National Park Service Visitor Fees in the National Park System A Legislative and Administrative History

The 1973 Land and Water Conservation Fund Act Amendment (The Fumble)

With all the thought and effort that went into the making of Public Law 92-347, the 1972 Land and Water Conservation Fund Act amendment, one might assume that all would have been quiet on the fee front for some time thereafter. Such was not the case. The Corps of Engineers, always a reluctant participant in the interagency fee system, again proved troublesome to the partnership.

Whether by ineptitude or design, the Corps responded to the latest legal authority for user fees and Office of Management and Budget pressure to maximize income by imposing onerous charges for simple boat ramps, rest rooms, parking lots, and other facilities seemingly precluded from user fees by the 1972 conference committee report. The response was a House bill the following year in the 93rd Congress, in the nature of an amendment to Section 210 of the 1968 Flood Control Act, that would prohibit user fees in Corps areas for common day use facilities and for campgrounds without flush toilets, showers, and certain other amenities.

The bill, H.R. 6717, was referred to and favorably reported by the Public Works Committee, which had primary jurisdiction over Corps affairs. On the House floor Representatives Roy Taylor and John Saylor of the Interior Committee opposed its passage; they observed that few if any Federal campgrounds would qualify for fee collection under its restrictions and argued that the Corps should conform to the same user fee standards as other Federal agencies rather than being specially treated. But the bill passed on May 22, 1973, by a vote of 307 to 90. [1]

H.R. 6717 was next referred to and favorably reported by the Senate Public Works Committee. The Senate Interior Committee then obtained it. Another bill had already passed the Senate, of similar purpose but differing in two significant respects: it was less restrictive on camping charges, excluding only "lightly developed or back-country campgrounds"; and it amended the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act rather than the Flood Control Act, making it apply equally to all recreation-providing agencies. The Interior Committee reported H.R. 6717 amended by substitution of the other bill's language. [2]

In its report, the Interior Committee also noted problems with the "single visit" permit after the 1972 act had eliminated the "series of visits" permit alternative. Agencies were construing a single visit to mean a daily visit and were charging people for each day they remained. On the Senate floor on July 17, Senator Alan Bible, the parks subcommittee chairman, added an amendment defining a single visit as "that length of time a visitor remains within the exterior boundary of a designated fee area beginning from the day he first enters the area until he leaves, except that on the same day [the] admission fee is paid, the visitor may leave and re enter without the payment of an additional admission fee to the same area." [3]

Senator Dewey F. Bartlett of Oklahoma then rose with another amendment striking the user fee prohibition on "lightly developed or back-country campgrounds" and substituting language similar to that in the House-passed version of H.R. 6717, which originally applied only to the Corps of Engineers but now applied across the board:

[I]n no event shall there be a charge for the day use or recreational use of those facilities or combination of those facilities or areas which virtually all visitors might reasonably be expected to utilize, such as, but not limited to, picnic areas, boat ramps where no mechanical or hydraulic equipment is provided, drinking water, wayside exhibits, roads, trails, overlook sites, visitors' centers, scenic drives, and toilet facilities. No fee may be charged for access to or use of any campground not having the following--flush restrooms, showers reasonably available, access and circulatory, sanitary disposal stations reasonably available, visitor protection control, designated tent or trailer spaces, refuse containers and potable water.

"My amendment...spells out in detail when fees may be charged for the use of campgrounds for overnight camping..., " said Bartlett. "I have discussed the amendment with General Morse [John W. Morris], of the Corps of Engineers. He said that he would favor having the whole matter very clearly spelled out, as this does, and that this was acceptable to him" [4]

Possibly unaware of its implications, Senator Bible concurred: "I believe it is a good amendment, and I think it should be adopted." It was, and the Senate passed the bill with both floor amendments. The House subsequently agreed to the Senate version without debate, and President Nixon made it Public Law 93-81 on August 1. [5]

