USE FEE CHANGE AT WAPPAPELLO LAKE

WAPPAPELLO -- Some changes have been made in the 1998 use fee program in the Lake Wappapello area, but rates for boat-launching and swimming areas remained unchanged.

However, the use fees do not affect the Lake Wappapello State Park boat ramp and beach.

The fees are charged by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The corps' fees were established in 1993 and are part of President Bill Clinton's 1993 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.

Many boat-launching and swimming areas on corps' properties were required to charge use fees. After the corps' budget was cut in 1993, funds from the use fees help with maintenance costs at the areas.

But the corps didn't start enforcing the law until 1996, which gave people a two-year grace period to adjust. During the first two years of the new regulations, warning were issued to violators of the law. Now citations have been issued.

Only six areas in the Lake Wappapello require user fees and signs are posted in those areas. There is no charge for children under 12 or for campers registered in corps-operated campgrounds.

At the Lake Wappapello area the new areas include Chaonia Landing Boat Ramps, Sundowner Boat Ramp and Greenville Recreation Area Boat Ramp, said Becky Hays, of the corps' Wappapello Lake office.

These areas are in addition to the 1997 list that included Redman Creek Recreation Beach and Boat Ramp, Peoples Creek Beach and Boat Ramp and Rockwood Point Beach and Boat Ramp.

However, fees remain the same at all of these areas -- $2 to use the boat ramps and $1 per person, up to a maximum of three per carload, for beach use.

The user fees at Chaonia and Sundowner are for boat ramp use only.

"It is not a parking fee," said Hays. "If you keep a boat the marine, no fee is required, unless you actually use the boat ramp.

The corps encourages frequent users of the boat ramps and beaches to purchase an annual pass. The $25 pass enables the holder and accompanying passengers unlimited use of the facilities at no additional expense. The annual pass is honored at all Corps of Engineers projects nationwide.

The corps' St. Louis office assessed fees at all of its lakes and properties, which include thousands of acres in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois.

Missouri areas are Lake Wappapello in parts of Wayne and Butler counties and Mark Twain Lake in Monroe and Ralls counties. Illinois areas are Rend Lake north of Benton, Ill.; Carlyle Lake near Vandalia, Ill.; and Lake Shelbyville at Shelbyville, Ill. Clearwater Lake near Piedmont and Bull Shoals Lake in northern Arkansas are in the corps' Little Rock District.

A number of Lake Wappapello areas are already open for the 1998 season. The only facilities not open are Peoples Creek Group Campground Beach, Redman Creek Beach and Rockwood Point Beach, which will open May 1.

The Greenville Recreation Area Boat Ramp opened last month, and will be the site of the 20th annual Old Greenville Blackpowder Rendezvous this weekend.

USE FEE AREAS

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Use fee areas

Fee charges remain the same although new sites have been added to the list. Costs are $2 for use of boat ramps and $1 per person at beaches. Annual passes can be purchased for $25.

Wappapello Lake area

-- Redman Creek Recreation Area Beach and Boat Ramp

-- Peoples Creek Beach and Boat Ramp

-- Rockwood Point Beach and Boat Ramp

-- Chaonia Landing Boat Ramp

-- Sundowner Boat Ramp

-- Greenville Recreation Area Boat Ramp

-- Clearwater Lake near Piedmont.

-- Mark Twain Lake in Monroe and Ralls counties

Southern Illinois

-- Rend Lake, north of Benton

-- Carlyle Lake near Vandalia

-- Lake Shelbyville at Shelbyville

Northern Arkansas

-- Bull Shoal Lake