Just returning from Yellowstone and Teton National Parks, we encountered entrance pay stations – like toll road stations. They provided maps and information, but they wanted $20/car to enter their wondrous domains. (We had purchased a very reasonably priced lifetime "golden-age" pass a few years earlier, and so were waved on through.)

What about these entrance charges? The Congress wants to know what citizens think of this now 4-year experiment, as it is being reconsidered. The experiment allows the Park Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Fish and Wildlife Service to test fees at up to 100 facilities each.

It is quite clear that these agencies need more funds to address maintenance backlogs, increasing visitor services, and resource management needs. The entrance fee is an honest and straight-forward charge paid only by users. A small charge would seldom be objected to. To a vacationing family a charge less than the cost of another tank of gas might be O.K. with most.

But, it costs something to collect the fee. (However "Welcome Station" facilities and personnel might be retained anyhow – then it costs virtually nothing to collect an entrance fee.)

And anyhow, citizens pay taxes to support this activity. Why should they pay twice?

Traditionally citizens’ general taxes have paid for these agencies’ activities. In 1996 this experiment was authorized by Congress to provide added funds to protect a degrading resource heritage. It was hoped years of under-funding could be reversed by user-fees, rather than large increases in agency budgets from taxes.

Are we citizens mature enough to tell our legislators: yes, we will be willing to pay more taxes for this? The reasonable user-fee seems to be a solution also, but it should be low enough that low-income families can afford it. Should it be $10? The user-fee is straight-forward and an opportunity to support a specific resource valued by the tourist-user.

The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy would like to make this recommendation in behalf of our members – but only after receiving some feed-back from readers of "The Highlands Voice" in the next two months. Please write Public Land Committee at the address given in The Voice. Please also write your own letter to our Legislators in Washington.

Don Gasper

November 4, 2001