BLM, others to waive fees Saturday on public lands

Any given Saturday may be a good day to go to the lake, but the one coming up this weekend will be the cheapest.

The visitor fees for Yuma-area recreational sites administered by the Bureau of Land Management will be waived this Saturday as part of the nationwide observance of National Public Lands Day.

The $10 fee normally charged for each visitor vehicle for day use will be waived at Betty's Kitchen Watchable Wildlife and Interpretive Area, the Senator Wash boat ramp, North Shore and South Shore day-use, Squaw Lake Recreation Area, Oxbow Campground and Ehrenberg Sandbowl Off-Highway Vehicle Area.

The waiver does not apply to overnight visits to those areas, said Lori Cook, public affairs specialist for the BLM's Yuma Field Office. That means anyone planning to camp Saturday night at Squaw Lake would have to pay the $15 overnight fee.

The waiver will be in effect for day visits Saturday to all other public lands around Arizona that are overseen by agencies with the U.S. Department of Interior, she added. Day visitors will be get in for free to the Grand Canyon that day, for example.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar designated Saturday as fee-free day "to get people out to enjoy their public lands," Cook said.

There are "no excuses" for anglers, boaters and other recreationists not to take advantage of the waiver, she said.

Saturday's high is forecast at 102, but Cook said that should pose no problem for residents used to going out boating on area's waterways in the summer.

"Go out to Squaw Lake, go out to Senator Wash," Cook said. "They can have a picnic, they can go out on the water. And it's free."

For more information, call Cook at 317-3243.