creek Recreation Area.

Because the budget for the Forest Service isn’t expected to increase enough to offset the needs for deferred maintenance costs, the agency is looking at several other options in managing the recreation sites.

That includes increasing efficiencies and off-setting operation and maintenance costs through partnering with other agencies and groups, adjusting operating seasons to meet demand and increasing campground fees to reflect the current market and starting fees at three sites.

While Multnomah Falls gets the most use, it won’t be one of the three sites that might start charging fees. Forest Service spokesman Stan Hiatus said the team working on the plan did discuss the option but ruled it out for several reasons.

He said two reasons were the team decided to keep sites in the Historic Columbia River Highway corridor fee-free and because of the types of mixed use that it would be difficult to implement.

“Some people come just to snap a picture, others are there all day,” he said.

Hiatus said another factor is that both of the parking lots used at Multnomah Falls are owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation, which means the Forest Service couldn’t charge fees on their property. He said that would mean that some sort of system, such as turnstiles, would have to be set up at the lodge and would be difficult to establish.

The proposed fee increases/ establishing fees are for the following areas:

• Balfour-Klickitat

• Dog Mountain trailhead

• Eagle Creek — recreational site, campground and overlook.

• Herman Creek campground

• White Salmon River-BZ Corners

• White Salmon River-Husum

• Wyeth campground