ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 31, 1996 TAG: 9612310093
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
YELLOWSTONE, GRAND CANYON AND GRAND TETON have all doubled entrance fees from $10 to $20 a carload.
Snowmobiling at Grand Teton, touring the Everglades, or visiting Yosemite's majestic valley will be more expensive in 1997 as higher entrance charges kick in at scores of national parks. Some fees will double.
The National Park Service hopes to have all the fee increases at 100 parks, monuments and recreational areas in place by May; but at some of the larger parks that attract winter crowds, the increases will come with the new year. At Grand Teton and Yellowstone - where entrance fees hadn't changed for eight decades - the price doubled to $20 a carload just before Christmas.
The Park Service must use the additional revenue for park improvements, and 80 percent must be used at the site where it is collected.
``As long as the extra money stays in the park, people really don't mind paying the extra fee,'' said Marsha Karle, a spokeswoman at Yellowstone. But she acknowledged that because the fees have been increased suddenly ``some people are not prepared for it.''
Fee increases at 47 parks were announced in November. Another 53 will be added, probably in February, said David Barna, a Park Service spokesman.
``The intent is not to double fees only at the big parks, but cut across [the park system] to historic sites and urban areas as well,'' he said.
The Park Service also will double the cost of the annual Golden Eagle pass to $50 beginning Wednesday with the new year. The pass allows unlimited access to any national park or other federal recreation area for a year.
The fee increases will pay for improvements to the park system, which has been under a financial crunch for years, resulting in deterioration of everything from recreation centers to trails. The Interior Department expects the fees to raise $30 million to $50 million over the next three years.
So far, winter park visitors say they don't mind the higher prices.
``Whatever it takes to keep the parks going,'' said Darren Neukomm of Salem, Ore., during a recent visit to Yellowstone. The cost is still ``pretty cheap compared with other tourist attractions.''
Cheryle Williams, who brought her family to Yellowstone from Georgia for Christmas, said the park visit was worth the extra money. ``You're not going to live but once,'' she said philosophically.
Increases for entrance prices, recreational and user fees were approved by Congress on a three-year experimental basis, but are likely to become permanent as lawmakers struggle to meet the park system's needs. Last year about 270 million people visited federal parks and recreational areas.
At the most popular parks - Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Grand Teton - entrance fees will go from $10 to $20 a carload and annual passes from $15 to $40. At Yosemite in California, it jumps from $5 to $20 per car. Entry fees at many of the other parks nationwide will range from $2 to $5 for individuals to $10 for a carload, Barna said.
Visitors also will begin to pay for a variety of services from guided river tours at Redwood National Park in California to nature lectures at Acadia National Park in Maine and wedding receptions at Fort Washington overlooking the Potomac River outside the nation's capital.
Large group picnics or family reunions - a popular activity in the Washington, D.C., area parks - will cost $50 to $300 for a site; a wedding at Fort Washington - a 130-year-old historic fort along the Potomac - will cost $150. Previously, such activities had been free.
At the Redwoods park, a seven-hour canoe trip with two rangers as guides will cost $20 a person; snowmobiling at Rocky Mountain National Park will cost $5, or $10 for a family; and tour of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay will cost $2 a person - all previously free.
``Americans are willing to pay these fees as long as they go back to the parks,'' said Paul Pritchard, president of the National Parks and Conservation Association, a private group that closely monitors federal park activities. He said his biggest concern is that Congress will find it easier in the future to reduce park funding if users pay more.
Already, two congressmen near Yosemite - Republican George Radanovich and Gary Condit, a Democrat - have complained to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt that the higher fees are ``clearly exorbitant'' and should be rolled back. But Yosemite Superintendent B.J. Griffin sees a bright side to higher per-car fees: she hopes it might help encourage use of public transportation through the popular, traffic-congested park northeast of San Francisco.
Fee Changes in Virginia At sites run by the National Park Service * Appomattox Court House National Historic Park: individual entrance fee to $4 from current $2. * Colonial National Historic Site (Jamestown and Yorktown): individual entrance fee to $5 for both parks from current $2 for Jamestown; vehicle entrance fee to no charge from current $8 for both parks. * Shenandoah National Park: individual entrance fee to $5 from $3; vehicle entrance fee to $10 from $5; annual entrance fee to $20 from $15; recreation use fee to cost recovery from no charge.
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