All,
As many of you know, I'm on the Resource Advisory Council (RAC) for the
Pecos District of the Bureau of Land Management. Earlier this week, the RAC
met and heard a presentation from Chris Brown <cjbr...@blm.gov>, of a business
plan for instituting fees for the Rob Jaggers Camping Area.
So, first of all, what is the Rob Jaggers Camping Area (RJCA)? It is
what was formerly known as the Equestrian Trail Head Camping Area on Hwy 220.
It is NOT the Cave Canyon camping area. Rob Jaggers was a BLM state office
employee who recently passed away after a lengthy illness.
What is BLM proposing? They are proposing to charge fees for amenities
at the RJCA, not access fees. Here is the fee schedule:
Electrical Hookup ($5/day)
Water Hookup ($5/day)
Electrical and Water ($9/day)
Dump Station ($12/use)
Reserving Group Shelter ($25/day)
As I said, this is not an access fee. There is no charge for parking
there and hiking, riding a mountain bike or a horse, etc. For those of you
familiar with RV areas, the fees would seem to be very minimal. (Though the
dump station fee does seem a little high.) They want to start charging these
fees on Sept. 15, 2013. All the monies collected will stay there at the RJCA
to pay the bills for electricity, water, dump station pumping, etc.
After Chris's presentation, I asked, "This proposal is for the Rob
Jaggers Camp Area. Are there any plans for instituting fees at the Cave
Camping Area?"
Chris replied, "Do you think we should upgrade that area and have a
similar program there?" (or words to that effect). Of course, I said no.
Later on, George Veni and I had a lengthy discussion with Chris regarding
upgrading the campground at the cave and the advisability of encouraging people
to camp there. Chris is relatively new to the BLM and the area, and was
unfamiliar with the history of fees in connection with cavers. To sum up, I
told Chris that if it were up to the cavers, they would likely prefer that the
existing improvements at the cave campground be removed.
I am going to send an e-mail to Chris sometime in the next week talking
about the RJCA fee proposal (which I think is fine), and the potential issue of
upgrading the cave campground (which I am against). If you have any thoughts
on these issues that you would like me to relate, I'd be happy to do so. Or if
you would like to write Chris directly, you are welcome to do so. If you want
a copy of the Business Plan that Chris presented, I imagine he can send you a
digital copy. He has a deadline of March 7, 2013 for comments.
The RJCA is only of peripheral interest to most cavers, but I wanted
you to be aware of it, so that if you hear that the BLM is going to charge fees
at a campground at the Fort Stanton-Snowy River NCA, you'll know that it is not
the cave campground.
Steve Peerman
Project Director, Fort Stanton Cave Study Project
fscsp.direc...@gmail.com
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