Shaking Down the Public at Alaska State Parks

A couple of days ago, I decided to go fishing at Rocky Lake. I loaded up the float tube and had my wife drop me off at the local public access point, which happens to be a state park. I unloaded the float tube, told my wife I would call he for a ride home, and proceeded down to the lake.

A few yards into the park I was interrupted by a state park employee named Holly. She informed me I “still had to pay.” I informed her I had a constitutional right to access navigable water from the public domain and one does not pay to exercise ones rights. The discussion ensued.

Holly’s main point was the park belongs to the State of Alaska and she was charging the public for access to state property although she did mention that state and federal agencies are exempted from paying these fees.

My point was the park is public domain, it belongs to the people and while it is appropriate to charge for services rendered, citizens have a right enumerated by our state constitution to access the park. Since I was not utilizing any service, no fee could be charged.

In an attempt to give my point credibility , I informed Holly that the understanding of the issue I have, is from information I have reviewed while serving on the state Citizens Advisory Commission on Federal Area’s.

Holly while still disagreeing, took my name and phone number and said a park ranger will get back to me. She decided to allow me to continue to the lake. She ended our conversation with a sarcastic “have a nice day” knowing that she disturbed what would have otherwise been for me a pleasant time on the lake.

As I was out one the lake I began thinking about how she had turned away local kids away from the camp ground for not paying and how such a thing would have affected my childhood in Alaska.

I simply could not let the situation stand.

Returning home I proceed to research my position to ensure I did not overlook something . I did Not.

Article 8 of Alaska’s constitution has clearly established the citizen’s right to access public resources. Sections 2,3 ,6,14 and 15 all affirm this right. In fact section 14 explicitly states “Free access to the navigable or public waters of the State, as defined by the legislature, shall not be denied any citizen of the United States or resident of the State,” It does mention regulation for other purposes not applicable here since the the point of a park IS public access.

I looked at statute as well and found these applicable statutes:

AS 41.21.026 (12) (b) – “The department may not charge or collect a fee for an ordinary use of a park unit or the use of a rest room in a park unit.”

and a lawful concessionaire

AS 41.21.027 (6) – “recognizes and accommodates, at no cost, ordinary uses in a park unit…”

With this information in hand I trotted down to my State Representative, Mark Neuman’s office to register a complaint. Representative Neuman was attentive and effective. Within minutes had an answer to the specific question from the State Park supervisor she sent an email stating,

“In response to your request for information regarding fees charged at the Rocky Lake State Recreation Site, the following fees apply:

Daily use of designated parking areas with access to rest rooms – $5 per vehicle per day; Overnight camping – $15 per site per night There is no fee for use of the site that does not include any of the above.”

While it was nice to see the state park supervisor confirm what the constitution and statute enumerate, I still cannot help but think this same scenario of shaking down the public to access their public land plays out in camp grounds and parks across Alaska.

The right of the people to access resources in the public domain is as essential to our liberty as any other right. We must ensure our children and our state employees understand this right.

I hope you share with others this knowledge, that our lands belong to us and managers of that land are trustees, not exclusive owners of the resource.