By JOHN GRIFFITH
Correspondent, The Oregonian
They are standing their ground against a recreational user fee that went into effect April 1 at eight Northwest national forests and recreational areas within those forests and across the country.
Maris, 21, and Smith, 36, both of Eugene, were cited for failure to pay a $3 fee to access the beach at the south jetty of the Siuslaw River in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.
They were driving a former county road from U.S. 101 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' property at the south jetty to go surfing. They said they did not stop along the way, coming or going, to use U.S. Forest Service improvements. The surfers say they thing the $3 fee is an illegal attempt to establish a toll road to a destination the Forest Service does not own or manage, and so they drove around the toll booth without paying.
"They have no jurisdiction out there," said Smith. "I just knew their toll road is wrong and I wasn't going to pay."
"I was under the impression that the booth was only charging for use of Forest Service sites."
In their corner the defendants have the Surfrider Foundation, an international organization with the goals of preserving beach access and clean water. The foundation sees this as a test case, according to the chairman of the Oregon chapter, Scott Sherwood of Eugene.
Surfrider is helping Maris and Smith the legal fees. Their trial is Nov. 6 at U.S. District Court in Eugene.
Paying $3 is a gamble for a surfer, because the road is the only access to see if the surf is any good. If it's not, the money is gone and the surfer is back in search of a better surf.
The new user fee program designates that 80 percent of collections stay at the national forest, recreation area, or national monument where collected. At the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, part of the Siuslaw National Forest, the daily fee in $3 and annual passes cost $25.
Eugene attorney Dan Stotter is arguing the case on behalf of Maris and Smith.
In his legal argument, Stotter says Congress never provided the Forest Service with the right to charge tolls for merely passing through its lands.
The new user fees were designed to charge people who used public lands for recreation.
Stotter argues that federal law bars the Forest Service from charging road toll. The law also prohibits agencies from charging for use of drinking water, wayside exhibits, overlook sites, visitors centers, scenic drives, toilets or picnic tables.
He anticipates the Forest Service will argue the new user fee law overrides the previous prohibition of users fees.
Maris says he has little experience with courts.
"I wouldn't be going to court on Nov. 6 if I didn't believe in what we're working toward," he said. "i'm not only trying to stand for surfers alone. I'm standing for all jetty users, the fishermen, birdwatchers, and the tourists who go to the jetty areas to look at the ocean and then drive back inland."