It’s hard to disagree with a bill introduced this week by Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, to put a cap on fees charged by the Forest Service and other federal agencies for the public use of campgrounds and trails.

As Baucus said, “Americans already pay to use their public lands on April 15.”

But, given the crippling budget constraints forced on the Forest Service by recent fire years, its also hard to think about capping fees without wondering how in the world the agency is supposed to carry out its many missions.

Earlier this year, five former forest chiefs — including Dale Bosworth of Missoula — fired off a letter to Congress warning that firefighting costs are burning up Forest Service budgets.

Requiring the agency to keep paying the lion’s share of wildfire expenses out of its regular budget is putting it into an “untenable financial situation,” they said.

In 1991, the Forest Service spent 13 percent of its total budget on fire suppression. By 2000, it was 25 percent. This year, firefighting expenses took up about 45 percent of a budget that the Bush administration wanted to reduce in 2008.

The Northern Region, made up of Montana and northern Idaho, had $43 million to spend on maintenance and construction on Forest Service land in 2005. Two years later, funds for that purpose had dropped to $28 million.

Fire costs, together with sharply decreased revenue from logging, means that trails and roads are not being maintained and campgrounds are closing. Bridges are falling into disrepair. A growing problem with abuse of ATVs and other off-road vehicles is not being addressed. The very qualities that draw millions of visitors to the West — like pristine watersheds and healthy fish and wildlife habitat — are being degraded.

To be sure, let’s not overcharge the public to stay at a campground. But let’s also pump up Forest Service funding so those campgrounds can stay open.