Utah Requiring Licenses To Run On Trails

[Jacob Petersheim]

State Requires Hunting or Fishing License To Run On Trails

There might be some justification... but it sounds wrong on the face of it.

Here the issue seems to be the cost of land management that hunting and fishing licenses are paying for.

Any thoughts? Is this likely to spread? Could we end up with yet another paid license class required of hikers, runners, cyclists?

I don't know. I don't expect to see teeming hordes from the cities out hiking tomorrow.

 

[Yvonne Smith]

I looked this up on X, and it seems a lot of people are upset about it, and hoping that other states do not also start requiring a license like Utah has done.
If people are leaving trash and it requires more people to look after the parks, I can see why they might charge for people to use the area, and then offer a seasonal pass; but the whole idea of having to have a license to walk somewhere on a public property seems really wrong to me.
Truthfully, I do not thing that people should have to have a license to fish or hunt either, and even driving a vehicle might not be necessary, and there is no reason to license pets unless a person wants to do that for safety reasons.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

I think most states with hunting and fishing license requirements use the revenue for conservation, management, and development related to those activities, for example stocking waterways with fish, fish ladder construction and maintenance to bypass dams, etc. Often imperfect, but there is rarely a major outrage over funding abuses.

I have seen some trails opened to mountain biking that have ended up deeply rutted and eroded though from high traffic with aggressive tires. And hikers now take their lives in their hands as the cyclists come along bombing over the top of a hill and down into their path. Commercial lobbyist money at its worst.

 

[Don Alaska]

Hiking trails should not be shared with mountain bikers. We have fees for parking and camping in our parks, but it would not be practical to charge hikers if they walk into the parks. We have hunting and fishing licenses for residents between 16 and 65. Folks under 16, whether resident or non-resident, don't require licenses. Residents over 65 can receive permanent fishing, hunting and trapping licenses for free. Some parks require a fee if you launch boats, but not all do. I don't know about fees for bikers. Winter access is usually free for everyone, although nothing is usually maintained then unless it is adjacent to a highway.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

I think if they are going to make people walking (hikers) and bicyclists pay entrance fees to get into some federal fee areas, that everybody is fair game. But just like not everyone who makes money in this country pays their fair share of taxes, there will probably be loopholes in this law too.

Here's a thought I had about this awhile back. Californians are always complaining about the price of gas. And most of that is about the nation's highest gas tax. Because California has 2,500 miles of highways, and they don't fix themselves, this is how almost every states pays for roads. But that does not cover California's highway maintenance expenses, even with money from the Federal Highway Trust Fund, specially now that many cars are electric.

So the state is exploring a "Road Charge Tax", which would in effect turn all state and federally funded highways into toll roads. Essentially, they would charge you for each mile you drive on state highways. Not like it costs to cross the Golden Gate Bridge, which is less than 2 miles. More a flat fee per mile.

Don't ask me how they would do that, but if they ever figure it out, the same idea could be done for hiking, biking and running trails. A flat fee per mile.

 

[Jacob Petersheim]

I suppose if usage volumes have substantially increased then there may be new impacts that have costs that must be offset. Trash could tend to become a problem, along with wear on trails with people breaking out side trails around wet spots. While not mentioned, these places may also have small parking areas at the outskirts that now get overfilled displacing the hunters and fishermen. Along comes spillover to roadside parking and a road hazard on high-limit narrow roadways.

Not to mention potential crime rates and demands for patrols. Pretty soon people want lighting and who knows... things like restroom facilities? "Accessibility" requirements?

Perhaps some of those details exist but haven't been reported.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

They have been reported. The problem with a lot of the major National Parks is people are "Loving them to Death", so the National Park Service is starting to limit access. Some parks, such as Arches, Glacier, Rocky Mountains and Yosemite, are requiring Reservations, especially during peak season. And that says nothing about entrance fees, camping fees, fishing licenses, etc.

 

[Don Alaska]

We also have national parks, like Gates to the Arctic where nobody ever goes.

 

[Axel Slingerland]

If I were to ever make it to Alaska, all of the national parks anywhere near the Anchorage to Denali train route would be high on my list. Gates of the Arctic would be great, but if I ever take the trip I had planned for Cindy for our 25th Anniversary was a Princess Cruise from Seattle to Anchorage then the Alaska Railroad to Denali. Gates of the Arctic is way north of that area. Two nights at the Denali Park Village, the train and the cruise, secure parking in Seattle, and gas and hotels to and from Seattle was going to add up to about $5,000 or so total, the cruise, the train and the hotels and restaurants were going to about $4,000, but we would still need to go to and from Seattle. Depending where we stayed (and for how long) and where we ate along the way could add up to another $1,000.

But of course that trip was cancelled due to Covid. When I went in to the hospital, I lived in Eureka. When I got out, after two months in the War Zone (my Daughter's house) I found our apartment in Edison. A small 'Burb of Bakersfield that I had never been to. It's about the same size as Eureka, but not nearly as nice. There are no beaches here. In fact, there is just about nothing here. No grocery stores except little convenience stores, no theaters, no swimmin' hole. Nada... Major culture shock...