It soon will cost you a little bit more to enter Yosemite National Park/Kurt Repanshek
A sliding scale for entrance fees, and slightly higher campground fees, will take effect at Yosemite National Park on March 1.
During the civic engagement period, the park received 2,430 e-mails in response to the proposal, 1,222 comments on the park's Facebook page, and 16 mailed letters. Input received from the public during civic engagement led to significant changes to the park's fee increase proposal.
'We want to thank all the members of the public that submitted input. Based on the public comments received, the park was able to make some important modifications to the final proposal,' said Yosemite Superintendent Don Neubacher. 'The fee increases proposed will help the park keep up with inflation.'
In response to public comment, Yosemite will introduce a lower seasonal rate for the seven-day vehicle entrance pass. The lower rate of $25 will be available January through March and November through December. Yosemite National Park will also phase the implementation of the motorcycle entrance fee. Currently, motorcyclists entering the park are assessed $10 per individual. The park amended the initial proposal of $25 per motorcycle to $15 per motorcycle in 2015 and $20 per motorcycle in 2016. In regard to camping fees, the basic rates were only increased approximately 20 percent.
'With additional entrance fees, we will be able to complete some critical projects in the next few years that benefit park visitors,' said Randy Fong, the park's Division Chief of Project Management. 'We want everyone to know that 80 percent of the revenue stays here in Yosemite National Park to make these projects a reality. Without the funding, the projects will simply not get implemented.'
Fee projects planned for the future include restoration projects in Tuolumne Meadows and along the Merced River in Yosemite Valley, improved parking, wayfinding, and traffic flow for park visitors, rehabilitation of popular trails including the John Muir Trail and the Mist Trail, an improved emergency communication data network, restroom improvements, and expanded educational youth programs. Additionally, funding will be designated to expand campsites at popular Yosemite Valley campgrounds, such as Camp 4 and Upper Pines.
The last entrance fee increase in Yosemite National Park occurred in 1997 when fees were raised from $5 to $20 for private vehicles. The new proposed increase will make Yosemite entrance fees comparable to the cost of other large parks across the country, including Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Zion national parks.
A summary of the fee increase for all the fee categories follows: The single vehicle entrance fee will raise from $20 per vehicle to $25 per vehicle for the month of March 2015, then to $30 per vehicle starting in April through October 2015. The new vehicle entrance fee is good for a seven-day visit to Yosemite National Park. In November 2015, the vehicle entrance fee will decrease to $25 per vehicle. The park will implement low-season entrance fees of $25 per vehicle for the months of November through March in 2015 and 2016. High season, April through October, entrance fees will be $30 per vehicle in 2015 and 2016.
The park's annual pass will increase from $40 to $60, also on March 1. Currently, motorcycles are charged the $10 per individual rate. The new fee changes will include a flat rate per motorcycle of $15. Implementation of the new motorcycle entrance fee will be phased over the next several years. The rate will change to $15 per motorcycle on March 1, 2015. The rate will adjust to $20 per motorcycle in 2016. Interagency Passes, which are honored at all federally managed land units, are not affected by the proposed fee increase and will remain at $80 for the regular pass, $10 for the Senior Pass and free for the Access and Military passes. Fees for commercial buses are also not affected by these changes.
Type of Fee
Effective 3/1/2015
Effective 1/1/2016
Per Vehicle Entrance, 7-day pass
March $25
April - October $30
November - December $25
January - March $25
April - October $30
November - December $25
Individual Entrance
$15
Motorcycle Entrance
$15 per motorcycle
$20 per motorcycle
Yosemite National Park Annual Pass
$60
Family/Group Reservation Campsites
Range: $26 - $50
First-Come, First-Serve Available Campsites
Range: $6 - $18
Comments
That's a start for time of use pricing.
Agree Zebulon, maybe my older age, and I have stated my objections before, but I opposed these increases, again they will hit those the most that already have trouble paying for a trip to a Park like Yosemite. I spend most of my summer months in Parks on fire assignments, this will only increase the divide between the haves and have nots in my view. A very slippery slope.
Yes Ron, 10 incremental dollars for a 7 day pass is really going to widen that divide. (sarcasm off). I wish you would show as much understanding and concern for why that divide exists.
"I wish you would show as much understanding and concern for why that divide exists."
Yes, that would be very helpful but that would require looking outside the park bubble. All the destruction going on outside said bubble is mitigated by the thrill of the President's new budget. I certainly value the Parks but it shouldn't be a Quid Pro Quo. How much do we have to accept until it's just not acceptable. People aren't going to deny funds to Parks for good efforts/results.I know that's up to definition.
EC, a fair question, again it maybe just my own inexpert view on the current economic policies beginning with President Reagan and continuing to the present. We have discussed this before, and it is getting off topic, but the shift from the Keynesian economic theories (what I was taught in college), to those of the neo-liberal school of Hydak, Friedman, Greenspan, others, is an interesting study. You like to look up information on issues, look up the term neo-liberal, it describes what I think is the fundamental problem here. There are several good books on this topic, a recent one, "The Crash of 2016" by Freespeech TV host Thom Hartman, is an interesting read.
I don't know how you can put "current economic policies" and "President Reagan"in the same sentence. They are so diametrically opposed.
I don't think it is a coincidence that the economic gap you are so despondent about has widened dramatically since our current President took office and his economic policies are about as Keynesian as you can get.
BTW, I don't expect that the difference in pricing will change behaviors. The entrance fee is such a small part of the overall cost of going to Yosemite that it's a rounding error.
The Crash of 2016: Thank You Ron Mackie for referencing this book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=039Zh9KBCqY
Thom Hartmann on "The Crash of 2016: The Plot to Destroy America—and What We Can Do to Stop It"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvxhh3hjfSs