Asleep at the switch, House and Senate Interior Committee members supportive of user fees had allowed derailment of the greatest source of such fee revenue--campground charges. In the National Park System, not all campgrounds where fees were levied had flush restrooms, and virtually none had showers. (In some areas concessioners provided showers nearby, but because separate fees were charged for them they could not be counted as campground facilities justifying Government-imposed fees.) The Park Service and the other agencies in similar circumstances were thus forced to drop their campground charges in the middle of the 1973 season. [6]

In addition to their revenue production, the campground fees had also become valuable for visitor control purposes. With this tool removed, same campers stayed longer than they otherwise would have, rangers found time limits difficult to enforce, and visitor complaints ensued. The campground reservation system instituted by the Park Service that year was also adversely affected. Because the camping fee could no longer be collected at the time of reservation, there was no refund incentive for advance cancellation, leading to numerous "no-shows." [7]

The 1974 Land and Water Conservation Fund Act Amendment (The Recovery)

The wholesale elimination of campground fees was clearly unintentional: the majorities on the congressional Interior committees had either been unaware of the new language's effect or had assumed its application to Corps areas only. The committees hastened to correct their error the following year with new legislation again amending the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act--almost an annual exercise by this time. In reporting its bill, S. 2844, the Senate committee pusillanimously blamed the campground fee foul-up on the Interior Department's interpretation of the 1973 act (as if its language left room for discretion):

The effect of this interpretation has been a substantial loss of revenues by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies which had been collecting campground fees at campgrounds which the Departments felt no longer qualified for fee collection. If not corrected, the total loss has been estimated to be between $7.2 million and $8.2 million per year. [8]

The Senate bill, favorably reported by the committee March 22, 1974, would require only "tent or trailer spaces, drinking water, access road, refuse containers, toilet facilities, and simple devices for containing a campfire (where campfires are permitted)" to be present in order for fees to be levied. In other provisions, it clarified that the Golden Eagle and Golden Age passports could be used by holders entering other than in private vehicles, made the Golden Age Passport good for a lifetime and gave its holders a 50 percent discount on all user fees (rather than just campground fees), enabled campground reservation system contractors to deduct commissions from collected fees, and deleted the requirement that Golden Eagles be sold at post offices, requiring only that they be available at all entrance fee areas. (The Postal Service had requested the substantial commission of $1 for each Golden Eagle it sold and 50¢ for each free Golden Age Passport it distributed, to which the Park Service took strong exception.) Interior supported the proposed changes. [9]

The Senate passed S. 2844 on March 29 with a minor, inconsequential amendment by Senator Bartlett on fee requirements--inconsequential, because the House would delete it in tinkering further with the language. (Bartlett's amendment would have required charges for electric or gas grills in picnic areas, a curious provision struck by the House Interior Committee "because none of the Federal agencies presently have or contemplate having any picnic facilities with such facilities.") To the Senate's revised criteria for campground fee collection, the House committee added "personal collection of the fee by an employee or agent of the Federal agency operating the facility" and "reasonable visitor protection"; it further specified that at each Corps area with camping, there should be provided "at least one primitive campground...where no charge shall be imposed." The House committee's report included a reference to the dollar level of camping fees:

While the Act does not specifically limit the range of charges to be imposed, the present $4 maximum seems to be a reasonable charge for a highly developed facility in light of present day costs. The Committee intends for the agencies to develop a uniform fee structure which will reflect a reasonable charge in light of the relative facilities and services offered. [10]

"S. 2844, as amended, and recommended by the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, attempts to resolve once and for all the controversy over the collection of admission, camping, and other fees at various federally operated outdoor recreation areas throughout the country," Representative Roy Taylor declared in bringing the bill to the House floor on June 4. He gave particular attention to the rationale for campground fees, citing the Federal expense of facilities provided for individual users' benefit, the "significant competitive burden on comparable State, local, and private facilities for which charges must be imposed" if Federal fees were not levied, and the reinvestment of most revenues in improvements and other recreational programs. [11]

