The free parking at Wildwood’s recreation site has gone the way of the free
lunch.

No longer is there any such thing.

The sign went up at the Bureau of Land Management park on July 27, and
some blood pressures went right up with it.

“That sucks,” was the initial reaction of Kat Martin of Zigzag. “It’s really a
shame. A lot of people don’t have the money (to pay the $5 entry fee).”
The sign points out that the decision to close the free parking area was
primarily a safety issue.

“It (the decision) came from the district office (in Salem),” said Donna
Hansen, eight-year park ranger at Wildwood. “If people had been logical this
probably wouldn’t have happened.”

When the six spaces were full, often times cars would double park behind
them, even flow out onto Hwy. 26, according to Hansen.

Mark Marshall, the site’s park manager for five years, echoed Hansen’s
sentiment.

“We had to do it,” Marshall said. “It was getting out of hand. We understand
the issues (with some). It was a tough deicsion.”

“After all the years this parking area has been there, why is it now a safety
issue?” Joe Synak asked in an e-mail to The Mountain Times.

Other people contacted the MT about the closing of the free parking area, and
the overarching themes were the economy, and the greed of BLM.

“Times are tough, I know that,” Hansen said. “But you still have to use your
head. You can’t park wherever you want just because you don’t have five
dollars. It’s more than just the money. It’s safety.

“They may choose not to believe that, but it’s the truth.”

Martin has a 16-year-old dog she walks in the park – or used to walk in the
park.

“It’s awful,” she said. “It’s not like I hang out there all day. But, as the gal at
the booth told me: ‘Did you see the sign?’

“Well, I saw it and I don’t like it.”

According to Hansen, there’s another sign on the way. ODOT will be putting

up a sign on Hwy. 26 warning park goers of no free parking along the four-
lane highway.

The 580-acre recreation site is a popular day-use area for locals and visitors,
featuring five miles of interpretive trails along the Salmon River.