Those of us visiting national parks might have to pay more, as the National Parks Service has proposed raising fees, especially in the western United States where visitation records continue to be set, according to reports.
The larger parks like Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Zion would go from $30 per car, per week, to $70. In others, the rate will jump up from $25, nearly tripling. There’s a 30-day public comment period on the fee hike that the Parks Service says could raise $70 million at a time when the organization needs revenue to fix ailing infrastructure more than ever. Kings Canyon, Denali and Grand Teton will also see rate hikes, meaning everyone from skiers and paddlers to climbers and hikers will be affected.
“We need to have a vision to look at the future of our parks and take action in order to ensure that our grandkids’ grandkids will have the same if not better experience than we have today,” said Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. “Shoring up our parks’ aging infrastructure will do that.”
But the debate is on whether that money should be raised by citizens or congress. Park advocates don’t want to see people unable to visit simply because they couldn’t afford to.
“We’ve supported increases at the parks, they are a huge value for the price of entrance,” Kevin Dahl, Arizona senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association told the New York Post. “But we want to look closely at this and we want local communities to look closely at this to see if it would impact visitation because we don’t want to price people out of the parks.”