The bill passed the House by a wide margin and the Senate quickly concurred in the House amendments, readying it for President Nixon's signature on June 7. Central to the new Public Law 93-303 was its user fee paragraph, which superseded that in its ill-considered predecessor and has endured without subsequent amendment. It thus warrants full recital here:

Each Federal agency developing, administering, providing or furnishing at Federal expense, specialized outdoor recreation sites, facilities, equipment, or services shall...provide for the collection of daily recreation use fees at the place of use or any reasonably convenient location: Provided, That in no event shall there be a charge by any such agency for the use, either singly or in any combination, of drinking water, wayside exhibits, roads, overlook sites, visitors' centers, scenic drives, toilet facilities, picnic tables, or boat ramps: Provided, however, that a fee shall be charged for boat launching facilities only where specialized facilities or services such as mechanical or hydraulic boat lifts or facilities are provided: And provided further, That in no event shall there be a charge for the use of any campground not having the following--tent or trailer spaces, drinking water, access road, refuse containers, toilet facilities, personal collection of the fee by an employee or agent of the Federal agency operating the facility, reasonable visitor protection, and simple devices for containing a campfire (where campfires are permitted). At each lake or reservoir under the jurisdiction of the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, where camping is permitted, such agency shall provide at least one primitive campground, containing designated campsites, sanitary facilities, and vehicular access, where no charge shall be imposed. Any Golden Age Passport permittee shall be entitled upon presentation of such permit to utilize such special recreation facilities at a rate of 50 per centum of the established use fee. [12]

The Eagle's Wings Are Clipped

With the camping charge imbroglio focusing the greatest attention on user fees in 1973-74, relatively little attention was paid to the simultaneous demise of the interagency entrance fee concept embodied in the Golden Eagle. Envisioned in the original Land and Water Conservation Fund Act to be levied by all recreation-providing Federal bureaus, entrance fees were limited in the 1972 amendment to units of the National Park System and national recreation areas under the Forest Service. In 1974 the Forest Service administratively discontinued the collection of entrance fees, leaving the Park Service as the sole bureau charging for entry to certain of its areas. The Golden Eagle Passport thus declined to a Park System permit only. [13]

In contrast, the newer Golden Age Passport retained its interagency applicability. Although its free entry value was lost outside the Park System where entry fees were no longer charged, its 50 percent discount on user fees kept it good at all Federal areas with such fees.

¹House Report 93-212, May 16, 1973; 119 Congressional Record 16515-20.

²Senate Report 93-250, June 25, 1973; S. 1381, passed Senate May 16, 1973; Senate Report 93-312, July 12, 1973.

³Senate Report 93-312; 119 Congressional Record 24378.

⁴119 Congressional Record 24379.

⁵Ibid., pp. 24379, 24920-21; 87 Stat. 178.

⁶At that time there were 7 campgrounds in the Park System charging $4 per site per night, 38 charging $3, 36 charging $2, 41 charging $1, and 311 at which no charge was levied.

⁷ 7U. S., Congress, House, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Amendments to the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, Hearings on S. 2844 et al., 93d Congress, 2d Session, Apr. 8-9, 1974, p. 59.

⁸Senate Report 93-745, Mar. 22, 1974, p. 2.

⁹Ibid.; letter, Assistant Secretary John H. Kyl to Sen. Henry M. Jackson, Feb. 6, 1974, ibid.

¹⁰120 Congressional Record 8913; House Report 93-1076, May 31, 1974.

¹¹120 Congressional Record 17543-44.

¹²Ibid., pp. 17548, 17812; 88 Stat. 192.

¹³In 1968, 5,104,300 Golden Eagles had been sold. In 1976 sales numbered only 157,175. The major cause of the permit's decline was surely its reduced applicability, although the price increase from $7 to $10 and the free distribution of the Golden Age Passport for senior citizens (271,666 issued in 1976) undoubtedly had some slight effect.