Joshua Tree National Park to consider raising rates

Joshua Tree National Park will hold a town hall meeting on November 6, 2014 to discuss possible fee increases in 2015. The current park entrance fees have been in place since 2006.

The proposed fee structure is as follows:

U.S. Department of the Interior Fee Name Current Fee Proposed Fee

Single Vehicle Entrance Fee (7-Day Pass) per vehicle $15 $25
Individual Entrance Fee – Hikers/Bicycles (7-Day Pass) per person $5 $12
Motorcycle Entrance Fee (7-Day Pass) $5 per person $20 per vehicle
Joshua Tree Annual Pass per vehicle $30 $50
Camping (Hidden Valley, Ryan, Jumbo Rocks, Belle, and White Tank) per site, per night $10 $15
Camping with access to potable water (Black Rock, Indian Cove, and Cottonwood) per site, per night $15 $20
Equestrian Camping (Black Rock) per site, per night $15 $20
Group Camping (Indian Cove, Sheep Pass, and Cottonwood) per site, per night $25-$40 $35-$50
Backcountry Camping per site, per night $0 $8
Keys Ranch Tours per person $5 $10

Entrance fees are not charged to people under 16 years of age or to holders of the America the Beautiful Interagency Annual, Senior, Access, or Military Passes. These passes may be obtained at national park sites, as well as other federal fee areas. The cost of these passes will not increase under this proposal.

“The idea of increasing fees on our public lands is always troubling, especially at times when we are trying to make our parks accessible to all Americans,” said Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent David Smith. “But the fact of the matter is, we now depend on those fees to provide the basic services that people expect. Our annual appropriation is insufficient to serve the 1.5 million visitors who will enter the park this year while also protecting their parklands.”

Since Joshua Tree National Park was granted authority to use fee dollars to support visitor services, fees have funded extensive improvements at campgrounds, along trails, and at visitor centers. These dollars are currently being used to redesign, fabricate and install exhibits slated to be completed at Joshua Tree Visitor Center in the village of Joshua Tree in 2016. For other examples of how fee dollars benefit the park, please check out our website at: http://www.nps.gov/jotr/parkmgmt/yourdollarsatwork.htm.

Although visitors spent over $3 million dollars in entrance fees at Joshua Tree in 2013, they continued to invest heavily in the local community. Last year, surveys and research show that the 1.3 million park visitors contributed $62 million to the local economy and supported approximately 770 jobs related to tourism.

The town hall meeting will take place at Copper Mountain College, Bell Center, from 7:00-9:00 pm and will include opportunities for written submission of questions. Comments may also be sent to jotr_feeincrease@nps.gov, through Facebook (Joshua Tree NP), and on Twitter (@JoshuaTreeNP).

Comments can be submitted in these ways through November 21, 2014. Due to an anticipated large quantity of comments, we will be accepting comments only without reply.

Following the town hall, feedback will determine if and how a fee increase would be implemented.