have been very willing to pay that on the provision that those funds are staying at LBL and improving the hunting experience that they will have in the future. So after saying that, I would be willing to answer any questions you might have, Mr. Chairman. [The prepared statement of Mr. Bond follows:] Statement of Bill J. Bond, Manager Office of Natural Resources and Economic Development Subcommittee on Public Lands, Reserved Water and Resource Conservation June 27, 1985 I am pleased to appear before you today on behalf of the Tennessee Valley this area. Since its inception, TVA has encouraged the development of high quality outdoor recreation opportunities in the Tennessee Valley. As a part of this effort, TVA has built and operates a variety of public recreational facilities around the reservoir system. TVA currently manages 139 reservoir recreation areas, including 34 campgrounds, 60 boat ramps, 32 day-use areas, and 13 informal areas, across the Valley. TVA is also responsible for Land Between The Lakes (LBL), a 170,000-acre outdoor recreation and demonstration facility with over 300 miles of undisturbed shoreline that is located in western Kentucky and Tennessee. At LBL the traditional recreation opportunities, such as picnicking, camping, hiking, hunting, and fishing, are enhanced by TVA sponsored educational programs and facilities. LBL's informal educational -2 LBL also activities include a living history farm, planetarium, nature center, and contemporary small farm. Each is designed to help LBL's two million visitors better understand natural and cultural history and how their activities can impact water, wildlife, and entire ecosystems. sponsors formal leadership training, environmental education, and recreation programs at its resident camps and also provides teacher training and program development for instructors of handicapped children and adults, gifted children, and others. LBL offered more than 6,200 programs to over 250,000 participants from all 50 States in fiscal year 1984. TVA began collecting recreation use fees in 1965. User fees are established under authority of the TVA Act of 1933 and are consistent with the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, as amended. TVA is among seven Federal land managing agencies that participate in the Federal Recreation Fee Program and Interagency Fee Task Force. This task force is responsible for ensuring that recreation use fees are comparable with those established by other public agencies and private sector operations providing similar services and facilities within the region. For example, TVA reviews public and private sector camping fees in the Tennessee Valley each year to determine comparability, and TVA fees are adjusted accordingly. Currently, recreational use fees are collected at 34 campgrounds on TVA reservoirs and at 6 fee campgrounds and group camps in LBL. Annual use permits are also sold for hunting in LBL. In 1984, TVA collected $831,000 in fee revenues from the following sources. In 1984, fee and nonfee reservoir recreation facility operation and maintenance costs were approximately $2.8 million, while fees totaled $171,000 (6 percent). At LBL, fee and nonfee operation and maintenance costs in 1984 were $7,606,000, and fee revenue totaled $661,000 (8.7 percent). Even though TVA recreation fee collection is significant, it could be increased by charging fees for use of basic access facilities, visitor centers, and day-use areas. These nonfee facilities are where major visitor use now occurs, and we believe the public finds them sufficiently attractive to accept a fee for their use. We are pleased that the Administration recommends expanding the discretionary authority of Federal agencies managing outdoor recreation facilities to charge admission and user fees to help defray the cost of providing Federal recreation benefits. We support this principle and think that the availability of high-quality outdoor recreation areas could be enhanced if reasonable plans for users to pay a fair share of the costs could be developed. TVA supports increasing the discretionary authority of Federal agencies to establish admission or user fees at outdoor recreational facilities. -4 However, the extent to which the cost of outdoor recreation programs may be defrayed through fees may vary from agency to agency and, perhaps, For among various recreation facilities managed by the same agency. example, LBL's three family campgrounds charge $6, plus $1 for electricity, per site. Fees collected at these campgrounds currently cover approximately 61 percent of their operation and maintenance costs. In 1985 TVA established a hunter use fee at LBL of $10 for adults and $5 for juniors and seniors. We are anticipating revenues sufficient to cover 30 percent of our wildlife management activities and programs, wildlife habitat development, and hunter services activities. group camp fees currently cover 46 percent of costs. In addition, LBL There are some types of TVA facilities, such as boat ramps, trails, and picnic areas, where fees would probably generate revenues covering only a small fraction of their operation and maintenance costs. Among such facilities, it is unlikely that 25 percent of their operation and maintenance costs could be collected through fees. In fact, it would probably not be feasible to establish use fees at some of these areas due to prohibitive collection costs. We also believe that establishment of entrance fees at TVA recreation areas would not be practical. For example, at LBL we do not have control of all entrance roads, nor can we monitor or control lake access. Further, the cost of collection would in all likelihood exceed |