Refreshing fee plan: Don't charge any

We were surprised, and pleasantly so, to read a story about new fees for using public land in which no fees, in fact, will be charged.

This is not how most such stories turn out.

This particular story involves the reach of the John Day River between Spray and Tumwater Falls.

Last November the Bureau of Land Management announced that it might charge people $5 to boat that reach of the river.

Earlier this month, BLM officials said they will not assess a river-use fee, at least for now.

That's nice, but it's not our favorite part of this tale.

Some people who protested BLM's proposal to assess fees didn't merely rail about the unfairness of making taxpayers ante up to use public land which, presumably, they've already paid for.

Rather, the fee foes also suggested ways the BLM could do some of the work that the fee revenue was supposed to pay for.

For instance, a teacher volunteered to bring his students to the John Day to gather trash from the river's banks. A Boy Scout Troop offered to do the same.

Whether the BLM can continue to adequately protect the John Day — Congress designated it a wild and scenic river — without imposing a use fee no one can yet say.

If the river becomes a trash heap crowded with cretins, then BLM might need to charge fees so it can hire people to patrol the John Day.

We applaud the agency, though, for giving the public a chance to police itself.

This is a refreshing attitude from the federal government, which so often decides a new fee is the best, if not the only, solution.