Get ready on Monday to pay more for that favorite camping spot
or visit to a state museum. Reeling from state budget cuts, the
California Department of Parks and Recreation will increase day-use
parking fees by $2 to $5 and camping fees will increase $10 to $21
a night.
By Bill Lindelof, McClatchy News Service
Get ready on Monday to pay more for that favorite camping spot or visit to a state museum.
Reeling from state budget cuts, the California Department of Parks and Recreation will increase day-use parking fees by $2 to $5 and camping fees will increase $10 to $21 a night.
“In these dire economic times, we can no longer afford to keep our fees at their current levels,” said State Parks Director Ruth Coleman. “The people of California understand that by charging more, we will be able to keep more parks open and preserved for these and future generations.”
Despite the increases, about 100 state parks will be closed to save the state more money. The decision about which parks close is being studied, pending the formation of partnerships with entities such as cities and corporations that state parks officials hope can lend financial support.
Also being studied is how much day-use and camping fees will increase at each individual park.
Entrance fees currently range from about $8 to $10 per vehicle at state parks. Camping fees are $15 to $44 a night.
The fee increases will only generate about $200,000 this year because the busiest part of the state parks’ season is winding down. Also, campers who have already made reservations won’t have to pay the fee increases.
However, over the next three full years the increases are expected to bring in about $5 million. The increases are needed because the parks department budget took a $14.2 million hit to help solve California’s $24 billion deficit.
Superintendents are looking at parks up and down the state to determine how much fees will be increased at individual parks. Parks that get the most visitors will probably have the highest increases, said Roy Stearns, state parks spokesman.
Parks in the Sacramento area that might see increases are Folsom Lake, the state Railroad Museum, Sutter’s Fort and the old Governor’s Mansion.
It is hard to know what the market will bear, Stearns said.
“Our very cautious procedure here is to not raise fees too much,” he said. “We have had the experience of going up too sharply and visitorship drops. Then you don’t gain revenue. The other problem is it starts to price people out of their public park system and we don’t want to do that.”
