H-4011.1 _______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2626
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State of Washington 57th Legislature 2002 Regular Session
By House Committee on Natural Resources (originally sponsored by Representatives McIntire, Doumit, McDermott, Simpson, Linville, Benson, Kagi, Jarrett, Nixon, Edwards, Ogden and Rockefeller)
Read first time 02/06/2002. Referred to Committee on .
AN ACT Relating to the creation of a state evergreen recreation pass program; and creating new sections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the state parks and recreation commission, the department of natural resources, and the fish and wildlife commission have difficulty maintaining recreation sites they own because of insufficient funds. These recreation sites are enjoyed not only for family outings, but also by a wide variety of groups including youth organizations, hunters, fishers, horsemen, hikers, bikers, people who view wildlife, and other outdoor recreation groups. The legislature finds that the lack of funds to maintain and repair these recreation sites may result in the closure of some of these sites to the public at a time when the demand for outdoor recreation areas continues to increase.
The legislature recognizes that many state residents enjoy visiting state-owned recreation sites throughout different parts of the state, and that people will frequent lands owned by more than one state agency. The legislature is aware that although the parks and recreation commission and the department of natural resources currently do not charge a day-use fee at their recreation sites, there is a possibility that these fees may be imposed at some future date. The legislature finds that any day-use permits or passes should be coordinated between these agencies and the current vehicle use permit required by the department of fish and wildlife so that people have the opportunity to buy a single day-use recreation pass that will be accepted at recreation sites owned by all three of these state agencies. The legislature also finds that the creation of a single renewable annual recreation pass may result in many more people visiting a number of recreation sites within the state because of better maintained facilities and increased awareness of recreation opportunities. It is therefore the intent of the legislature to create an evergreen recreation pass that will be available to serve as a renewable annual recreation pass for state-owned recreation sites in lieu of day-use fees, that this recreation pass will be widely available, and that purchase of this pass is optional for members of the general public.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The department of fish and wildlife, the department of natural resources, the state parks and recreation commission, and the interagency committee for outdoor recreation, in coordination with affected stakeholder groups, must develop a legislative proposal for the implementation of an evergreen recreation pass. The task force must evaluate:
(1) The feasibility of combining various existing permits and licenses into an evergreen recreation pass;
(2) Methods of marketing an evergreen recreation pass, including sponsorship opportunities;
(3) The types of activities that could be included within an evergreen recreation pass;
(4) Potential methods of distributing revenue generated by an evergreen recreation pass;
(5) The dedication of proceeds from an evergreen recreation pass to maintenance and repair of recreation sites;
(6) The impact an evergreen recreation pass would have on use and access to recreation sites;
(7) The need for immunity from recreational liability for involved public entities;
(8) Methods of enforcing an evergreen recreation pass;
(9) Potential revenue that could be generated by an evergreen recreation pass, and the cost of statewide implementation; and
(10) Other issues related to the development and implementation of an evergreen recreation pass. The task force recommendations must be submitted to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2002.
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