Bogley

[Iceaxe]

Zion National Park News Release
December 15 , 2006

Zion National Park Announces Fee Increases for 2007
New Interagency Recreation Passes also Available

Zion National Park Superintendent Jock Whitworth has announced that the park is increasing its entrance fees effective January 1, 2007 . On that date, Zion National Park will also begin selling the “ America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass.” This new interagency recreation pass will benefit visitors to national public lands.

The park entrance fee for a private, non-commercial vehicle will increase from the current rate of $20 to the new rate of $25. The individual fee (pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, etc. 16 years or older) will increase from $10 to $12. Both of these entrance fees are good for seven days. The fee for the Zion Annual Pass will also increase from $40 to $50. “The monies that the park collects from these increased entrance fees will go directly toward benefiting the visitors through improved services and facilities”, stated Whitworth.

Two information workshops were held in April 2006 to receive input on the park's proposed plan to increase entrance fees. These workshops provided the public with information regarding the proposed fee increases and gave them an opportunity to express in writing any thoughts or concerns they may have. These comments were all taken into consideration before the park made the decision to increase its entrance fees. This is the first time that the park has increased its fees since 2000 and will bring Zion into line with other parks in the country, many of which increased their fees in 2006.

Under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2004, a multi-agency fee authority was created for the National Park Service (NPS) and four other federal land management agencies. The legislation allows the NPS to collect entrance fees and “expanded amenity fees” for services, facilities, or equipment and use the funds for projects directly benefiting the visitors. Up to 80% of the fees collected, stay in the park and go directly into improving visitor facilities and services. Without fee revenues, many projects could not be completed because they cannot be funded from the park's existing base budget.

Fee revenues collected in the past at Zion have financed projects to rehabilitate Zion Canyon Scenic Drive , construction of the shuttle bus maintenance and operations building, rehabilitation of the Nature Center , and replacement of outdated park wayside exhibits. These are just a few of many projects that the park has completed or that would not be possible without the fees collected at the entrance stations.

The new interagency recreation pass combines the benefits of existing recreation passes from five federal agencies into one comprehensive pass, the “ America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass.” The new program replaces the Golden Eagle, Golden Age, and the Golden Access Passports as well as the National Parks Pass.

Sales of the new interagency recreation pass will begin January 1, 2007 . The passes will be available at federal recreation sites that charge entrance and standard amenity fees, through government internet sites, and through select third-party vendors. Officials note that 100 percent of the revenue derived from passes sold at federal recreation sites will directly benefit the selling agency and no less than 80 percent of the revenue will remain at the site where the pass was sold.

The four different passes in the new interagency program are:

1) A new annual interagency pass costing $80--For visitors to multiple federal sites, the pass offers unlimited coverage of entrance and standard amenity recreation fees for 12 months from date of purchase.

2) A $10 lifetime senior pass for U.S. citizens 62 or over;

3) A free lifetime access pass for U.S. citizens with permanent disabilities;

4) A new, free annual volunteer pass for volunteers acquiring 500 hours of service on a cumulative basis.

For more information regarding the increased fees in Zion National Park, please call 435-772-3256 or write to; Superintendent, Zion National Park, Springdale, UT 84767.

For more information on the new interagency pass, please contact DOI's U.S. Geological Survey at http://store.usgs.gov/pass or phone 1-888-275-8747.

[psl53]

So my National Parks Pass to going from $50 to $80. That sucks, but if you live out west it's still a great deal!!!

[Iceaxe]

I believe the National Parks Pass will be $60. And the new interagency pass will be $80..... but I could be wrong.

I don't see how paying to enjoy land that we already own is a good deal.

:cool2:

[marc olivares]

guess that means you wont be buying a pass this year either, eh shane?

[Scott P]

Quote: I believe the National Parks Pass will be $60. And the new interagency pass will be $80..... but I could be wrong.

I just got a pass and they told me the old parks pass is going away. That's what I was told, but can anyone confirm?

Quote: I don't see how paying to enjoy land that we already own is a good deal.

Much of our hard earned tax money is going to Iraq which had nothing to do with 9/11. We have to pay for the parks somehow.

