Expect an increase in the cost of enjoyment in the National Park System/NPS

As we told you last month, National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis has given his superintendents the OK to increase entrance and other fees in their parks once they've conducted the requisite public outreach and engagement. And now we're starting to see some of the proposals, which range from higher entrance fees to "special recreation fees" that are being proposed to help cash-strapped parks.

While many fees are likely to increase by $5 or $10, there could be more creativity into fee collections aimed at generating more money for the parks. One example has surfaced at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Wisconsin, where officials are proposing a $5-per-person fee to visit the ice caves that form on the shores of Lake Superior during particularly cold winters.

'œWe are committed to keeping the park affordable but we also want to provide visitors with the best possible experience while not over burdening our partners," Chris Smith, the lakeshore's acting superintendent, said in a release announcing the proposal.

Director Jarvis, in a memo to his superintendents, outlined an entrance fee schedule that placed the 131 units that now charge entrance fees into four groups. The four groupings are intended to reflect the size and expense of running a park. So parks such as Yellowstone in Wyoming, Grand Canyon in Arizona, Glacier in Montana, and Yosemite in California would be in Group 4, while parks such as Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in Wyoming, Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Maryland, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, and Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho would be in Group 1.

Under Director Jarvis' schedule, by 2017 all parks in Group 4 would charge $30 per week for vehicle entry, $15 for someone on foot, and $25 for a motorcycle; all Group 3 parks would set their entrance fees at $25, $12 and $20; all Group 2 parks would move to $20, $10, and $15, and; all Group 1 parks would move to $15, $7 and $10.

But some other changes might also appear. For instance, Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks currently share a joint entrance fee of $25 that gets you and everyone in your car or truck into both parks for seven days. During a meeting last month with academics, historians, and reporters brought together for a parks workshop sponsored by the Property and Environment Research Center Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk said he might suggest ending that relationship so all $25 that is paid to enter Yellowstone stays in his park.

Additionally, the superintendent noted that the average Yellowstone visitor spends 2.8 days in the park, so why sell a seven-day pass?

When you think of how inflation has treated park entrance fees -- that $10 fee charged in 1915 equates to $230.74 in 2014 dollars -- entrance to the parks under the existing pricing structure might literally be described as a steal. But what would you think if, en route to Yellowstone, you are asked for a $25 fee to enter Grand Teton at Moran Junction and then, 27 miles later, asked for another $25 to enter Yellowstone?

While the changes Superintendent Wenk discussed are not even proposals -- they haven't been formally floated to the public -- the current fiscal fitness of the National Park Service is forcing superintendents to be creative with the fees they are allowed to charge.

Yellowstone, for example, received and spent nearly $76 million during Fiscal 2014, which came to an end last month. A little less than half that total -- $33.8 million -- arrived via base funding from the Park Service, while the rest (roughly $42 million) came from line item construction projects, entrance fees, campground fees, fishing permit fees, concession franchise fees, donations, housing rent, and some other sources, according to Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash.

"But significant amounts of money are spent annually by others in Yellowstone on infrastructure owned by the federal government. Some examples are the money we get through the Federal Highways for road construction projects, money spent from the Concession Facilities Improvement Program and the Concession operator's repair/rehab funds," Mr. Nash continued. "This funding can vary widely from year to year... recently ranging from just under $12 million in FY11 to about $30.6 million in FY14. Again, this is money spent on government-owned infrastructure in the park but NOT directly received by the NPS or spent by the NPS. Therefore, for the fiscal year which just ended, roughly $106.3 million was spent either by the NPS or by others on NPS infrastructure in Yellowstone."

While Yellowstone likely will announce its proposed fee changes later this year, other parks are already starting to go down the road.

At Apostle Islands, officials ran up a bill of roughly $450,000 to handle the more than 135,000 people who turned out over a 10-week period to tour the ice caves.

"Park staff worked between 40 and 100 percent of their regular time on the ice caves," Julie Van Stappen, the park's chief of planning and resource management, said Wednesday. 'œPeople were working super-long hours, so there was overtime. And we had to bring in special events team from other parks, so there was some travel involved in that.'

Park Service staff was needed to monitor ice conditions, respond to injuries visitors sustained falling on the ice, and direct traffic. While the Park Service's Midwest Regional Office helped defray some of the expenses, that financial help is not guaranteed in the future, said Ms. Van Stappen.

Friends of Apostle Islands did provide $16,000 to cover the cost of portal toilets set up to handle the crowds, but over-time incurred by lakeshore staff over the ten-week period was significant, said Ms. Van Stappen.

"People worked not only their regular hours, they worked weekends, up to 16-hour days, and a lot of people didn't have any days off for a long period of time," she said.

Against those costs, the park collected $47,000 in fees charged at Meyers Beach. At the same time, the lure of the ice caves generated $10 million for the local communities, the park noted.

The proposed ice cave fee would be charged to visitors 12 and older. Two open houses have been scheduled near the lakeshore to discuss the fee: 

* October 22, 10 a.m.-noon at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland, Wisconsin

* October 23, 4 p.m.-6 p.m. at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Headquarters, 415 Washington Ave., Bayfield, Wisconsin

You can review the proposal, and submit comments, at this website. Written comments can be sent to [email protected] or Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 415 Washington Avenue, Bayfield, Wisconsin 54814 Attn: Myra Foster.

Hawai'˜i Volcanoes National Park just announced a proposal to increase its entrance fees, which have remained static since 1997, from $10 to $15 for next year. The increases would continue to $20 in 2016 and $25 in 2017 unless there's strong public pushback.

"While we are committed to keeping the park affordable for everyone, we are also dedicated to providing the safest and most enjoyable experience for our visitors and community. Entrance fees are vital to support the numerous services and amenities that make the visitor experience possible,' said Superintendent Cindy Orlando.

At Hawai'i Volcanoes, some entrance fee monies are being used on a project now underway to replace the wooden boardwalk at the Pu'˜u Loa Petroglyphs. Other fee-funded projects include ongoing trail maintenance, cabin repairs, hike pamphlets, restrooms, and picnic tables, the park said in a release.

Eighty percent of all entrance fees stay within Hawai'˜i Volcanoes National Park, Superintendent Orlando noted. The money also helps to "protect the Hawaiian ecosystem by funding fencing projects that prevent non-native pests like pigs and goats from devouring rare native plants."

Table of Proposed Recreational Fee Increases (in dollars) for Hawai'˜i Volcanoes National Park:

Under the proposed fee schedule, entrance fees would also increase for commercial tour companies. Currently, road-based tour vans carrying one to six passengers pay a $25 base fee and $5 per person to enter the park. The per-person entrance rates will increase to $8 in 2015; $10 in 2016; and $12 in 2017, through 2021. The base fee will not change. Non-road-based tour companies, i.e. hiking tour companies that are on trails more than they are touring the park by vehicle, don'™t pay a base rate but their per-person fees would increase under the proposed schedule.

In addition, the park will soon charge $10 per permit for all overnight backcountry and front-country camping, with a maximum of three consecutive nights at one spot. Currently, camping is free, except at Nāmakanipaio Campground, which is managed by Hawai'˜i Volcanoes Lodge Company, LLC. The new camping permit fees are similar to other public camping fees statewide.

You can comment on the proposed increases at Hawai'i Volcanoes at this site. You also can submit comments in writing, addressed to Superintendent, Hawai'˜i Volcanoes National Park, P.O. Box 52, Hawaii National Park, HI 96718. The deadline for comments is Dec. 15, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. Comment cards will also be provided at the KÄ«lauea Visitor Center seven days a week, from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m.