Park users to feel pinch

Tuesday, Nov. 30, 1999 | 10:14 a.m.

Entrance fees to some state parks will be increasing in January, and senior citizens won't be getting the free ride they enjoyed in the past.

The Nevada Parks Division held its final public hearing in Carson City on the new fees and regulations Monday, and Parks Administrator Wayne Perock said they should go into effect Jan. 1.

Only three people attended the hearing, and they had questions only to clarify the fee structure and not to protest the higher rates.

Fees at some state parks will go up $1 or $2 but the biggest impact will be on seniors.

For years, a Nevada resident 60 years old or older could qualify for a free annual permit that allowed unlimited access to any park in the system.

The 1999 Legislature changed that. It raised the eligible age to 65 and ruled that permits could be issued only to those who had lived in the state for at least five years. Also, the Legislature required that seniors seeking permits pay a $10 administrative fee.

Perock said, however, that those seniors who now have free permits will be grandfathered into the new fee structure through next year. Their free permits will be good until Dec. 31, 2000, and then they will have to pay the $10 fee. This will apply even to those who are not 65 and are recent residents.

Robert Francke, chief of operations and maintenance for the parks division, said a 1997 study showed it cost the agency $415,000 alone to accommodate those with free permits. That includes emptying the garbage, cleaning the restrooms and staffing the facilities. It averaged out to $1.75 to $2 daily just to cover the cost of every senior visit.

Perock said a survey of senior citizens who use the parks found most willing to pay a portion of the cost of upkeep. And $10 is a very reasonable fee for an annual permit. "A family of four going to Disneyland costs $200 just to get in the door," he said.

Perock said the eligibility standards for park permits for the elderly will be the same as for reduced fishing licenses from the state Division of Wildlife. The administrative fee is to cover the cost of issuing these permits by the division.

The fee at Mormon Fort state park in Las Vegas will go from $1 to $2 per person and from 50 cents to $1 for children 6-12. The state actually hasn't been collecting the old fee. Francke said the $1 fee has been waived during construction at the park. The grounds have been improved, interpretative displays have been added and there has been a renovation of the fort.

The fort now has the amenities of a state park, he said. And the $2 fee for adults is the same as charged by the state museum in Southern Nevada. The construction at the park should be completed by Jan. 1.

At the Valley of Fire in Southern Nevada, the group entrance fee will be increased from $4 to $5 per vehicle. Perock said this affects mainly tour buses.

There are also other regulations. At Floyd Lamb State Park in Clark County, groups of 25 or more must make a reservation in the future. At present, reservations were required only for groups of 50 or more. Perock said that is for management purposes to make sure these groups are accommodated.

The reduced fee from Nov. 1 to April 14 at Kershaw-Ryan in Southern Nevada is being abolished. It will cost $3 per vehicle year around. That's up $1 from the fee that was charged during the winter months.

The higher fees are expected to generate about $150,000 more a year, or about 1 percent of what is now collected. The money goes back into the budget of the state agency.

The fees will account for 25 percent of the cost of maintaining the parks, Perock said. The average in Western states is that user fees make up 35 percent of the maintenance. And in some Eastern states, the fees support the full upkeep of the park, he said.

In Nevada, Perock said the state charges by the vehicle for entrance to the park while many other states charge per individual going into the park.

Tony Larson of Carson City raised the issue of increasing violence in the parks nationwide. But Francke said the division "does a pretty good job of policing" the recreation areas. There was a double homicide this summer at Lahontan State Park in western Nevada but Francke said that was the first in the history of the system. There are 3.2 million visitors a year and the "amount of crime is a small percentage."