Nary a dissenting voice was heard on the floor when Congress passed the National Park Service Centennial Act earlier this month.
The bill, signed into law by President Obama on Dec. 16, enjoyed the kind of bipartisan support not seen in ages, and was inspired by the same spirit of celebration that marked the 100-year anniversary of the National Park Service throughout 2016.
Among its provisions, the bill establishes and funds a national parks endowment, expands the Centennial Challenge (a public-private funding partnership), and provides new educational programs for young people and expanded opportunities for volunteers.
Even better, the act will address – though certainly not solve – the estimated $12 billion maintenance backlog the NPS says is the biggest threat parks face in their second century.
It is a step in the right direction, as the parks are seeing some of the highest levels of visitors ever experienced. The act addresses not just present funding problems, but with the endowment, provides a path to help fund parks in the future.
The Centennial Challenge is already proven as a source for funds; private donations are matched by federal appropriations. According to the National Parks Conservation Association, in two years, a $25 million matching investment from the federal government can “cultivate twice that amount in private donations.”
Passage of the bill was greeted with raspberries, however, from the senior section of the gallery. That is because it calls for the elimination of the popular $10 Senior Pass, a lifetime parks entry pass, and replaces it with a new one (for seniors age 62 and older) for $80.
The NPS has not declared when the new fee will go into effect, but it is expected soon.
The Park Service is softening the blow in two ways. First, the lifetime pass is still available at $10 until the change is implemented, and a Senior Annual pass will be sold for $20. Four consecutive Senior Annual passes can then be exchanged for a lifetime pass, putting the purchase, in effect, on an installment plan.
Still, many senior advocates are calling the bill a Christmas gift from Congress that equates to a lump of coal in seniors’ stockings. They say the anticipated revenue from the new lifetime fee, anywhere from $20 to $35 million, is just a drop in that $12 billion maintenance-needs bucket.
That may be true, but it misses the point. Add that revenue to funding from the endowment fund and new, creative sources made possible by the Centennial Challenge, and the NPS can begin to chip away at that crushing backlog.
The jump from $10 to $80 is steep, but a lifetime pass includes entrance to all national parks, monuments and wildlife refuges and covers standard amenity fees (charged for picnic tables, toilets, trash, parking, etc). Passholders are also entitled to a 50 percent discount on campground fees.
The fee increase might result in hardship in a few cases, but seniors interested in visiting national parks tend to have the time and resources to make multiple visits. Even at the new price, the lifetime pass will pay for itself in short order.
NPS spokesperson Kathy Kupper summed it up well, responding to critics of the price hike: “It is still a great deal.”
We agree. Considering the benefits, that pass remains a bargain.
