Starting this November, a cooling drive up Mt. Lemmon will cost $4 per vehicle. Around 400,000 vehicles used the highway last year. The user fee will raise $300,000 to $500,000 annually to repair campgrounds, restrooms and picnic facilities, and improve t rails and signs throughout the Catalinas. Dwindling allocations to the national forests, deteriorating facilities and ever-increasing traffic mean that something - or rather someone - has to give. So why the widespread resentment that it has to be us, the users? The Forest Service receives barely a fraction of a penny of each tax dollar, and it simply isn't enough.

There seems to be something about handing over real, folding money without getting something in immediate return that defies all logical argument. Pay for a movie, a large Coke, or a VCR, and it's right there in front of you. On the other hand, few taxpay ers experience a glow of satisfaction at contributing toward the needs of the community, although everybody wants, and expects, roads, libraries, and good schools. Every time we go out, we use public services that need paying for, but I suspect that we ne ver really enjoy paying for things we can't individually own. The Catalina Highway fee is a case in point. Maybe the Forest Service could lessen the antipathy by painting each new picnic table and grill into an appropriate number of $4 sections, each one displaying the license number of the vehicle that made the purchase possible.

Humans in general have a strong sense of ownership - we're territorial about our property, and protective about our possessions. We basically don't like to share, and especially not with strangers.

"Is the next guy going to get more for his $4 than I will?" is a question that seems to disturb many people. Let's grow up a little here. I mean, what are we going to do - itemize when we return to Check-Point Molino Basin after a trip up the mountain? Fo rty-seven minutes at picnic table; use of restroom; Twinkie wrapper and banana peel thrown into garbage container ...

"But those guys in the next truck were up there most of the day, AND they grilled hamburgers - and, boy, you ought to see all the trash THEY dumped." It's just plain silly. Four dollars really isn't much, the facilities are available for everyone, and it all evens out in the end.

"Well, I never had to pay before - so why now?" persists the disgruntled excursionist.

I feel the same way whenever something in our house needs repairing. This occurs approximately twice a month, and usually involves the purchase of one or more plastic packages of parts from Ace Hardware or Home Depot, costing anywhere from $4 to $40. Plum bing, appliances, pool equipment - conveniences I normally take entirely for granted - all insidiously deteriorate. Now major replacements and renovations are needed - a new stove, new flooring and drapes, repainting inside and out ... but if we want to c ontinue living in the house, it has to be done, and the cost has to be met. Whether you own, rent, or use, the process is the same - stuff gets old, and eventually it has to be replaced.

A common clich­ asserts that "you get what you pay for." This phrase is familiar because it's true and unavoidable. If we continue to use the worn-out facilities on Mount Lemmon for free, we will inevitably get what we're paying for - that is, precisely n othing. The deterioration will progress until there's nothing left worth using. If you use it, you need to pay to maintain it; the rule holds for public as well as private property.

If I could find a store that would sell me all I need to fix up my house for $4 per visit, I'd never shop anywhere else. For just $4 per vehicle, Coronado National Forest is undertaking to replace, renew, renovate and improve all the amenities we want to use when relaxing in the Catalinas. I say it's worth it.

Kaye Patchett is a creative writing senior. Her column appears every other week.