Remember when the National Parks Pass died and the pricier America the Beautiful Federal Lands Pass arrived? Wondering how sales have gone? Let's take a look.
When the $80 ATB pass replaced the $50 National Parks Pass on January 1, 2007, the idea was that one pass could get you into all public lands where an entrance fee was charged. (Of course, you didn't need the ATB to do that, as you could upgrade your National Parks Pass for $15 and use it to get into other public lands where fees were charged, but that's another story.)
Under the ground rules, 100 percent of the sales price of these passes goes back to the agency that sold the pass. So, in terms of NPS revenues, one of the gambles created by the ATB pass was whether there were more folks who, for instance, use Forest Service lands than parks and so would be likely to purchase their ATB pass at a Forest Service site, not a national park, and thus ensure that those revenues stayed within the Forest Service.
Well, in looking at revenue figures since the ATB arrived three years ago, it looks like just about a wash for the Park Service. Jane Moore, the agency's fee program manager, provided the Traveler with this update on 2008 pass sales:
2008 Pass Revenue
Total for the interagency program: $29 million with approximately 760,000 passes sold.
2008 Breakdown:
U.S. Bureau of Land Management --$260,000
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- $290,000
U.S. Forest Service -- $1.7 million
National Park Service -- $24.7 million
Internet/toll-free phone/third-party sales -- $1.9 million
Revenue Distribution:
Central sales revenue (the $1.9 million figure above) is used to fund the administrative costs of the program (fulfillment, printing, shipping, web orders, inventory management, program administration, start up costs etc)
All revenue from field sales of the passes remain in the agency where the pass was sold. Most agencies allow the field sites to retain 80-100 percent of pass revenue for site specific projects that benefit visitors.
2009 Pass Revenue Stats for the NPS
$24.2 million in pass revenue
In 2006, the last year for the National Parks Pass, the Park Service took in $22.2 million. In 2005 it received $18.6 million, and in 2004 pass sales totaled $20.3 million. The slightly higher Park Service revenues for 2008 and 2009 (higher by roughly $2 million-$3 million annually) can be traced in part to the fact that while senior pass sales were included in ATB sales, they were not included in the National Park Pass sales for years prior to 2007, according to Ms. Moore.
Comments
That's not surprising. It's pretty clear what the NPS pass gets you - free entrance/parking to all units that charge a fee. National forests in contrast are often a patchwork of lands, and I couldn't say off the top of my head what the USFS charges fees for. I know that I have sometimes encountered parking lots within our national forests (Chequamegon/Nicolet) that say fee area, but I usually wouldn't be inclined to pay a fee unless I'm sticking around. Otherwise there is no fee for driving on the forest roads or parking at pulloffs within the national forest, so I can't say why I'd buy one. National forests also often lack the same kind of visitors centers you get with national parks and their offices are more often closed on weekends I imagine. Seems to me many of the ones in Wisconsin are more interagency visitor centers shared with the NPS, USFWS or some other state/local authorities.
Of course, the pass probably has more use in for other USFS areas, which, I note, include not only national forests but also national grasslands. The USFS also has some locations which offer experiences more traditionally associated with NPS - the two I know of are Mt. St. Helens and the Hubbard Glacier near Juneau (see, e.g., http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/districts/mendenhall/) and maybe those charge a fee but I don't remember off the top of myhead.
I do, however, seem to remember hearing of an NPS unit that is accessible by a USFS road, and the USFS charges a fee to use their road. I think it's in CA but can't recall.
>>Otherwise there is no fee for driving on the forest roads or parking at pulloffs within the national forest<<
Mike, don't say that too loudly. There's a highway that runs from Kamas, Utah, to Evanston, Wyoming, through the Wasatch-Cache National Forest.
The Forest Service long has been charging fees to park at trailhead pulloffs. In fact, used to be there was a single-day fee, as well as a week-long fee, as well as a season-long fee. Recently they got rid of the single-day fee, which I seem to recall was $3, for a $6 three-day minimum pass. Seems like they're trying to force the locals, who might want to hike one day a weekend, but not both, let alone three days straight, to buy the $12 weekly pass or the $45 annual pass.
As far as I recall, Mt St Helens only charges an entrance fee to get into the Johnson Observatory. They have stuff inside as well as a short movie (the ending is rather dramatic).
I've actually paid a parking fee once in the Lake Tahoe area. I didn't think that my pass would cover parking fees, but now that I think of it, I probably could have just placed my pass on the hang tag.
That would be Devils Postpiles National Monument
I'm no math whiz, but something seems off.
If you sell 760,000 passes at $80 per pass, you should end up with a whole lot more money than $29 million.
"If you sell 760,000 passes at $80 per pass, you should end up with a whole lot more money than $29 million."
I would guess there are a lot of senior citizens buying the discounted pass in that 760,000.
The Pass only covers entrance fees to sites that charge entrance fees. Only approximately 1/4 of the 392 units within the NP units charge an entrance fee. The Pass does not cover other fees charged to visit the park. For entrance, instead of charging an entrance fee Mt Rushmore charges a $10 parking fee is charged. At Mammoth Cave where the main attraction is the cave, you are charged for cave tours. To visit Statue of Liberty you must pay for the boat ride. There are so many other fees charged that should be included in the pass.
Parking at Mt Rushmore is a concessionaire and is not run by the park service. Technically it is free to visit Mt. Rushmore, just not with a car.