Date: June 18, 2015
Contact: Richard Ullmann, 928-524-6228 x245
Petrified Forest, AZ –Starting on October 1, Petrified Forest National Park will increase entrance fees for visitors in order to fund important maintenance and improvement projects within the park.
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Entry Fee
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Current Fee
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Fee as of October 1, 2015
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annual pass
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$20
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$30
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per vehicle
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$10
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$20
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per person
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$5
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$10
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per motorcycle
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$5
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$10
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"This increase in fees will allow us to continue to protect, preserve and share the special places here at Petrified Forest National Park with current visitors and future generations. Fees have been constant since 1997," says park superintendent Brad Traver. "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."
Entrance fees have supported a wide range of projects that improve the park and visitor experiences, including rehabilitating trails and trailhead signs, developing and installing exhibits in visitor centers, improving park water systems, providing ranger-led programs, and improving ADA accessibility. As the park has experienced a thirty-six percent increase in visitation in the last three years, additional revenue from this fee increase allows the park to maintain and improve these services.
In the fall of 2014, the National Park Service conducted a nationwide review of entrance fees.
To solicit public input, Petrified Forest National Park launched a civic engagement campaign to include conversation with local officials as well as postings on our website and social media. While the majority of comments supported an increase, some felt aspects of the original proposal were too much
of an increase. In response to these comments, the annual pass fee was only raised to $30 (vs. a proposed $40) and the per motorcycle fee was only raised to $10 (vs. a proposed $15).The date of implementation was also delayed until after the peak summer travel season in response to public comment.
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 407 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.
