Page 10 - Flathead Beacon // 4.8.15

10 | APRIL 8, 2015 NEWS
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
Glacier Park Officials:
No Fee Increases This Summer
Facts
Four months after seeking public comment, the National Park Service has yet to approve fee increases inside Glacier National Park
By JUSTIN FRANZ of the Beacon
Officials at Glacier National Park say they are unsure if the price for a park pass or boat launch permit will be going up in the future. The one certainty is those fees will not be increasing this summer.
Four months after park officials solic- ited public comment about proposed fee increases, park spokesperson Bill Hayden said Glacier has still not received approval from the National Park Service to change or raise fees. He said the earliest fees could increase is the fall, when winter season rates go into effect.
Proponents of the fee increase, includ- ing the National Park Conservation As- sociation and the Glacier National Park Conservation Association, said that mod- est increases could help fund interpretive programs and trail maintenance that have been cut in recent years. NPCA Crown of the Continent Program Manager Michael Jamison said late last year that it was important to keep the increases in per- spective. He noted that it costs a family of five less money to visit a national park for seven days than it does for that same family to go to the movie theater for less than two hours.
A visitor scans the mountain peaks with binoculars along Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park.
Numbers in the news
126,000
U.S. jobs added in March, the fewest since December.
12
Number of months straight that the U.S. economy had added 200,000 jobs or more until March’s weak job report.
46.6%
Percentage of Montanans making a middle-class income, down from 51.3 percent in 2000, according to a report by Pew Charitable Trusts.
6
Vetoes by Gov. Steve Bullock after two-thirds of the state legislative session. Last session Bullock vetoed 71 bills.
“NATIONAL PARKS HAVE BEEN AND CONTINUE TO BE AN INCREDIBLY AFFORDABLE FAMILY DESTINATION.” Michael Jamison
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BEACON FILE PHOTO
“National Parks have been and con- tinue to be an incredibly affordable family destination,” Jamison said.
While a seven-day vehicle pass would increase from $25 to $30, the annual pass would increase from $35 to $60. The win- ter vehicle pass would go from $15 to $20. The hiker/biker summer pass would in- crease from $12 to $15, but the winter pass would remain at $10. The seven-day mo- torcycle pass would increase from $12 per person to $25 per motorcycle in summer and from $10 per person to $15 per motor- cycle in winter.
The proposal also included the imple- mentation of a motorized boat launch fee
and would support managing the boat launch facilities within the park. Officials say the fee would be $10 for a seven-day pass and $40 for an annual pass.
Lastly, the National Park Service also proposed an increase to various camp- ing fees, specifically at the Many Gla- cier Campground, where one night’s stay would increase from $20 to $23. If ap- proved, that fee would be implemented in the summer of 2016. Fees would also increase at group campsites in the park, including St. Mary, Apgar, Many Glacier and Two Medicine. The proposed fee is $65 per group reservation site and $60 for first-come, first-serve group sites.
If approved, the fee increases would bring in an additional $500,000 every year to Glacier’s coffers. Eighty percent of the fees a national park collects go di- rectly to visitor services and maintenance within the park. The remaining 20 per- cent is distributed throughout the rest of the park service.
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