Cost of enjoying Idaho will go up

Among the proposals Gov. Otter is sending to the legislature this year is a plan to reorganize the state's parks and recreation programs -- moving the parks and rec department into the state Department of Lands -- and to adjust the fees Idahoans will pay to take advantage of the natural resources available in Idaho.

The reorganization may make sense (actually, it does on many levels) and hopefully save taxpayers' dollars through administrative consolidation, but the plan to raise fees in the state's parks, or impose them in areas where they haven't been charged, is one of those things that will stay with us forever.

Once those increases go into effect (if approved by the legislature), no matter how much lawmakers may say they will only be temporary, until the economy recovers, the inertia of government virtually guarantees that they will stay there. Remember, for example, the famous "Penny for Benny," the first state sales tax (at 1 percent), which was only supposed to be a temporary measure. Today, it's still going strong, and has risen to 6 percent.

These changes may be necessary, but don't believe for a minute they will ever be temporary. The price of enjoying Idaho's natural wonders will permanently go up.