Drum roll, please.
The National Park Service is considering possible park entry and use fee increases, aka the “new pricing model,” for 2015. NPS is inviting public comment.
It’s pointless to argue whether or not to increase fees (most national parks fees have been in place since 2006) but there’s an outside chance that there might be wiggle room in how much higher the fees will go.
At Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks, the proposed increase is from $15 to $25 for a seven-day vehicle pass. Bryce, Zion, Yosemite and some other parks are proposing an increase to $30; smaller parks and recreation areas would be set at lower rates.
At Olympic National Park, the fee for motorcycles would rise from $5 to $20, which seems a ridiculous jump when compared to the vehicle fee (and the number of passengers that that could include). A per person fee would go from $5 to $12; the annual pass would jump from $30 to $50.
The money goes to improving visitor facilities such as water systems, wilderness information, campgrounds, accessible parking spaces and trails.
As the federal government continues to scale back its once-traditional support of the national parks, the onus is on visitors and volunteers to take up the slack and entrance fees will continue to increase.
Many park plans will go unrealized or postponed because it is simply not possible to raise enough through fees to make up for the loss of federal support.
Other fees will rise as well in national parks. In Olympic National Park, campground fees could rise from $10-18 to $15-25, depending on potable water and advance reservations.
Overnight wilderness use permits might be raised from $2 per person to $5 in 2015 and $7 in 2017.
Ranger-guided snowshoe walks could be increased from a $5 suggested donation to $10 for adults and $5 for ages 6-15.
Other large national parks will have similar increases; some may have more. There were more than 3 million recreation visits to Olympic National Park in 2013, worth $245.8 million in surrounding communities. This year, the park has already exceeded that number.
Entrance fees apply only to people 16 years of age and oldere. National parks also hosts some entrance fee-free days throughout the year.
More information about these options, along with the senior, access and military passes that provide free entry, are available at parkplanning.nps.gov/olymfees.
To learn more and to provide comment on the proposed fee changes, visit the NPS Planning, Environment &Public Comment website, parkplanning.nps.gov/olymfees.
Pikas: This summer the DFW searched for pikas in an area west of Oso but only found a couple of the small mammals.
Nearly all pikas live at elevations 3,000 feet or higher. In Snohomish County, a few pikas are living at about 700 feet elevation.
Signs of the pikas indicated that “most of time they live below ground instead of the classic alpine situation where you hear pikas vocalizing and popping out of their burrows. We are not seeing low-elevation pikas because most of the time they’re below rocks,” said wildlife biologist Ruth Milner. “That makes sense because temperature fluctuations are greater in the summer.”
The species is a good indicator of climate change because it is very sensitive to high temperatures.
Landing zone: Lesser snow geese have arrived and are feeding on Fir Island and other Skagit County areas. The Department of Fish and Wildlife is monitoring the feeding there, and found that 18 percent of the 1,900 arrivals studied are juveniles, about average.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
