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Forest Service not shuttering campgrounds
January 7, 2014
Yesterday, a warning was posted on a local Facebook page reporting that the U.S Forest Service had plans underway to close all but two Boundary County campgrounds as a way to better their budget. The USFS budget is shrinking and campers might see changes, but the rumor of closures is not true.

"Ok friends we need to rally together ...  Just heard some bad news," the author posted. "The USFS is closing and returning to their ordinal state all campgrounds in Boundary County other than the Snyder Ranger Station and Deer Creek Look Out. They are closing Robinson, Brush, Smith, Perkins, Copper Falls and Roman Nose ... All of them. The head of the USFS apparently doesn't care about recreation in Boundary County and wants to cut the budget. They are choosing instead to use the funds for Pend Oreille Lake and Priest Lake. To confirm the information and make complaints, contact Pat Hart of the USFS. We need to band together to be heard!"

The post was emailed verbatim, to Jason Kirchner, public affairs officer for the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, and this was his reply, verbatim:
 
"Thanks for letting me know about the rumor," he wrote. "I’ll start off by saying that the Facebook posting is absolutely false. We are not closing any campgrounds due to funding shortages.

"Like most tall tales, this one appears to have started from a kernel of truth and then exploded into a mountain of incorrect information. While it is true that our recreation budgets are shrinking, there has been no discussion whatsoever suggesting that we close everything except for the Snyder Ranger Station and the Deer Creek Lookout.

"I’ve discussed this with our Recreation Staff Officer for the north zone of our forest and his best guess regarding the provenance of this rumor is that we are seeking grants to help bolster our funding for maintaining our campgrounds in the coming season.

"We hope to get the grants, but even if we don’t there is no way that we would close our recreation facilities county-wide.

"I don’t want to understate our budget situation because it definitely is shrinking, but it is not the dire situation described in that Facebook posting. Without additional funding we may not have as many seasonal staff and we may not get around to as much maintenance as we have in the past, but closing campgrounds is not something we have even considered.

"Also, I might point out the bit of misunderstanding evident in the Facebook post regarding where our budgets come from. It is not the Forest Service that sets its own budget for recreation, nor is it our own agency cutting recreation funding. Funding levels are directed by Congress."

Jason can be reached at (208) 765-7211 or by email at jdkirchner@fs.fed.us.
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