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Contact: Cody Goraczkowski, 507-825-5464 Ext. 213
Public Meeting scheduled tor 3:00pm to 7:00pm on January 29, 2015. Pipestone, MN –Pipestone National Monument will hold a public meeting at the Performing ArtsCenter to receive comments concerning proposed entrance fee increases in 2015.The current monument entrance fees have been in place since 2004 when Congresspassed the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (REA). The proposed increasesaffects the per person fee, and monument specific pass. Per Person (7 Days)fees $3 to proposed $7. Park Specific Annual Pass Fees $15 to proposed $30. Entrance fees are not chargedto persons under 16 years of age or holders of the America the BeautifulNational Parks and Federal Recreational Senior, Access or Military Passes.These passes may be obtained at the Park. "We are committed tokeeping the park affordable but we also want to provide visitors with the bestpossible experience," said Pipestone National Monument Superintendent GlenLivermont. "Future funds will be used in the rehabilitation of the monumentvisitor center museum, construction of a pedestrian/bicycle access trail fromHiawatha Avenue to the visitor center, funding 2016 centennial celebrationactivities, replacing the film theaters audio visual equipment, developing andinstalling wayside exhibits along the Circle Trail, and continue to improvefacilities, infrastructure, and offering expanded visitor services. Recently the monumenthas used Recreation Fee funds for the following improvements. Constructed aconcrete sidewalk and picnic table pads at the Three Maidens picnic area toimprove access for persons with disabilities, widening and repaving the CircleTrail to improve access for all visitors, installed drinking fountains with the"bottle fill" option to provide visitors with reusable bottles the opportunityto fill them, replaced hand dryers in visitor center restrooms with high outputmodels to quickly dry hands, and replaced visitor seating in the theater. The five National ParkService areas in Minnesota are strong engines for local economies. Statewide,in 2013, they experienced 658,331 total recreation visits, $380,000,000 intotal visitor spending and supported 550 jobs. For the same period PipestoneNational Monument had 64,761 total recreation visits, and visitors contributedover 4 million dollars to the local economy and supported 55 jobs related totourism. To gather publiccomment on the proposed fee increases a public meeting, hosted by monumentstaff, will take place in the Pipestone Performing Arts Center lobby, 104 EMain St, Pipestone, MN 56164, from 3:00pm to 7:00pm on January 29, 2015. If you are unable to attend this meeting youcan provide feedback via the National Park Service Planning, Environment andPublic Comment (PEPC) website at the following link. https://parkplanning.nps.gov/pipeproposedfeeincrease.Written comments can also be sent to: Superintendent, Pipestone NationalMonument, 36 N. Reservation Ave., Pipestone MN 56164. |
Last updated: November 24, 2015