NORTH BEND — The South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve’s plan to charge visitors for some services  was met with little opposition during a recent meeting to review the issue at the North Bend Public Library.

The meeting was held to inform the public of the potential fees that would be implemented at the reserve in Charleston, and to gain community feedback on establishing the fee process.

According to South Slough Manager Mike Graybill, who led the meeting with Oregon Department of State Lands Assistant Director Jeannette Holman, visitors likely would be charged for the use of equipment and facilities, such as a new auditorium on slough property and housing for visiting investigators. He told the six people who attended the meeting — volunteers, employees of the slough and the media — that the main focus of establishing fees would be to recover costs, as well as to replace and deal with wear and tear on equipment. The slough does not collect fees at this time and has no established method to do so.

“I view these fees as giving us a chance to (bring about) expanded programmatic growth,” Graybill said, adding the slough has been directed by the Legislature to decrease its dependency on common school funds.

Richard Hamel, the president of the Friends of the South Slough Reserve, asked if the slough were to collect fees, would members have other tasks in addition to running the store at the slough’s Interpretive Center.

Graybill said the fees would give slough management the “opportunity to initiate programs that are beyond the scope of programs we already offer.”

The fee rules may be adopted at the slough’s management commission meeting March 20, Graybill said.