How much would you be OK with paying to visit national parks?/Canyonlands National Park vista, Rebecca Latson
How much is a national park visit worth to you? It's a question that floats to the surface from time to time when talk turns to the National Park Service's funding woes and nearly $12 billion maintenance backlog.
So, how much is too much? Instead of paying $25 or $30 per carload for a week in a park, would you be willing to pay, say, $25 or $35 per person in your car? Would you be OK with being charged a flat $100 per carload for seven days?
One-hundred-dollars per carload might seem expensive, but it also might still be a bargain, if you consider that in 1916 it cost $10 to enter Yellowstone National Park. If that $10 fee continued to rise annually with the rate of inflation, today the fee would be $244.
So, travelers, what maximum price would you place on visiting a national park? At what price point would you say, "Whoa, that's more than I can comfortably afford with my budget"?
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Comments
It's hard to answer this question with the backdrop of a one trillion dollar tax cut giveaway that could have been used for so many other things. $12B is only a little more than one percent of $1T
No more than the present $25. As others have said the parks belong to the American people, all of the American people, not just the rich and affluent. Raising fees would effectively deny access to people who have a right to that access.
As a holder of a senior pass that cost practically nothing, I see no problem paying 50% of the entrance fee or handing A free will donation when presenting any park service pass. Even at $25 per person for A seven day pass is a bargain when considering the cost of the total vacation. How about enlisting various groups, persons required to give public service etc to perform maintenance. How about a mentor program where young persons are teamed up with retired seniors With specific skills to improve the parks.
Think creativity raise the fees along with trying something new
I think that entance fee for U.S. citizens should be free. You pay federal taxes, that should properly fund the NPS, and you shouldn't be charged twice. Visitors from other countries should be charged a fee. I believe the park entrance fee goes to the federal "general fund" and only under certain circumstances the park, that collects the fee, gets keep any of that money.
David et al, parks that charge entrance fees get to keep 80 percent of those fees, with the remaining 20 percent sent to Washington to be redistributed to parks that don't have entrance fees.
Kurt I was employed by NPS for 24 years, we were told the fees go to the general fund, except when there is an immediate need, then it must be approved.
That's changed, David.
https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/fees-at-work.htm
the Fee should be no more than it currently is. If we kept the Money raised by the parks in the parks instead of it going into the general fund this would solve the infrastructure problems many times over.