While the Clinton administration proposes charging
people more to visit national parks, the National Park Service
continues to lose more than $100 million a year in fees it fails to
collect. According to an Interior Department audit, the agency took
in $68 million in gate and campground fees at the nation’s 367
parks, monuments and recreation areas last year. But another $105
million in fees went uncollected. Park Service officials disagree
with the audit, estimating losses closer to $40 million. They
admit, however, that entry gates and campgrounds are often not
staffed because of budget cuts. Auditors pointed out that 168 Park
Service units don’t bother trying to collect fees, even though they
are authorized to do so by Congress. At Lake Mead National
Recreational Area along the Colorado River, for example, auditors
said the agency could make $8.2 million a year from a $5 car
entrance fee. Now no one is charged. Auditors concluded that
enforcing fees would more than offset the costs of collection. A
new park-fee proposal by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt takes a
different approach. Babbitt wants to raise another $32 million a
year by eliminating congressional caps on national park fees and by
charging on a per person instead of a per vehicle
basis.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Parks give free rides.
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