Park Service opts for smaller fee hike

The National Park Service has backed away from a sharp fee hike it proposed for 17 national parks.

Its proposal, issued in October, called for much higher peak-season entrance fees for some of the system’s most-visited parks, including Glacier. A seven-day vehicle pass, which currently costs $30, would have increased to $70. These funds were meant to help address an $11.6 billion maintenance backlog at the parks.

But as the Daily Inter Lake reported at the time, the prospect concerned members of Montana’s Congressional delegation and local recreation outfitters. Nationwide, the proposal drew 110,000 public comments — 98 percent of which were negative, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.

In response to this reaction, the Park Service is opting for more modest increases at its fee-charging parks. Beginning June 1, Glacier will charge $20 for individual entry, $25 for a motorcycle pass, and $35 for a seven-day vehicle pass. These are all $5 increases over the current rate. The price of an annual pass will rise from $50 to $70.

Yellowstone National Park will see a similar fee increase.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., applauded the move, stating that “doubling entrance fees would have priced too many Montana families out of our public lands and undercut our state’s thriving outdoor economy. We need to find better, more effective ways to address the pressing maintenance backlog that don’t nickel-and-dime Montana families.”

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. remarked that “Montana’s National Parks must remain affordable and accessible for all visitors. It’s critical that the National Park Service take steps to address the maintenance backlog affecting so many of our parks, but making it more costly for American families to visit these public lands won’t solve the problem.”

In fiscal year 2016, the National Park Service collected $199 million in entrance fees. The fee-hike proposed last fall had been projected to increase that revenue by $70 million per year. The Park Service estimates that this change will raise it by $60 million annually, once all of the fee increases take effect. Under federal law, 80 percent of entrance fees remain in the park where they are collected.

Another proposal for park funding is still in the works. The National Park Restoration Act would direct a percentage of revenues from energy production on federal lands and waters to an Interior Department fund for maintenance in national parks. That bill was introduced in the Senate a month ago and has been referred to committee.

Reporter Patrick Reilly can be reached at preilly@dailyinterlake.com, or at 758-4407.