USER FEES ANOTHER WAY FOR GOVERNMENT TO WHITTLE SPENDING

It is easy to take for granted some things that have been free for so long. This is certainly the case regarding user fees at Corps of Engineers lakes in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois.

When the corps built a couple of major flood-control projects in Southeast Missouri after World War II -- one on the Wayne County/Reynolds County line and another in southeastern Wayne County, the aim was to regulate spring runoff from the Ozarks that runs down the Black River and the St. Francois River. But there were additional benefits too. The biggest was the recreation opportunities that lakes provide, particularly fishing and boating. The wooded hills surrounding the lakes also were prime hunting areas.

For nearly half a century, fishing, boating, swimming, camping and hunting were free to the thousands of visitors to the lakes, which not only became immensely popular among nearby residents in surrounding counties, but also attracted large numbers of St. Louis-area residents looking for a weekend getaway.

In 1993, Congress passed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, which called for fees to be collected at federal projects where there were no fees already in place. Another bill a year later eased some of the requirements for user fees, particularly in lightly used and underdeveloped areas.

Meanwhile, the corps began limiting access to the lakes and the property around the lakes in preparation for collecting the fees. This has resulted in several clashes between corps rangers and those who have hunted and fished all those years without worrying about which back road they took.

The fees are, in comparison to most forms of recreation today, modest and well within the means of most lake users: $1 a person for swimming, $2 a day for launching a boat, $3 per car. Children under 12 get in free. And the corps has an annual pass that costs $25. Campers, who have had to rent campsites for a number of years, won't have to pay the additional fees for boating and swimming.

All in all, the pay-as-you-go plan makes sense. The large numbers of lake users will help offset some of the cost of providing recreational facilities which are above and beyond the expense of maintaining a flood-control project. And the fees also will help regulate to a small degree the crowds of outdoors enthusiasts who show up at the lake on summer weekends.

It will take a while to get used to the fees -- most of which will be collected on an honor system to hold down personnel costs. But most lake visitors won't mind the small fees for enjoying some of the prettiest scenery and some of the best facilities to be found anywhere in the country.

For some of the old-timers, the adjustment may be a bit more difficult. They have regarded the corps property as their own for so long it will take some getting used to in order to feel comfortable depositing a few dollar bills at a fee-collection site. Some of them may even grumble that the government is double-dipping when it comes to gouging taxpayers.

In reality, the fees won't eliminate the federal deficit. But they represent an acknowledgment that the federal government can't go on forever spending dollars it doesn't have. The fees, in a small way, are a start on the long road back to financial responsibility.