The price of a permit for backcountry traveling, or getting married, in Grand Teton National Park might be going up in 2014 as park officials are reviewing their pricing for the camping and special-use park permits.
The goal is to reflect in those permit fees the actual cost of operation for these programs.
Through a recent cost-recovery evaluation, Grand Teton conducted a comprehensive review of the financial aspects of its backcountry camping and special park use permit systems and determined that the park has not recovered the actual costs of managing these programs for several years. Cost-recovery includes all expenses incurred to process a permit application, monitor a permitted activity, and perform site restoration, when necessary.
Also being factored into the new fee structure are the costs of moving the backcountry reservations program to recreation.gov. Park officials say transition to Recreation.gov will allow users to plan their trip and receive immediate confirmation, and better facilitate management of the park’s backcountry reservations. Advanced reservation requests will be accepted from January 8 through May 15, and updated cost-recovery rates for all backcountry camping permits will be $25, with an additional $10 fee for advanced reservations.
The park’s charges for special use permits have not been updated since 2002. Increased oversight and management of special use permits—combined with an increase in the number of applications reviewed and permits issued—resulted in the need to conduct a cost-recovery evaluation of this rate structure as well.
Approximately 250–300 special park use applications are received annually, all of which require review. Applications for permits include weddings, commercial filming, special events, scattering of ashes and First Amendment requests; and most of the applications result in the issuance of a permit, and the need for monitoring of the permitted activity.
The adjusted special park use charges for 2014 are: $100 for weddings, $175 for events, $275 for commercial filming less than 6 months, $325 for commercial filming 6–12 months, and no charge for scattering ashes or First Amendment requests.
Application fees cover the costs incurred for processing the permit, as well as for permit review to ensure the information supplied is sufficient to form a decision for issuance. It is a one-time, non-refundable amount submitted by the applicant with his/her completed application. If the application is approved, the permitee may be responsible for additional cost-recovery charges associated with monitoring the activity and for site restoration, if necessary.
In the future, all cost-recovery charges may be re-evaluated annually and adjusted, when necessary.
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And pay over 70% of all taxes.
And yes, the income disparity has increased - to the highest level ever under the Obama administration. Did you ever stop to think that perhaps that is because Obama and the left are penalizing production and rewarding non-productive behavior?
I would think it is because there are too many who are not paid a living wage and that income is going into the pocket of the top 5% instead; thus they need to make up for it.
People are paid based on their value add. Raising the wage above that value will get them fired not increase their wealth. If someone thinks they are worth more, they should seek an employer that agrees.
ec I am not suggesting you pay them more than their value. I am only pointing out that if you have families living on a small income it would be difficult to demand more taxes from them, thus somehow the difference needs to be made. The people in our country living on min. wage are not paying any income taxes as you point out.
And who is asking for them to do that? Not the conservatives. The answer of the conservatives is to stimulate economic activity which will raise the incomes of everyone and lead to higher tax receipts and thereby more funds available for the Parks. You don't stimulate the economy by raising tax rates, placing regulatory burdens and healthcare mandates on businesses and paying people not to work.