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Recognizing the more extensive experience of the National Park 

 Service in dealing with concessioners, we defer to the Department 

 of the Interior in addressing sections 4 through 9 of the bill. 

 These sections describe modifications to the concession program. 

 Our specific concerns are as follows: 



Section 10 - Disposition of Fees 



Subsection (b) would make 75 percent of all collected fees 

 available to the area where the fees were collected. The 

 remainder of the fees would be made available for use of the 

 agency. Subsection (d) would exempt these funds from the purposes 

 of various acts that provide for the annual payment of 25 percent 

 of all money received by a national forest to the state in which 

 the the national forest is located for the benefit of public 

 schools and roads. We strongly support the Twenty- five Percent 

 Fund as a cornerstone of Forest Service and state and county 

 relationships and would object to any legislation that would 

 exempt any class of receipts from the fund. Therefore, we suggest 

 that the formula for distribution of funds be modified to direct 

 25 percent of fee income for payments to counties. Any further 

 diversion of fees and authorization of their use without further 

 appropriations action would present a PAYGO problem because of the 

 loss of current receipts to the Treasury without offsetting 

 revenues . 



