Entrance, Use Fees at U.S. Parks to Rise

WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Fees to enter the four biggest U.S. national parks will double and many fees at other public lands will go up in a three-year test designed to improve financing, the Interior Department said.

But the department said national parks will remain an entertainment and educational bargain. It said the extra money from raising fees at about 106 national sites, including 47 parks as well as land managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management, would be used to improve wildlife refuges, recreation areas and parks.

"Even with the pilot fee increase, a family of four can enjoy a week's visit to Yosemite, Yellowstone or National Glacier parks for less than it costs to see a first-run movie," Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said in a statement Tuesday.

"While everything else has gone up in price over the last 70 years, Yellowstone is still $10 per car," Babbitt said in justifying the increases.

Under a three-year test program approved by the last Congress, entrance fees at the four largest parks, which also include Grand Teton, will double to $20 per car for a seven-day stay.

Parks the department considers "closer-to-home" destinations, such as Shenandoah National Park, will cost visitors $10 per vehicle or $20 for an annual pass.

Fees at most of the remaining sites will range from $2 per person to about $20 per car.

The department also will impose fees for activities such as boating and camping at various sites where these activities have been free or will raise existing charges.

The increases would be phased in starting immediately, and all the new fees will be in place by next spring. They may be adjusted during the program.

Through the higher fees, the department said it hoped to raise additional money to improve recreational services and make repairs on public land.

"These fees will be used to improve the visitor experience at the sites where they are collected and will be targeted for much-needed repairs and improvements that have been delayed because of budget shortfalls," Babbitt said.

"Public input, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are crucial to the success of this three-year demonstration project," he said.

Park fees are currently handed over to the U.S. Treasury, but under the test program, collecting sites will be allowed to keep up to 80 percent of the new fees and the remainder will go to the neediest national lands.

"These new fees will be a downpayment on the resource protection, restoration and general maintenance that the parks desperately need," Paul Pritchard, president of the National Parks and Conservation Association, said in a statement.