Your Fee Dollars at Work

 

All the recreational fees collected at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve are reinvested right here. Recreational fees are the dollars that the park collects at the entrance fee booth and campground. The park utilizes these fee funds to address challenges like deferred maintenance and to invest in opportunities like enhancement of facilities that visitors utilize like the visitor center, park roads, campground, trails, signs, and visitor center exhibits.

Craters of the Moon currently collects approximately $500,000 in recreation fees per year. These funds, known as Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act funds, FLREA funds, go directly into projects benefiting visitor experience on federal lands. These FLREA funds are crucial. Parks need these additional funds to address the gap between the parks standard funding, known as base budget, and unmet needs that develop as parks continues to experience crumbling assets and increasing pressure from significant increases in visitation. Read a few examples below, and remember, they were only possible because of money collected from visitors like you!

 

North Crater Flow Trail Repair

The North Crater Flow Trail is currently being repaired to enhance accessibility, improve visitor safety, and prevent damage to the lava. This wheelchair accessible trail will prevent off-trail travel on the sensitive lava flows. The elevated, 3,700 foot-long (1,128 meter-long) will meet the Architectural Barriers Accessibility Act Standards (ABAAS) guidance established.

Young women and men from the local community completed nearly all the welding and construction for the trail. The park undertook this impressive in-house project as a result of FLREA dollars collected here at the park.

 

Revegetation of Native Plants

Fee dollars supported revegetation of the septic field at Craters of the Moon. This revegetation project restored 12,632 square feet of disturbed landscape to the native flora found within the park. The NPS vegetation crew thoughtfully selected, planted, and monitored native grasses in the soils above the septic system to ensure the revegetation success.Visitors traveling back and forth from the campground to the visitor center can enjoy the transition of this once disturbed patch of land blend back into the natural landscape. Future signage which will identify the plants to help visitors become familiar with the native flora found within the volcanic landscape.

 

Carpet Replacement in the Visitor Center

The exhibit hall and the lobby of the Craters of the Moon Visitor Center benefitted from a fresh carpet installation in 2021. To keep up with the foot traffic from the over 270,000 visitors each year, the carpet replacement in the 1,000 square foot visitor center needs to happen often. The old carpeting has been recycled. The replacement carpet was made from largely recycled materials consistent with NPS sustainability goals and practices. This project was completed in-house by NPS employees.

 

Summer Ranger Programs

The Interpretation and Education program uses FLREA funds to provide interpretive programs within the 42-site Lava Flow Campground at Craters of the Moon. Join the weekly ranger programs in the summer to find out more about the incredible lava features, cultural history, and plants and animals that live at Craters of the Moon. Because the night sky is exceptional at Craters of the Moon, the park hosts summer dark sky programs. The park was honored with an International Dark Sky Park designation in 2017.