Hikers, bikers and dog walkers will soon have to pay a day-use fee to explore the Sandy River Delta, a popular park near the Columbia River Gorge.

The U.S. Forest Service announced Thursday that it will begin charging a $5 day-use fee to visit the park, effective Jan. 17, 2020.

Day-use fees are standard at many other parks nearby, including Rooster Rock State Park, Oxbow Regional Park and most trailheads maintained by the U.S. Forest Service.

Sandy River Delta, also known as Thousand Acres, is located at the confluence of the Sandy and Columbia rivers, just off Interstate 84 near Troutdale. The spot has become more popular in recent years, increasing the cost of maintenance and operation, according to the Forest Service.

“We feel that generally this is a well understood and needed next step for helping manage this site,” said Rachel Pawlitz, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service in the Columbia River Gorge.

Plans for the fee were first announced in June 2017, when the agency asked for public input. A final decision was made this past summer.

The U.S. Forest Service and volunteer group Friends of the Sandy River Delta have worked over the last decade to clean up and transform the delta into a park with several recreational opportunities, which has in turn drawn more visitors.

The new fee will primarily help the Forest Service to better maintain trails, restrooms, parking areas and other facilities, and will allow a regular presence of uniformed rangers.

More rangers could also act as a deterrent to those who camp illegally in Sandy River Delta, an issue that has been pervasive over the years.

In 2005, a string of incidents drew public attention to the delta. That March, officials removed the body of an illegal camper who had died of natural causes. In July, another camper at the park was found dead with multiple stab wounds. A few weeks later, police arrested a third illegal camper there in connection with a murder from the previous year.

This past November, a Beaverton resident complained of continued encampments in the park in a letter to the editor published by The Oregonian/OregonLive.

“We know that it’s an issue,” Pawlitz said. “It’s really unfortunate that these people have nowhere else to go, that they settle in that location, but I think depending on the behavior of the individual it can create a bigger problem.”

Part of the issue has been the land those campers have settled on, she said.

In 2013, a 75-year-old dam was removed from the lower Sandy River, transforming the delta into a better habitat for fish. As the river changed the landscape, a new stretch of shoreline emerged that wasn’t clearly in any one jurisdiction.

Land in that area is managed by several different state, federal and local agencies, and it was only recently worked out that the strip is state land, Pawlitz said.

The Forest Service is now in the process of taking ownership of that small strip of land, as they work to better maintain the entirety of the Sandy River Delta.

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB