National Parks Back Off On Massive Fee Increase - Western Slope No-Fee Coalition

UPDATE April, 2018: The NPS has backed off – for now – on their proposed surge pricing of up to $70 to visit the most popular Parks during their busiest seasons. They received over 100,000 comments, of which 98% OPPOSED the proposal.

But before you breathe a sigh of relief, don’t overlook the most insidious part of the proposal – SURGE pricing during the MOST POPULAR times of year. Although they got the message that $70 was too high, they are far from having given up on SURGE pricing as a strategy. This is a strategic retreat by the NPS, not a surrender!

BACKGROUND:

On October 24, 2017 the National Park Service issued an announcement that they wanted to implement a huge “targeted” increase in entrance fees at the most popular National Parks. Their “target”? Families whose vacation schedules are tied to the school calendar, lower-income visitors, and your wallet! These 17 parks would charge a premium entry fee during their peak season, more than doubling the current cost of a single-visit entry to $70!

The parks involved, along with their peak season when the increase would be in effect are:

– May 1-September 30 for Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Denali National Park, Glacier National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Olympic National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, Zion National Park
– June 1-October 31 for Acadia National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Shenandoah National Park
– January 1-May 31 for Joshua Tree National Park

A pass for unlimited visits to a single park during its peak season was proposed to cost $75. But let’s be realistic: nobody who can afford $70 or $75 would pay it to visit a single Park! At those prices, you’d be crazy not to buy an annual all-Parks, all-seasons “America the Beautiful” pass for $80. For only $5 or $10 more (for now) than the proposed single-visit or single-Park fee, you can visit all the Parks all year long. Clearly, that $80 price won’t last long – you can bet they’ll be raising it sooner rather than later especially in light of having to back down on their surge pricing plan!

The justification cited for this massive increase was to address backlogged maintenance. But the NPS only anticipated that it would raise an additional $68 million – which would barely touch their claimed backlog of $12 BILLION. They haven’t revealed how they calculated that $68 million, but given that most people can be expected to buy an America the Beautiful Pass, their estimate was probably wildly optimistic.

The revenue from annual pass sales stays at the site where the pass is purchased, even if that’s a Forest Service, BLM, or other non-NPS site, or an NPS site that’s not increasing entrance fees, so even if this were implemented, many Parks would miss out on the hoped-for funding. At the same time, basic economics says that raising the price will deter visitation, especially by families and lower-income visitors – groups that the Parks claim to be trying to attract.

The bottom line? America’s best places at the most desirable times of the year would only be available to the wealthiest few.

Immediately after the announcement some people began spouting the tired old analogy that the National Parks are a “bargain” compared to Disneyland or taking the family to a movie. That analogy has been repeated in Congress and by various organizations since at least 1985. But the National Parks and Disneyland are NOT comparable. Once you start comparing them, you cheapen the value of the Parks to the level of Disneyland.

You would think that the National Park Service, the very people charged with protecting the resources and values that are why we have National Parks in the first place, would understand that. Instead, they are now promoting the Disney analogy themselves. Park Service spokesperson Jeremy Barnum has been quoted in the press as saying,

“the proposed figures were determined by analyzing historical NPS data sets and the cost of admission at other ‘family attractions’ like amusement parks. (A one-day ticket to Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom costs $124, for instance.)”

No, Mr Barnum, our National Parks were not established to be “family attractions” and they certainly are not amusement parks. Shame on you!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

The public comment period is now closed. More than 100,000 comments were submitted, of which 98% were opposed. The NPS announced in April 2018 that they are backing off on the proposal for now. But it will be back, probably at a lower dollar amount but still with the insidious surge-pricing aspect that would exclude many people from visiting. And, there are other bad ideas being floated, such as per-person pricing instead of per-carload. We will monitor the situation and keep you informed via our email list and this website.

Many members of Congress weighed in against this proposal. You should contact your U.S. Representative and both of your U.S. Senators. Thank them for helping get this stopped, but remind them that the NPS has several more bad ideas in the pipeline that would make our National Parks more expensive for families to visit and ask them to stay vigilant!

Besides contacting your own elected officials, you should let your views be known to the leadership of the oversight committees and subcommittees. You can only contact them online if you are a constituent, but anyone can telephone them. Here is the contact information:

Chair, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Lisa Murkowski (AK) 202-224-6665
Ranking Member, Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (WA) 202-224-3441

Chair, Senate Subcommittee on National Parks Steve Daines (MT) 202-224-2651
Ranking Member, Senate Subcommittee on National Parks Mazie Hirono (HI) 202-224-6361

Chair, House Natural Resources Committee Rob Bishop (UT) 202-225-0453
Ranking Member, House Natural Resources Committee Raul Grijalva (AZ) 202-225-2435

Chair, House Federal Lands Subcommittee Tom McClintock (CA) 202-225-2511
Ranking Member, House Federal Lands Subcommittee Colleen Hanabusa (HI) 202-225-2726

Here are documents explaining the proposal in more detail, as well as selected press coverage of the April 2018 decision to hold off for now.

NPS Fee Increase Fact Sheet

NPS Fee Increase Announcement

Zinke Rolls Over On Fee Increases

Public to NPS: Take A Hike

NPS Rethinks Fee Increase But Still Seeking Alternatives

Media:

2017 06 25 BACKGROUND The Guardian re park privatization

2017 10 24 Associated Press

2017 10 24 The Denver Post

2017 10 24 Washingtonian

2017 10 25 CNN