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Senate Passes National Park Service Centennial Act Before Adjourning

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Shortly before sunrise Saturday the U.S. Senate quickly and without debate passed the National Park Service Centennial Act, assuring the Park Service a relatively small, but helpful, infusion of dollars to help maintain the sprawling National Park System. U.S. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, made a motion about 6 a.m. Eastern that the House version of the legislation be approved with unanimous consent and the chamber agreed.

While the House passed its version of the act on Wednesday, the Senate version was attached to a massive Energy Bill that died.

Though it looked like Democrats in the Senate would force the government to shut down at midnight Friday over a dispute regarding the funding of health benefits for coal miners, they relented shortly before midnight and the chamber passed a Continuing Resolution to keep government operating into April. That provided the chamber with additional time to finish last-minute work, such as passage of the Park Service Centennial Act.

As passed by the House, the legislation increases the price of a lifetime pass for senior citizens 62 and older to $80 from its current $10 lifetime fee. Seniors who don't want to pay the $80 could purchase an annual pass for $20.

Park Service staff estimate that the increase in the cost of a senior pass would generate $20 million a year.

The legislation, drafted by U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, had bipartisan support in the House. It calls for deposit of up to $10 million generated from all Park Service sales of America The Beautiful - The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes into a Second Century Endowment for the National Park Service to be managed by the National Park Foundation. Any revenues above $10 million would be deposited in a Centennial Challenge fund for projects in the parks. However, they would need to be matched by private dollars before they could be spent as the legislation is written.

The House also approved an annual appropriation of $5 million to the National Park Foundation for each of the 2017-2023 fiscal years for use as matching funds for contributions made to the foundation.

Missing from the House bill was a request from Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Arizona, to amend the bill with a requirement that Congress appropriate an additional $300 million per year for fiscal years 2017, 2018, and 2019 to help the Park Service address its maintenance backlog, estimated at $12 billion.

Comments

 

While I am sorry to see the Senior Pass cost increase, it is a small pittance in what value it provides to the bearer.  

 

When you look at a Daily cost for an individual to get into Disneyland/Disneyworld, Vail Resorts or many Football and Baseball venues, it is a slam dunk in what value the $80 annual/senior pass is.  Lets be honest here.  When you see young families camped in a campground paying full price for their spot or entry fee, when a considerable portion of Seniors (Which by the way I am one these lucky ones too) are operating large motorhomes/5th Wheels/RVs paying a fraction of these costs.  When I was a young parent I remember how hard it was for me struggling to pay for my National Park visits when I was just starting my family.  We could only afford tent camping and backpacking with my two young children.  

 

So I challenge all of us Seniors to stop complaining, because the funds do return to the parks/federal lands with 80% of its value remaining in the Park from which it was issued, I challenge Current/Future Senior Pass holders to purchase an Annual Pass for each of your Adult Children for their birthday, Christmas/Hanukah, Wedding presents. That way you knock out a gift that keeps on giving all year round and helps the National Parks, too!! 

 

Pay it forward folks and stop complaining. 

 

bryan


I'm laughing so hard I'm crying! 


I have to agree on the Senior Pass Bryan. I'm a senior citizen, closer to 70 than 60, and on a small fixed income. Regardless, the pass is worth it.


While I am inclined to agree with Bryan and RickB, I think mixing privately owned resorts and public lands is apples and oranges. I am happy to pay a little more to support our parks, but they are public lands and should be affordable to all, not private sector entities that can charge what the market will bear.  It is the fee creep that concerns me the most, it just allows congress to hold more funding for the parks. It is also a regressive tax, those least able to pay are affected the most. I do think Dr. Runte posted a very thought provoking comment on this issue. We simply cannot sustain the resources of the planet without paying attention to population increase and all the development, sprawl, pollution that it entails. I have always thought education was the key, but we are not doing very well in that regard. Political demagoguery dose not help much either, the attacks on women and their right to make their own reproductive health choices, along with other issues, is quite troubling. In any case, interesting discussion.  


William Guy has a point worth further investigation; is the new administration going to turn over the management of public lands to the highest paying private vendors to operate as they see fit and ignore the validity of the lifetime senior pass to enter "their" national park?


Why is it that it is always the seniors who pay for new programs or increases that our government wants to do. Remember Obama Care and the millions of dollars the government literally stole from the Social Security pot to pay for the future  participants in Medicade. Why always the seniors who are signaled out first. Enough!!! If our National Parks need more money, how about increasing the fees for foreign travelers. Each foreign traveler should have to pay a substantial increase for the privilege to visit our National treasures. To have a flat fee for one tour bus is insane. Each traveler needs a substantial increase before attacking our seniors with this increase. Enough!!!!! My husband and I visit Yellowstone every year. We both have senior passes, but leave them at home and pay the $10.00 each year to help support our parks; however, I am not in favor of any increase for seniors. 


Does America really believe that the National Parks will be saved by jumping the Senior pass from $10 to $80?  That's an 800% increase folks.  What would a stamp cost if its price jumped 800%?  (Answer $3.92)  And how many Americans would be outraged by that increase?  But vulnerable seniors are an easy target and many seniors aren't even aware of the Senior Pass - so, no massive outrage.  Yes, the $10 fee is, as I tell the people in my outdoor volunteer job, the best bargain on the planet, but it NOT fair to place the burden of saving the parks on the shoulders of seniors.  It won't work anyway and is just a stopgap measure.  This was obviously a rushed piece of legislation by Congress (what else is new?).  It will not begin to solve the issue of increased use of the National Parks.

There is a lot of misinformation circulated in other comments, but I must agree with those who feel non-citizens should pay more.  The parks are supported by American taxpayers.  Fees for non-taxpayers, foreign visitors could/should be increased - partly because they have no vested interest in protecting and preserving these parks and no interest in obeying protection rules.  As a frequent visitor, I see brutal mis-use of park lands.  True, education hasn't made much difference.  Perhaps it is "underfunded."  Now there's an idea.  Use the millions garnered by the 800% increase in senior fees to do a better job of educating people about taking better care of these parks.

But it will take more than that.  Fees must be increased, but not on the backs of one, small group.


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