Do you agree with raising the entry fee to some National Parks to $70?

Forums:

Is it necessary, or a step in the "wrong direction" with respect to open access for all?

http://theknow.denverpost.com/2017/10/24/gate-fee-rocky-mountain-nationa...

A year after celebrating its 100th anniversary with record crowds, the National Park Service is proposing steep increases in entry fees, more than doubling the peak-season gate fee to $70 at Rocky Mountain National Park and the 16 other busiest parks.

The “targeted fee increases” are intended to fund overdue improvements to aging infrastructure, including park roads, bridges, campgrounds, waterlines, restrooms and visitor centers, U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement announcing the proposal.

“We need to have the 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,” Zinke said. “Shoring up our parks’ aging infrastructure will do that.​”

Rocky Mountain National Park two years ago raised the cost of its weekly vehicle pass to $30 from $20. On Jan. 1, the park raised the annual pass fee to $60 from $50 but kept its weekly vehicle pass at $30.

Fuck you! Pay me.

Aren't you supposed to be subject to random "message board etiquette testing"?

Are you a “goodfella”?

Not sure about "goodfella", but I am busting your balls ... so don't take it to heart.

Oh thanks. Very cool of you to clear that up. 

 

Prefer tax-funded infrastructure improvements to fee-based funding.

Prefer tax-funded infrastructure improvements to fee-based funding<<<

I would tend to agree.

Also, if there are fees to be paid, lets not subvert the existing revenue streams that some of the individual National Parks depend upon:

An annual peak-season multi-visit pass to a single park would cost $75. But let's be realistic: nobody who can afford $70 or $75 will pay it to visit a single Park! They will instead buy an annual all-Parks, all-seasons "America the Beautiful" pass for $80. For only $5 or $10 more (for now) than the single-visit or single-Park fee, you can visit all the Parks all year long. Clearly, that $80 price is not sustainable so you can bet they'll be raising it sooner rather than later and by a substantial amount - think double or even triple!

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 many Parks will 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.ded infrastructure improvements to fee-based funding.

>Prefer tax-funded infrastructure improvements to fee-based funding.

Peoples republic of America

Fug no, these parks should be free like the Smithsonian. They are our public lands after all and we all pay a boat load of taxes, the parks should be free. 

Thom says only a small portion of Americans pay federal taxes

Do you get a MAGA hat upon entry for that $70?

Just paid $30 and $35 for Death Valley and Sequoya parks and thought it was steep but I concluded it is worth it to keep our national parks open. A lot of people did not pay at all.

70 is steep

Is that $70 for an annual pass?

>> Prefer tax-funded infrastructure improvements to fee-based funding.

Natural parks aren't infrastructure. (I was going to include the definition of infrastructure here, but it seemed snooty.)

I like use taxes for things like this exactly because they aren't necessary for our economy to function. I'm glad to pay the annual pass for state parks where I live. 

The parks are already there.. The money would be used for things like  "park roads, bridges, campgrounds, waterlines, restrooms and visitor centers".

 

Infrastructure.

>>>>>Just paid $30 and $35 for Death Valley and Sequoya parks and thought it was steep but I concluded it is worth it to keep our national parks open. A lot of people did not pay at all.

 

You could have gotten an interagency annual pass for $80 and it would have been good for all 3 parks plus every other national park.

Are they proposing to raise the price of the interagency pass too?

Shit, most Zoners probably qualify for the Senior national park pass and it’s only $20 and good for life.

From the OP:

”The “targeted fee increases” are intended to fund overdue improvements to aging infrastructure, including park roads, bridges, campgrounds, waterlines, restrooms and visitor centers, U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said”

What will the OP complain about next? 

Im sure this guy is single 

>> The money would be used for things like  "park roads, bridges, campgrounds, waterlines, restrooms and visitor centers".

Yeah, that's infrastructure to the park, not infrastructure in a global sense. It's necessary for the park to function, but the park is unnecessary for the federal government or the economy to function.

If you want to pay for the parks' infrastructure, pay the park's taxes. 

 >>>>>the Senior national park pass and it’s only $20 and good for life.

I got mine.

>>the Senior national park pass and it’s only $20 and good for life.

The $20 one is only good for a year.

What if a senior citizen is on a fixed budget?

The legislation also establishes an annual Senior Pass for $20. That pass is valid for one year from the date of issuance. Four annual Senior Passes purchased in consecutive years can be traded in for a lifetime pass.  

The lifetime pass is now $80.

Why did the price of the Senior Pass increase?

The price of the America the Beautiful – The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Senior Pass increased as a result of the Centennial Legislation P.L. 114-289 passed by the U.S. Congress on December 16, 2016.

Why $80?

The legislation states that the cost of the lifetime Senior Pass be equal to the cost of the annual America the Beautiful - The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass, which is currently $80.

https://store.usgs.gov/faq#New-Senior-Pass-Update

I got mine for $20 - didn't realize they had gone up.

It went up to $20 from $10

>>>>>Four annual Senior Passes purchased in consecutive years can be traded in for a lifetime pass.  

 

Cool.  I wonder if you can trade in non senior ones for a lifetime pass?  Anybody know before I start wading through that website?

we can't have nice things.

 

corporations need tax breaks.

 

ceo's need pay increases.

One had to buy one earlier this summer to get in on the $20 lifetime pass. If you snoozed you lost. 

my cal st. beach pass is $195/yr.....

seventy bucks? - fuck no

 

raise taxes on billionaires instead- that should cover it

Yeah, that's infrastructure to the park, not infrastructure in a global sense. It's necessary for the park to function, but the park is unnecessary for the federal government or the economy to function.

If you want to pay for the parks' infrastructure, pay the park's taxes.<<<

Is the military "infrastructure"?

Do National Parks have significant value beyond their "utility" to the economy?