Park allows online feedback on fee increases after criticism from media and public

Reversing an earlier decision, Yellowstone administrators have decided they will allow the public to submit online feedback on their plan to raise the park’s entrance fees.

Yellowstone officials announced the change on Tuesday as they also extended the deadline for public comments by two weeks — from Dec. 5 to Dec. 20.

“In response to public requests, the park will also open up the opportunity for interested individuals to submit comments online,” the Park Service said in a news release.

You can now submit comments by visiting parkplanning.nps.gov/fees or you can continue to mail them to Management Assistant Office, Attn: Entrance Fee Proposal, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY, 82190.

Among other increases, Yellowstone officials want to begin charging $30 for a three-day vehicle pass (currently, a $25 permit gets visitors into both Yellowstone and Grand Teton for a week) and $60 for an annual Yellowstone pass (up from a $50 pass good at both parks).

Officials are also proposing a new $3 per-person fee for Yellowstone’s backcountry campers.

The announcement that online comments would be accepted on those plans came five days after the publication of a Tribune story that noted the decision to exclude those remarks contrasted with other national parks and past Yellowstone proposals.

The Tribune found it appeared to be the first time in eight and a half years — a span of 50-some proposals — that Yellowstone administrators had not allowed the public to comment by email or via an online form.

Park spokesman Al Nash had declined to explain why administrators treated this proposal differently than others, saying only that they felt giving people the chance to send in a letter or attend a regional meeting “offered adequate opportunities for public comment.”

A Yellowstone fact sheet on the proposal says “public comments are important to the National Park Service and will be used to inform the final fee rate structure, along with considerations of park operation and maintenance costs.”

The Tribune’s editorial board criticized the decision to exclude online remarks — as well as the proposed entrance fee increases in general — in a Tuesday opinion piece.

National park administrators across the United States are being asked to raise and standardize their rates to help cover increased costs of operation.

Officials at Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Glacier national park are also seeking to raise entrance fees to $30 per vehicle as well, but unlike in Yellowstone, their passes would be good for a week. Yellowstone administrators’ justification for limiting their passes to three days is that about 70 percent of visitors stay less than four days; they say they’re differing to “better align with local visitation patterns.”

Each national park gets to keep 80 percent of the entrance fees they collect.

Entrance fees have been providing about $4 million a year for projects in Yellowstone and administrators believe this proposal will boost that figure to $7 million (and $11.3 million a year in total). Part of the boost would be that Yellowstone would no longer share its revenue with Grand Teton, something currently required with joint park passes.

Projects being eyed for the additional money include restoring Yellowstone cutthroat trout, maintaining the park’s seven campgrounds, preserving park roads, improving restrooms, rebuilding trails — including those around Tower Falls — and a new entrance station at the park’s North Entrance.