New Strawberry Fees

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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]There are several entities involved with Strawberry Reservoir and they date back to 1902. Settlers need water to irrigate their crops in Utah county. They cam up with the idea to dam the water in the Strawberry Valley and build a tunnel to carry it to Utah Valley. They couldn’t afford it, but the Federal Government could. So the Bureau of Reclamation came up with the plan and money and commenced building it. The Strawberry Water Users Association (SWUA) came into being and bought the project back from the Feds and the last payment was made in 1974.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]All of the surrounding land belongs to the US Forest Service (USFS) and they own all of the recreation facilities adjacent to the reservoir. However, Congress, in all its wisdom (???) decided it would be less costly to hire concessionaires to run a good portion of US holdings. Enter companies like American Land & Leisure and Utah Recreation Company (URC).[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]The USFS put out a Prospectus for Concession Special Use Permit to Operate Recreation Facilities on the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache (U-W-C) National Forest. The latest Prospectus was in April of 2018 and URC applied for and won the latest contract. So, now, URC manages all the recreation facilities within the U-W-C National Forest which includes Pineview & Strawberry/Soldier Creek. If you interested, here is a link to the Propectus: [url "https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd576454.pdf"]LINK[/url]. It’s 49 pages of US Government double speak but does tell you what URC is SUPPOSED to do and accomplish.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]An added thing this year at Pineview and why the launch fee went to $18 per water vessel. Weber County gets $3 per each water vessel at ALL boat ramps; not just the one on Cemetery Point. You may want to read how much it costs for law enforcement curtesy of the Sheriff’s Department – it ain’t cheap.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]There wasn’t much in the Prospectus about fees other than to reference an appendix which wasn’t included with the Prospectus. Didn’t want to research further to find it or the actual contract. I guess if I were going to camp and pay a camp fee and then have to pay a launch fee (which in years past under AL&L was included), then I guess I would most definitely be asking to see it in writing or tell them to go pee up a rope.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]So there you have it. The SWUA owns the water with the primary purpose to use it for irrigation. The USFS owns the adjacent land and has contracted with URC to manage all the recreational facilities. And URC is given a whole lot of waivers on recognizing and honoring Federal Passes such as free launches. They do give a 50% discount on the basic camping fees with a pass, but not on electric, water, or sewer hookups.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]We are taking it in the shorts big time under the concessionaire policy and have ever since they started it 10 to 15 years ago. We can bitch and moan all we want, but don’t expect a sympathetic ear from ANY Federal source. Be sure to fill your wallets/purses before going to ANY U-W-C facilities.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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