Warren County joins opposition to National Park fee hikes

Shenandoah National Park is awful pretty – but $70 for a day drive?!? Photo NPS

Warren County joined the mounting protest against massive proposed fee hikes to national parks on Wednesday morning, November 8.  The county board of supervisors unanimously approved a resolution urging the National Park Service to reconsider the 180-percent hike from the current $25 daily rate for vehicles to $70.  The item had been part of the Consent Agenda but was removed by Happy Creek Supervisor Tony Carter so the reasons for the action could be publicly discussed.

The resolution asked the county’s congressional delegation – Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, as well as Delegate Robert Goodlatte – to pressure the park service to reject the increase proposed by the Trump Administration.  Warner and Kaine have already expressed strong opposition.

A letter from the local Chamber of Commerce in the board agenda packet also urged the county’s elected officials, business owners and citizens to express their opposition directly to the park service by the public comment deadline of November 23.  That letter from Chamber President Niki Foster, who was present at the morning supervisors meeting, summarized the two-pronged concerns at the heart of growing opposition to the plan – “… a fee of this magnitude may be prohibitive to many tourists, and with fewer tourists come decreased revenue to our business community.  In addition, this fee could make it less affordable for families at the lower end of the economic scale to enjoy the beauty and educational opportunities offered at the Shenandoah National Park.”

As to Foster’s latter point, as Front Royal Town Attorney Doug Napier told us of the proposal’s impact on lower-income Americans, “It’s mean, it’s just mean spirited.”  fee hike plan – maintenance or something else?

As we previously reported, according to the Trump Administration, which is charged with administering the National Park Service (NPS) through the Department of the Interior, the fee hikes will serve to address an $11.3 billion maintenance backlog.

Of the administration proposal, Senators Warner and Kaine said, “These fee increases, many of which are two-to-three times that of current levels, could price out many of our constituents and other individuals and families across the country from visiting these national treasures …we do not believe that shifting the burden to our park visitors in the form of significant fee increases is an appropriate or practical way to reduce the deferred maintenance backlog.”

Warner and Kaine pointed to alternative bipartisan legislation, which Warner co-sponsored, introduced earlier this year as a counter-solution to deal with the long-time national park maintenance backlog.

“The National Park Service Legacy Act would help eradicate the maintenance backlog at the Park Service by directing existing revenues from mineral royalties toward high-priority deferred maintenance needs of the National Park Service, including investing in critical NPS infrastructure like Arlington Memorial Bridge.

“This bipartisan legislation would help repair and restore the aging and deteriorating infrastructure of our national parks and ensure that these treasure are preserved for future generations to enjoy. It would allow the Park Service to reduce its maintenance backlog without having to significantly increase the cost of admittance for visitors of our national parks,” Virginia’s senators said.

The full list of 17 parks targeted in the fee hike proposal is: Shenandoah, Yellowstone, Acadia, Yosemite, Arches, Glacier, Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Denali, Mount Rainier, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Olympic, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, and Joshua Tree.

As Town Attorney Napier pointed out, North Carolina’s Smokey Mountain National Park with more visitors than Shenandoah annually, is mysteriously off the list. – “There’s no logic to it,” Napier observed.

Current passes at Shenandoah National Park (SNP) are priced at:

1. Weekly (which serves one to seven days):
   • $25 vehicle (private);
   • $20 motorcycle;
   • $10 bike or walking;
2. Annual, $50;
3. Lifetime (62 or older), $80.

At other parks the current 7-day entrance fees vary from $30 at Yellowstone and Yosemite; $25 at Glacier and as little as $10 at Arches.

Proposed peak season fees at the designated parks are:

1. Weekly passes:
   • $70 vehicle (private) (180% increase at SNP);
   • $50 motorcycle (150% hike at SNP);
   • $30 bike or walking (200% hike at SNP);
   • Annual pass $75 (50% hike at SNP).

On Nov. 8, County Administrator Doug Stanley, left, and board Vice-Chair Tony Carter presented Chair Linda Glavis with the Virginia Association of Counties ‘Supervisor Service Award’ for 10 years in the municipal government saddle. And drawing on that depth of experience Glavis voted to oppose the proposed national park entrance fee hikes, along with her more and less-experienced colleagues. Photo/Roger Bianchini