38 



Through this innovative program, one, new money is generated 

 for the construction and hopefully maintenance of the Continental 

 Divide Trail. Two, the consumer willingly makes that donation and 

 is recognized for doing so for the life of the pack by his and her 

 peers on the trail. 



Three, we increase the overall awareness of the trail, attracting 

 more attention, volunteers, and support. Four, participating retail- 

 ers receive increased traffic in their stores and positive public rela- 

 tions for participating in the CDT Program. 



And, five, Mountainsmith benefits by selling more packs, dif- 

 ferentiating ourselves from other pack companies, preserving fu- 

 ture access, and hopefully creating and protecting not only more 

 places to use our product outdoors, but creating more customers 

 who hike. There is no increased burden for anyone except those 

 who willingly carry and purchase that product. 



Our donations through this program will be complemented by 

 other corporate support and by a $50,000 challenge grant from the 

 National Forest Foundation. Unfortunately, the program that is 

 the subject of the hearing today does not allow the choices offered 

 in our program. It chooses for us that State-level programs are 

 best. It chooses a one-size-fits-all program that will not and cannot 

 meet the needs of the diverse group of users and companies af- 

 fected by the tax. And this is a tax, not a user's fee. 



As the data in Mr. Mcllwaine's presentation points out, there is 

 no firm user connection between the products proposed for taxation 

 and services provided. In the context of this tax, often those who 

 will pay are not the same as those who use the services of the 

 State fish and wildlife programs. 



We are also very concerned about the added cost this tax creates 

 for the consumer. We know that even a few dollars' difference af- 

 fects the consumer's choice in product. This excise tax will push 

 some consumers away from higher end and higher quality packs to 

 lower end and lower quality packs and would hurt our market- 

 ability to non-outdoor markets like emergency medical technicians, 

 videographers, and other professionals who use our packs to carry 

 their equipment. 



Some of our packs are already expensive, and so the increased 

 cost, including the increased cost for administering the tax, and in- 

 cluding the subsequent normal markups of the manufacturer's 

 price at the wholesale or retail level, as you pointed out earlier, 

 would be or could be significant. 



These professionals have other untaxed options. Experience 

 shows us that many would choose a cheaper, inferior product be- 

 cause of an even greater price discrepancy, putting our products at 

 a further price disadvantage. We lose the sale, the user loses the 

 advantages of our product, and no tax is collected at all. 



We encourage you, Mr. Chairman, to champion voluntary pro- 

 grams allowing companies, consumers, and recreationists choices in 

 the resource programs they support. We urge you to look toward 

 the models of the park, forest, and fish and wildlife foundations, 

 and at successful State programs like those in Missouri and Colo- 

 rado, where I am from, for possible solutions. 



We look forward to working with you and all who are concerned 

 about how we continue to generate funding for something that all 



