Forest Pass
The following document is designed to be posted in your vehicle, in lieu of any
parking pass that is part of the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program, during a
visit to a National Forest to notify a Forest Service employee that you are not
recreating during your visit. If you would like to obtain a professionally printed
Notice of Exemption for FREE, contact us via e-mail , regular mail, or phone.
Notice of Exemption:
How it works and what it means to you:
The Notice of Exemption is not an official Forest Service document. It is a notice to the
forest officer of the non-recreational purpose of your visit to the National Forest, which
happens to be exempt from the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program.
Congress has set limits on how the Forest Service and other agencies can set up and
enforce their test fee sites; specifically it only gives the Forest Service the authority to
charge access fees specifically for the purpose of recreation. [Program allows for charge
simply for admission to the area.]
Parking Passes under the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program rely upon the
presumption that cars parked in a National Forest are there for recreational purposes.
What the Notice of Exemption does is to advise the Forest Officer that you are there for a
non-recreational purpose, thereby refuting the presumption and providing evidence that
your presence is not for recreational purposes, and thus is exempt from the fee
demonstration program.
Even with the Notice of Exemption, your car could receive a notice of non-compliance or
a citation by the Forest Officer. You will likely have a strong legal defense to the citation,
and your asserting your rights is evidence to Congress that the demonstration program is
a failure.
Keep in mind that the Constitution gives you the right to exercise your First Amendment
freedoms (to free speech, including protest, and for your exercise of bona fide religious
beliefs and practices) without obtaining a burdensome government permit. You also have
the right to eat, carry supplies, use whatever means of transportation available to you
(mountain bike, horse, etc.), sleep, or bathe while engaged in your non-recreational
activity or the legitimate exercise of your First Amendment rights. For instance, you may
be there for a religious or spiritual reason, for protest or any other non-recreational
reason. If while on your non-recreational visit you become overheated and need to cool
your body in a stream, the simple act of being in the stream does not constitute recreation
unless that is the reason you are in the National Forest. These same examples apply
equally to all exempt forest visits. Remember it is not what you are doing but why you
are there that determines whether or not you are recreating.
For more information on Fee Demo tickets and citations click here or for information about how to deal with encounters with the agencies regarding a ticket click here.
If you are cited on any public land while displaying the Notice of Exemption
(demonstrating your non-recreational purpose for visiting the Forest to the Forest
Officer), please contact the Arizona NoFee Coalition for assistance.
To print out your very own Notice of Exemption click here for the front page and here for the back page.
Please Note: The front page is necessary while the back page is
simply more good information to have on hand. If you have a color copier, simply print
and cut along the dotted line. If you do not have a color copier, we advise you use yellow
paper, however it is not necessary. \
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