Lassen Volcanic National Park Propose Fee Increases

Lassen Volcanic National Park and Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (NRA) will hold a public meeting on November 6 in the Community Room at the Redding Library from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm to discuss possible fee increases in 2015. The National Park Service is looking for public comment and feedback regarding the proposed increases. The current park entrance fees have been in place at Lassen Volcanic since 1998 and at Whiskeytown since 1997. The proposed entrance fees are as follows:


Entrance fees are not charged to persons under 16 years of age or holders of the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Senior, Access or Military Passes. These passes may be obtained at the parks. Other proposed visitor use fees for recreation use and camping have been developed through comparability studies with surrounding area services and are a part of the new fee schedules.

"We are committed to keeping the park affordable, but we also want to provide visitors with the best possible experience," said Whiskeytown NRA's Park Superintendent Jim Milestone. "The money from camping/entrance fees is used to improve visitor facilities, infrastructure, and visitor services."

Recreation fee dollars at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area renovated all park primitive campgrounds and the Dry Creek group campsites, installed ADA accessible walkways and access ramps, installed campground bear-proof food lockers, maintained the kayak tour equipment and storage, installed fishing piers, created and maintained miles of trails, replaced the Oak Bottom wastewater treatment facility, and replaced restroom facilities throughout the park. Thanks to fee revenue a project is currently underway to replace the Oak Bottom Beach restroom and changing facility. Additional revenue raised by a fee increase will be used to improve and expand our 51 year old visitor center, renovate the beach stores and swim beaches, rehabilitate park picnic areas, renovate Oak Bottom Campground bathrooms, preserve historic structures, develop and produce park interpretive videos, renovate informational kiosks, provide improved signage, and many other projects that will improve the park experience for visitors.

Recreation fee dollars at Lassen Volcanic have made possible the reopening of Butte Lake Campground, installation of park-wide wayside exhibits, development of the Lassen Crossroads Information pavilions, installation of campground bear-proof food lockers, restoration of the Lassen Peak Trail, repair of Pacific Crest Trail, horse corral improvements, rehabilitation of the Devastated Area Accessible Interpretive Trail, installation of ADA-compliant audiovisual system at Loomis Museum, rehabilitation of three campground amphitheaters, and museum / visitor center exhibits. Additional revenue raised by a fee increase would be used to improve and maintain Kings Creek Falls and Bumpass Hell trails, provide children's interpretive exhibits in the visitor center, develop Crags Campground youth camp, rehabilitate Warner Valley Campground, and improve campground roadways and restrooms.

These local national parks are strong economic engines for the surrounding area. In 2013, more than 1.2 million park visitors contributed over $56 million to the local economy and supported 716 jobs related to tourism.

Comments can also be submitted through the parks' webpages at http://www.nps.gov/lavo or http://www.nps.gov/whis beginning November 5, 2014. Following the public meeting and outreach efforts through social media and community events, feedback will determine how, or if, the proposed fee increases would be implemented.