Proposed Fee Increases for 2006

Date: July 29, 2005
Contact: Yvonne Menard, 805-658-5725

Channel Islands National Park Announces Proposed Fee Increases for 2006; Revenue to Recover Costs Associated with Operation and Maintenance of Campgrounds

Park campground fees are proposed to increase by $5 per night, with the new rate being $15, announced Superintendent Russell E. Galipeau, Jr. The proposed $15/per site per night fee includes the National Reservation Service fee and is among the lowest fees charged in National Park Service campgrounds.

The park recently completed a rate comparability review of campgrounds with similar characteristics, site capacities and amenities. “The proposed increase is slated to begin January 2006, of which eighty percent of the recreation fee visitors pay to camp at Channel Islands National Park directly funds the operation and maintenance of these campgrounds,” said Galipeau.

Fees will be used to fund such projects as hazard tree survey and work, maintenance or replacement of picnic tables, food storage boxes, public water systems, windscreens, signs, restrooms, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies.

Parkwide campground fees were last increased in 2001. Since that time a number of improvements have been made at various locations such as improved and additional toilet facilities, a public potable water system at the Scorpion Campground on Santa Cruz Island, and recently completed outdoor showers and windbreaks on Santa Rosa Island.

The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA), Public Law 108-447, signed on December 8, 2004, by President George W. Bush, created a multi-agency fee authority for the National Park Service and four other federal land agencies. This legislation allows the National Park Service to collect entrance fees and “expand amenity fees” for services, facilities, or equipment, and use those funds for projects directly benefiting visitors. It is important to note that the park has no plans to establish an entrance fee, which is consistent and specifically prohibited by the park’s enabling legislation.