[Win]

I'm old enough to have the $10.00 lifetime pass but I'll still buy the $80.00
because I think the N.P.s do a great job of maintaining the parks. In Zion there is a lot of the park that's not in a fee area and I i use that area all the time.

Kind of like the same reason I sent in to Circle of Friends, this is free but I think it helps to contribute.

Win

[scoutabout]

Scott Patterson wrote: Much of our hard earned tax money is going to Iraq which had nothing to do with 9/11. We have to pay for the parks somehow.

Oh geez... :roll:

Increase fuel prices, inflation, and increased use couldn't possibly have anything to do with the price increase.

Are the new postal rates also because of the war?

I've been paying $65 for the park pass plus the Golden Eagle sticker that gets you into all the Forest Service fee areas. If the new price is $80, then I'll gladly pay it.

[Scott P]

Quote: because of the war?

I didn't say because of the war, but it is a factor. It is also a fact that if so much money wasn't going to the war than much more would be left over for other things. This is a fact, but an entirely different topic and not the theme of this thread.

[moabfool]

Scott Patterson wrote:
Much of our hard earned tax money is going to Iraq which had nothing to do with 9/11. We have to pay for the parks somehow.

The increase in rates began in the Clinton administration. Yah GW hasn't done anything to fix it, but he's not the one who vacationed in Jackson, WY every year until he got re-elected and then never went back.

[Scott P]

Whoever started it doesn't matter. That wasn't my point.

I would much rather see our tax money go to things that benifit the US taxpayers (such as national parks), that's all.

[scoutabout]

Scott Patterson wrote:
I would much rather see our tax money go to things that benifit the US taxpayers (such as national parks), that's all.


How about keeping terrorists busy trying to attack our Army in Iraq so they don't have as much time and resources to come over here and kill us? That's a pretty good thing to spend money on.

[Scott P]

Quote: How about keeping terrorists busy trying to attack our Army in Iraq so they don't have as much time and resources to come over here and kill us? That's a pretty good thing to spend money on.

Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. The terroist that attacked the US came there after the fact and Al Qaeda had nothing to do with Iraq before the invasion. :eek2:

Also, most of the curent fighting in Iraq is not the terrorist cells that are a threat to us. Less than 5% is. Most of it is between the Sunni and Shiites and most is now done by the Iraqis themselves. It really wasn't about liberating Iraq either as only 2% of Iraqi's consider the US a liberator.

I agree with the War on Terror, but do not believe the Iraq War is the same thing or even was related at the time.

Also, meanwhile the USA is sending billions of weapons to terrorist countries that are horrible human right violaters and worse than Iraq. Perhaps you already know that it was the US whom both armed and supported Saddam and the Taliban as well.

When is the last time you have either visited the Middle East as a civilian or have been involved in terrorism first hand? Do you know any over seas Iraqi's? I can tell you that the often rosy picture painted by the media or either side of dems or reps is not the case. I am a patriotic American I can also tell you that everything the US military has done is not good and sometimes we have supported the wrong side, often in hindsight.

Still this isn't an appropriate topic for the hiking board. Maybe someone should move this part to the general.

[scoutabout]

Scott Patterson wrote:
Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. The terroist that attacked the US came there after the fact and Al Qaeda had nothing to do with Iraq before the invasion. :eek2:


No one ever said 9/11 was connected with Iraq.

[stefan]

scoutabout wrote: Scott Patterson wrote:
Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. The terroist that attacked the US came there after the fact and Al Qaeda had nothing to do with Iraq before the invasion. :eek2:


No one ever said 9/11 was connected with Iraq.

BULLSHIT

[Udink]

stefan wrote: scoutabout wrote: Scott Patterson wrote:
Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. The terroist that attacked the US came there after the fact and Al Qaeda had nothing to do with Iraq before the invasion. :eek2:


No one ever said 9/11 was connected with Iraq.

BULLSHIT
Holy crap, chill out dude. I'm pretty sure that he meant nobody in this thread said that 9/11 was connected with Iraq. Not nobody ever.

Oh, and to keep this post on-topic, I agree with what Shane said. I don't really like paying to enjoy the land, and I disagree with some NPS policies, so I avoid NPS-administered land altogether. I'll stick to the Swell and other areas that don't require fees and/or permits.