Commercial bus tours will be charged a per-person fee to enter the park beginning May 2022/NPS file
In a move that could sweep across the National Park System, tour buses that enter Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia a year from now will be charged a per-person fee.
Regulations require parks to notify commercial tour operators a year ahead of any change in entrance fees that could affect their rates. On Wednesday the staff at Colonial announced that it would align the Road Based Commercial Tour operator’s fee schedule to a per person fee to provide consistency in fees across all visitors to the park.
Pursuant to NPS Policy, Reference Manual22A: Recreation Fee Collection, when entrance fees are collected at a walk-up location, such as a visitor center, parks should charge each individual in a commercial group the per-person fee. The driver and guide will not be charged an entrance fee. Passes are accepted for entry at per-person fee parks as stated on the back of the pass. In addition, Road Based Commercial Tour operators will be required to apply for a Commercial Use Authorization, which requires a $150 application fee.
Road Based Commercial Tours entering Colonial will continue to pay the flat fee schedule for a Tier 2 park -- $200 -- until May 2022. Charging a per-person fee should generate additional revenues for the park, based on its current fee structure:
For Those Without An Entrance Pass to Yorktown Battlefield - $15.00
Adult (16 and older) -$15; good for 7 days entrance to Yorktown Battlefield (and NPS areas at Historic Jamestowne); can be upgraded to see Preservation Virginia areas at Historic Jamestowne for an additional $10 at the Historic Jamestowne Visitor Center. Yorktown Battlefield will not be selling the $ 25 entrance permit for Historic Jamestowne
For Those Without An Entrance Pass to Historic Jamestowne - $25.00
Adult (16 and older) $25; good for 7 days entrance to Yorktown Battlefield (and NPS areas at Historic Jamestowne); can be upgraded to see Preservation Virginia areas at Historic Jamestowne for an additional $10 at the Historic Jamestowne Visitor Center. Yorktown Battlefield will not be selling the $ 25 entrance permit for Historic Jamestowne.
No Additional Charge for Holders of These Passes - $0.00
Holders of the following passes will be admitted to Historic Jamestowne at Description* * Interagency Access and Golden Access Pass * Interagency Military Pass Phone 757-856-1250 for further information.
For Historic Jamestowne Other National Park Pass Holders Will Be Charged an additional $10.00 per adult - $10.00
All other National Park pass holders will be charged an additional $10.00 per adult entering on the pass to cover the Preservation Virginia entrance fee. These passes include: * Interagency Annual Pass * Interagency Senior Pass * Golden Age Pass * Colonial National Historical Park Annual Pass * Preservation Virginia Membership Card - ($10.00 per adult NPS fee) Phone 757-856-1250 for further information.
All of the money received from entrance fees remains with the Park Service. Eighty percent of the entrance fee revenue at Colonial National Historical Park supports maintenance, preservation and visitor services projects in the park. The other 20 percent of entrance fee revenue supports projects at other national parks where fees are not collected.
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Comments
The National Park Service fees are not regulated by any one community so they get away with continually raising fees even though there is broad public notice. Since I worked for the Park Service for 14 years I know how these fees are used and you would be appalled at the spending including what they set aside for collecting the fees. There should be a Congressional inquiry into this but Congress won't do it because its free money with no strings attached. Talk about "social justice" and a regressive tax to enter "our" national parks and monuments.
This is a terrible idea. It is a regressive tax and should never be considered or implemented. All this will do is to keep people who are not able to pay out of our parks which have already been bought and paid for by the American people with their tax dollars.