|
|
|
|
|
| |
|||
Unknown source - December 5, 1998
WASHINGTON-The increased entrance fees charged at Yosemite and other federal
recreation meccas earned generally high marks this week from congressional
investigators.
But concern remains over the ability of low-income residents to afford admission
to nearby parks and whether the National Park Service is being sufficiently
creative in spending the money.
The public largely accepts the higher fees because the parks benefit, General
Accounting Office auditors note in their newly published report. Nationwide,
federal recreation fee collections nearly doubled to $179 million last year
as a result of the experimental program, scheduled to end in 2001.
"We would like to see it become permanent because it is bringing in so much
additional money for the parks," Park Service spokeswoman Elaine Sevy said
Tuesday.
Despite some fears in Congress that entrance fees of up to $20 at parks like
Yosemite would deter visitors, the GAO study notes that visitation increased
5% at parks where officials chose to boost fees. Over the same oneyear period,
visitation rose only JO at the parks where fees remained steady.
For example, visits to Sequoia and Kings Canyon increased 13% to 1.53 million
from 1996 to 1997 despite a doubling of the entrance fee to $10.
"Overall, visitors are very supportive of the higher fees," Sequoia-Kings
Canyon spokeswoman Jody Lyle said Tuesday. "They might question why it went
up at first, but when it's explained to them . . . , they're very supportive."
The Park Service is spending about $110,000 this year to study the impact
that higher fees have on visitors. GAO auditors caution that more research
is needed on whether the higher fees will deter low-income families.
The GAO cites one Park Service survey of visitors to Yosemite and 10 other
parks that found nearly half of those who make less than $25,000 a year consider
the park fees too high.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon also are collecting millions of extra dollars through
the higher fees, which Congress originally had scheduled to expire next year.
Instead of being absorbed by the general U.S. Treasury, 80% of the funds raised
can be kept at the individual parks.
That's particularly beneficial for Yosemite, one of two sites nationwide-along
with the Grand Canyon-to pull in more than $10 million annually through assorted
visitor fees. In California, the funds have paid for projects like a new footbridge
on Sequoia's Congress Trail, sprucing up the park's Lodgepole Campground and
rehabilitating old prison buildings at Alcatraz.
Yosemite's new money will pay for replacing the sewer line at the popular
White Wolf Campground, among other needs.
"We've identified a number of projects, all geared to improve the visitors'
experience," Yosemite spokesman Kendell Thompson said.
But at many sites, the new revenue has not been spent. Only about 25% of the
money had been directed to projects by March, the GAO noted. Interior Department
officials have been debating the best uses of it.
The GAO study also suggests that higher fees have not been entirely pain-free.
While visitation increased at Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, it dropped
at 84 parks, forests and refuges where fees were similarly raised.
For instance, people traveling to Mono Lake apparently disliked a new $2-a-person
fee charged for use of part of a visitors center.
Visitation dropped by 10% after the new fee was instituted, the GAO noted.
NEW ENTRANCE FEE REVENUE FOR NATIONAL PARKS, MONUMENTS, Fiscal year 1998
|
Park |
Operating budget** |
Fee revenue* |
|
Grand Canyon |
$15,444,000 |
$16,212,000 |
|
Yosemite |
$14,518,000 |
$19,169,000 |
|
Yellowstone |
$5,473,000 |
$22,421,000 |
|
Sequoia-Kings Canyon |
$2,322,000 |
$10,458,000 |
|
Muir Woods |
$1,405,000 |
$323,000 |
|
Death Valley |
$1,226,000 |
$5,337,000 |
|
Lassen Volcanic |
$625,000 |
$3,039,000 |
*Fee revenue available is the amount of the fees collected that an individual
park can retain for its own use-about 80% of all fees collected.
** Operating budget is the amount, excluding fee revenue, provided to each park for basic operations.
Source: General Accounting Office
|
|
|
|