Park to Increase Entrance Fees Beginning August 29

Date: August 14, 2015
Contact: Greg Shine, Chief Ranger & Historian, 360-816-6231
Contact: Mike Twist, Park Ranger & Fee Program Coordinator, 360-816-6246

Vancouver, WA –Starting on August 29, 2015, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (NHS) will increase entrance fees for visitors in order to fund important maintenance and improvement projects within the park.

The new fee structure includes modifications to the February 2015 draft proposal based on public input. Most notably, the individual daily use fee will increase from $3 to $5 on August 29, 2015 but will not be increased from $5 to $7 in 2016 as originally proposed.

Fort Vancouver NHS	Current Fee Schedule	New Tier 1 Fees Effective 8/29/2015	Additional Notes
Daily Use Fee	$3	$5	Pass valid for 7 days
Park Specific Annual Pass	$10	$30	Covers 4 adults (including card holder) for 12 months from date of purchase

In the fall of 2014, the National Park Service conducted a nationwide review of entrance fees. To solicit public input, Fort Vancouver NHS launched a 30-day civic engagement period from February 26, 2015 through March 27, 2015. Based on feedback received through this civic engagement, the park developed and submitted an implementation strategy, which included a removal of the $7 daily per-person use fee proposed to be phased-in in 2016.

"Based on the comments received through our civic engagement, the park was able to make an important modification to the final proposal," said Fort Vancouver Superintendent Tracy Fortmann. "After carefully considering the impact of a fee increase on visitors and community members, we came to the conclusion that this is the right course of action to improve facilities and services important to visitors and also meet the needs and expectations of the community. This modest fee increase will allow us to continue to protect, preserve and share the special places here at Fort Vancouver with current visitors and future generations."

At Fort Vancouver NHS, the additional revenue from the fee increase will be used to enhance visitor services, including repair and maintenance of park facilities, rehabilitation of visitor service buildings, and repair and replacement of equipment and materials to enhance park programming and special events.

Examples of past projects funded through fee revenue at Fort Vancouver NHS include replicating nineteenth century furniture for museum display and use in "hands-on" and living history special events onsite, creating new trail maps, replacing viewing decks along the Columbia River waterfront, adding accessible trails within the reconstructed stockade, adding picnic tables and trash receptacles throughout the park, and replacing playground equipment at the popular playground near the Visitor Center.

The proposed fee increase affects the reconstructed stockade site only. Access to park grounds, trails, roads, and facilities outside of the reconstructed stockade site would remain free of charge. Facilities that will remain free of charge to access include the Visitor Center (currently under rehabilitation) and Pearson Air Museum in Vancouver, WA, and the McLoughlin and Barclay Houses at the park's McLoughlin House Unit in Oregon City, OR.

This fee increase is part of a larger National Park Service initiative to standardize fees in similar national parks across the country. Entrance fees have been collected at Fort Vancouver NHS for more than 20 years, with the last fee increase instituted in 2001.

Entrance fees are not charged to persons under 16 years of age or holders of the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreation Passes. These passes may be obtained at the park's Contact Station. Interagency Passes, which are honored at all federally managed land units, are not affected by the proposed fee increase and will remain at $80 for the Interagency Annual Pass, $10 for the Senior Pass, and free for the Access or Military passes.

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is a strong economic engine for the surrounding area. A recent report showed that 733,539 visitors to Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in 2013 spent $40.4 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 610 jobs in the local area.  

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