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Rarely does a National Park Service official dare to suggest that today's increased entrance fees have taken a toll upon visitation. In 2004 I commented upon an article that was refreshingly honest.
It stated that at Hopewell Furnace National Historical Park visitation has fallen from 112,492 visitors in 1993 to 55,888 visitors in 2003. It goes on to say that in that same period, entrance fees have increased by 150% and that "when you go from $2 to $5, that may affect some people..."
Pasted below is an article that takes the opposite approach. It explains that Park Visitation is DOWN and Park Fees are UP. It then fails to even suggest the possibility of a correlation. On does, however, propose all kinds of explanations.
I suspect no one would refer to this article as being "refreshingly honest."
Scott
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2006-10-13
Olympic National Park's seesaw: logged visits down, fee collections up
PORT ANGELES -- While the number of counted visits to Olympic National
Park has dipped slightly, the amount of fee money the park has taken in
for projects serving visitors is up.
The number of visits to the 923,000-acre park from January through
September this year has dropped 14.5 percent over the same period in
2005, or by 416,420 visits.
During the first nine months of 2006, there have been about 2.4 million visits.
During the same period in 2005, there were about 2.8 million visits.
Although the current year has shown a decrease, park visitation has
been increasing over time, said park spokeswoman Barb Maynes.
"There are hills and valleys," she said.
During the same period, the park brought in more than 28 percent more money from fees than the year before.
In 2005 the park brought in $1.8 million from fees through the end of September.
During the same period this year the park brought in $2.3 million, Maynes said.
Eighty percent of money from fees stays in the park to help pay for
projects and seasonal staff, Maynes said, while the other 20 percent
goes to a pot that is available to all parks.
Money to pay regular park staff is budgeted by Congress.
The park raised the price of seven-day entrance passes and campground fees on Jan. 1.
The pass price jumped from $10 to $15 -- a 50 percent increase -- and campground fees increased by $2 a night.
Visits, not visitors
The park does not count visitors, but visits.
This is done by putting car-counting devices on roads around the park, including U.S. Highway 101 around Lake Crescent.
Those numbers are plugged into a formula according to the month.
Summer months see more visitors and so a higher percentage of cars counted are considered "visits."
Because the park has numerous entrances, the number of individuals that
actually enter the park is difficult to determine and not the goal of
the park's method, Maynes said.
Using the method that theoretically allows the same car to be counted
every time it crosses into the park, Olympic National Park usually gets
about 3 million visits a year.
The highest number of visits was in 1997, when the park says it had 3.8 million visits.
In 1958 the park broke the 1 million mark, the 2 million mark in 1962 and the three million mark in 1992.
Reasons for decline
Although 2006's numbers are down, Maynes noted a series of conditions
that has made it more difficult and less desirable for visitors.
First, gas prices are up, which increases the travel costs to one of the more remote corners of the state,
Second, popular destinations such as Staircase in Mason County, Second
Beach in La Push and the Queets River trail in west Jefferson County
were closed during August, the park's busiest month.
"August is a big, busy month," Maynes said.
Third, international travel has been slumping since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Foreign visitors account for about 8 percent of visitors, according to a 2000 survey.
Weather is a factor in visits as well, Maynes said, noting that on
stormy days the grandeur of Hurricane Ridge doesn't seem worth the
drive.
"Nobody wants to drive up there in pea soup fog," she said.
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- Land management 
