Rafting fees going up on American River
By Gus Thomson, Auburn Journal
State Parks will be asking river-rafting businesses to dig deeper into their pockets as it works to make up for Bureau of Reclamation funding cutbacks in the Auburn State Recreation Area.
Recreation Area Superintendent Mike Lynch said rafting fees on both the north and middle forks of the American River are being raised this season.
The charge to whitewater-rafting contractors on the two rivers will increase 40 percent from $5 to $7 for each raft customer that takes part in a trip.
The Auburn State Recreation Area also has jurisdiction over South Fork whitewater licensing at Coloma. Fees there will rise 50 percent to $3 from $2, Lynch said.
With bureau cutbacks and State Parks needs to make up $300,000 due to federal funding cutbacks, Lynch said the recreation area’s user fee for parking will also be expanding into a new area. Plans are for parkers along the Weimar area’s Ponderosa Way to start paying a $10 fee. The area covers parkland near the Ponderosa Bridge over the North Fork of the American River.
