Opinion ID: 764970
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Charge or Fee Statutes

Text: 24 Most states that have passed recreational use statutes have provided that the grant of immunity will not apply if the permission to enter the land for the recreational purpose was granted for a charge or fee. See, e.g., Ark. Code Ann. 18-11-305, 18-11-307; Colo. Rev. Stat. 33-41-103, 33-41-104; Conn. Gen. Stat. 52-557g, 52-557h; Del. Code. Ann. tit. 7, 5904, 5906; Fla. Stat. Ann. 375.251(2)(b); Pa. Stat. Ann. tit. 68, 477-4; Wash. Rev. Code 4.24.210. 25 Under these charge or fee statutes, most courts have declined to apply the exception to immunity unless an actual fee has been charged by the landowner for entry onto the land. For example, in Jones v. United States, 693 F.2d 1299, 1300 (9th Cir. 1982), the plaintiff was injured in Olympic National Park while snow-sliding on an inner tube she had rented from a concessionaire. The concessionaire, located in the park on Government property, paid the Government a fixed rental fee and a percentage of its gross receipts. Id. at 1303. 26 In holding that no fee had been charged which would deny the Government its immunity under Washington's recreational use statute, this court noted that members of the public were not charged a fee to enter onto the land or to use the land, and that the plaintiff could have used the slope or any other area of the park free of charge if she had brought her own tube. Id. at 1303-04. The fee that the plaintiff had paid was simply a fee for use of the tube, not for use of the Government's land. Id. at 1303. The Government was therefore immune from liability. See id. at 1303-04. 27 In Flohr v. Pennsylvania Power & Light Co., 821 F. Supp. 301, 302 (E.D. Pa. 1993), the plaintiffs were fishing on the banks of a creek in a recreational area owned by the defendant when a tree fell and struck them. The fishing spot where the plaintiffs were injured was within the perimeter of the defendant's campground at which the plaintiffs were staying. Id. at 305. The court found that the defendant was entitled to immunity under Pennsylvania's recreational use statute despite the fact that the plaintiffs had paid a fee to use the campground. See id. at 305-06. 28 The court stated that its holding did not hinge upon what the fee paid by the [plaintiffs] covered or did not cover. Id. at 305. 29 Rather the . . . holding was based on the fact that the camping fee paid by plaintiffs was not a quid pro quo in exchange for permission to enter Otter Creek at the time plaintiffs were fishing. If plaintiffs had only come to Otter Creek for the day, it is undisputed that they could have used the recreational facilities and fished at the accident site free of charge. 30 Id. 31 In Zuk v. United States, 698 F. Supp. 1577, 1577 (S.D. Fla. 1988), the plaintiff was injured while visiting Fort Jefferson National Monument, a unit of the National Park System located in Florida. No fees were charged for entrance or admission to Fort Jefferson. Id. at 1578. The Government did charge a $ 50 biannual special use permit fee for chartered seaplanes and fishing and dive boats. Id. The Government did not, however, charge fees to boats bringing passengers to the Fort. Id. 32 The court held that the Government was immune from liability under Florida's recreational use statute. As to the plaintiff's argument that a charge was made because the air taxi service to the Fort charged $ 99 for a round trip, and the air taxi service (as well as twenty-five other boat and seaplane charterers) had to pay the Government a $ 50 biannual fee, the court stated: 33 This argument ignores the explicit language of the [charge exception]. There is no dispute that the [National Park Service], which operates Fort Jefferson, does not charge a fee for entry into the Park. The fact that licensing fees are charged to boat and seaplane charter operators or that fees are charged by private taxi services for transportation purposes does not change the fact that no charge is made for entering or using the park area. 34 Id. at 1582; see also Carlton v. Cleburne County, 93 F.3d 505, 510 (8th Cir. 1996) (Because there was no entrance fee, or any other fee of any kind, paid in the instant case, we conclude the 'charge' exception to [Arkansas's recreational use statute] does not apply.); Wilson v. United States, 989 F.2d 953, 957 (8th Cir. 1993) (holding that $ 2 per person/per night fee paid by Boy Scout troop to spend the night at Army military post was not a charge to enter onto the land or for use of the land and therefore did not fall within the charge exception); Kirkland v. United States, 930 F. Supp. 1443, 1446 (D. Colo. 1996) (The [charge] definition suggests a quid pro quo arrangement whereby the owner conditions entry on the land upon payment of a fee.).