Though it will take a projected $1.2 million in revenue from the NPS budget next year, the National Park Service has decided to waive the entrance fee increase for Yosemite. This is good news for local communities surrounding the park who rely on tourist money.
Fresno Bee: Vehicle fees to get into Yosemite National Park won’t go up to $25 in January after all — good news for communities surrounding the park that are already struggling with lagging tourism.
At least 40 letters from merchants, tourism officials and county politicians were sent to park Superintendent Michael Tollefson during the spring, helping to persuade Yosemite park officials to ask their bosses in Washington, D.C., for a fee increase waiver, Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman said.
The fee at Yosemite was supposed to go up by $5 next year; other national parks already have entrance fees of $25.
Dan Carter, executive director of the Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau, said several counties lobbied against the fee: “We are pretty excited. People imagine the National Park Service as this 900-pound gorilla that’s unapproachable and nearly impossible to deal with, and we feel that this has been a huge step in what I would call embracing the gorilla.”