The National Park Service, which last fall announced a series of fee hikes that would have doubled or tripled many fees, has bowed to pressure and will impose more modest increases.
The original hikes, which were pitched as a way to raise money to clear up a long-standing maintenance backlog in the parks, were to have taken effect next month, and would have continued through the five peak months of the year. The increases would have focused on the 17 most-heavily-used parks.
The new fee schedule will raise entry fees by $5 per vehicle at all 117 parks that have an admission fee. A number of other increases will continue, including raising the all-park permanent admission card from $10 to $80, which went into effect last year.
