

Not everyone is embracing higher entrance fees proposed for national parks/Kurt Repanshek Not everyone is embracing higher entrance fees proposed for national parks/Kurt Repanshek

As more and more units of the National Park System propose higher entrance fees as directed by Park Service Director Jon Jarvis, opposition is being voiced around the country, with one mayor saying higher fees to enter Yellowstone National Park could lead to reduced tourism dollars in her town.

With Congress poised to create at least four new units to the park system, and approving expansions of other parks, funding the Park Service likely will become even more difficult if the lawmakers don't also find more money for the agency. While park officials across the country say higher entrance fees are needed to fund various improvements and provide for visitor services, they are seeing some pushback.

In Cody, Wyoming, Mayor Nancy Tia Brown is opposed to the higher fees being proposed at Yellowstone -- a 3-day pass for $30, a 7-day pass good for both Yellowstone and Grand Teton for $50 -- arguing that the fees would result in fewer tourist dollars spent in her town.

At Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts, a former fee supervisor for the park said the proposal to increase fees would create a "logistical and political nightmare."

"The Seashore has not made the enforcement of its current $3 daily individual pass a priority because of the park's unique permeable nature, and because of the wish to encourage visitors to use alternative forms of transportation aligned with the Climate Friendly Parks initiative. While parks like the Grand Canyon have gates, the Seashore does not, so attempting to charge that fee would be logistically impossible," Karl Thompsen wrote in a letter to the Cape Cod Times.

"Actually implementing such a draconian change would also prove politically disastrous for the park's community and visitor relations, which both undermines the park's interdependent relationship with surrounding towns and places an unnecessary burden on the rangers interacting with the public," he added.

At Gulf Islands National Seashore, a proposal to relocate entrance fee booths on the eastern and western ends of U.S. 399, also known as the J. Earle Bowden Way, and then charge $15 per vehicle to use the road that connects Pensacola Beach to Navarre Beach was being criticized by nearby residents who frequent the national seashore. Superintendent Dan Brown has tried to downplay the matter, telling the Pensacola News Journal the collection booths won't be moved if the public strongly opposes it. But he also noted that most locals would probably buy an annual pass to the seashore and so not encounter the entrance fee every time they headed to the seashore.

"Most of the comments so far have emphasized the worst-case scenario," the superintendent told the newspaper. "They're talking about a $15 toll, and you know no one who lives here locally and drives that on a regular basis would pay the fee every single time. '¦ If you drive it 240 days of the year to commute, it wouldn't be $15 times 240 days ' they would pay $30 for an annual pass."

Back in Wyoming, Jackson town leaders opposed higher fees proposed for Grand Teton National Park and the proposal to "unlink" Yellowstone and Grand Teton from one pass good in both parks. Fishing guides and other outfitters also opposed the increases.

'It is a little discouraging that the Park Service is going to go ahead and double the weekly cost of a pass from $25 to $50,' Taylor Phillips, who owns a wildlife safari company, told the Jackson Hole News & Guide. 'I would say 90 percent of our guests visit both parks.

A proposal to boost the entrance fee at Cabrillo National Monument near San Diego from $5 per car to $15 drew an angry response from Paul Nestor, who called the proposal "one of the most aggravating things I've ever heard."

"It is families who don't have a lot of money who come up here to show off this beautiful place in San Diego for all the residents. For them to bilk them out of $15, it's going to turn a lot of people away," Mr. Nestor said told ABC 10 News.

Mr. Nestor's view might play out across the National Park System at some of the small, urban parks where many visitors stop by during lunch or after work, or stop after seeing the park sign as they pass by. Five dollars per vehicle for a quick visit to enjoy a view or learn something about the park and why it was created might not sway people from stopping, but when the fee jumps to $15, those casual visitors might not pull in. If that scenario plays out, some park units could possibly lose money.

Another issue is that once parks collect more than $500,000 in entrance fees, they have to send 20 percent of the revenue to Washington for redistribution to other parks. Up to $500,000, they keep it all, thus creating another possible reason not to raise fees.