UW Contributes to New Federal Interagency Pass Program |  
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Jan. 23, 2007 -- Land management agencies may have trouble covering the cost of maintaining federal lands under a new interagency pass program that took effect Jan. 1, according to the director of the University of Wyoming unit which provided data that served as the basis for assessing the new fees.
"The revenues from passes and entrance fees are used to help preserve the lands and keep up the facilities at our national parks and national forests," says Burke Grandjean, UW professor of statistics and sociology and executive director of the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center (WySAC). "Sales of the new pass could mean lower total revenues than if everyone paid for entrance at the gate."
The new interagency pass will cost visitors $80 per year for unlimited entrance fees at lands managed by the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Forest Service. By comparison, the gate fee at a national park can run $25 per visit, and the cost per visit to other federal lands that charge a fee is usually $5 to $10.
The new pass program was created by the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, authorized by Congress in 2004. The new program, known as the "America the Beautiful" pass system, replaces the $65 Golden Eagle Passport, as well as the Golden Age, Golden Access, and National Parks passes.
Federal officials say that 100 percent of the revenue derived from passes sold at federal recreation sites will directly benefit the selling agency, and no less than 80 percent will remain at the site where the pass was sold.
WySac was awarded a $329,000 contract to study the fees after responding to a national call for proposals in 2005. The multi-phase project, led by Patricia Taylor, UW professor of sociology, included a benchmarking study to compare existing federal passes with those for state park systems and those offered by Parks Canada; an examination of theories and methods of non-market valuation (conducted by professors Jason Shogren and David Aadland in the UW Department of Economics and Finance); interviewing focus groups in several cities in different parts of the United States; and conducting and analyzing a national telephone survey.
One of the government's goals was to establish a pricing system that was revenue neutral, Taylor says, meaning that total revenues generated would not be less than they would be in the absence of the pass system. However, she says price was just one factor considered, as the agencies also seek to increase visitations to federal sites and to enhance the recreational experiences of visitors.
If you charged a very low price for gate fees or passes, you'd get more people to visit these public lands, but that would be contrary to achieving revenue neutrality," Taylor says.
Given that some states charge as much as $120 for season passes to their parks, and Canada charges $140, Grandjean says the new pass price is a bargain for families that can visit federal lands several times a year.
"I thought we'd see a price in the neighborhood of $100, so I was surprised it was set at $80," he says. The UW study indicates that the $80 price probably falls short of being revenue neutral, but will come closer than the previous pass system did.
The new system also offers a $10 lifetime senior pass for U.S. citizens 62 or over; a free lifetime access pass for citizens with permanent disabilities; and a new free annual volunteer pass for those acquiring 500 hours of volunteer service. Passes are available at federal recreation sites that charge entrance fees, through government Internet sites, and through some third-party vendors.
Additional details about the new pass program, including WySAC's full research reports, are available on the website of the U.S. Department of the Interior at
http://www.doi.gov/initiatives/recreation_feeprogram.html.
Photo
A backpacker absorbs the wondrous splendor of Grand Teton National Park. The University of Wyoming's Survey & Analysis Center provided data that served as the basis for assessing fees under a new interagency pass program that took effect Jan. 1. The new interagency pass will cost visitors $80 per year for unlimited entrance fees at lands managed by the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Forest Service. (Photo Courtesy Grand Teton National Park)
Posted on Tuesday, January 23, 2007
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