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San Francisco Chronicle - December 2, 1998
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An experimental program allowing national parks and other
federal recreation areas to raise their fees has significantly boosted revenues
without affecting the number of visitors, a government study concludes.
The four agencies participating in the demonstration program said their recreational
fee revenues nearly doubled from about $93 million in fiscal year 1996, when
the program began, to about $179 million in 1998.
At the same time, the General Accounting Office said in the report prepared
for Congress, the number of visitors to sites with higher fees increased by
5 percent in 1997, compared to a 4 percent rise at nondemonstration sites.
Of 206 demonstration sites, visitors increased at 120, declined at 84 and
remained unchanged at two, the GAO said.
The five-year experiment approved by Congress in 1996 was aimed at helping
federal land management agencies deal with a multibillion-dollar backlog of
maintenance and facilities needs.
The four agencies involved are the Park Service, which generated much of the
new revenue, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management
and the Forest Service.
The report said that while entrance fees have been raised to as much as $20
at popular sites such as Yosemite, visitors generally were willing to pay
more to protect the nation's parklands.
It cited a 1997 Park Service survey at 11 national parks showing that 83 percent
of patrons were either satisfied with the fees they paid or thought they were
too low.
So far, it said, only 76 percent of the funds made available under the program
have been spent, a result of the time needed for spending-approval procedures.
Most of the extra money has gone to repairs, maintenance and the cost of collection.
The report said there were some questions about a provision of the program
requiring 80 percent of the fees to be retained at thelocation where they
are collected. It said some sites may reach a point where they have more revenues
than they need.
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