Hawaii National Park, HI - The public is invited to comment on a proposed fee increase from $30 to $50 for the Tri-Park Pass, an annual pass that allows visitors unlimited entry to the three fee-charging national parks in Hawai‘i: Hawai‘i Volcanoes and Haleakalā National Parks, and Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park.
The proposed Tri-Park Pass fee increase would start May 1, 2018 and ensure the Hawai‘i parks have the same pricing structure as other national parks with similar visitor amenities.
The comment period begins Feb. 1, 2018 and ends March 2, 2018. The public can submit comments online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/havo. Select the Proposed Tri-Park Pass Fee Increase for Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park link. Then click on the link to the left “Open for Comment," and click on the document name. You can then download the document. You can also comment from the same screen using the link near the top, “Comment on Document." The comment link is only valid during the comment period.
The public can also submit comments in writing, addressed to:
Superintendent, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park
P.O. Box 52
Hawaii National Park, HI 96718
Comment cards are also available at Kīlauea Visitor Center seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Please be aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying information such as address, phone number, email address, may be made publicly available at any time. Although you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
The current National Park Service fee program began in 1997 and allows parks to retain 80 percent of monies collected. The remaining 20 percent has gone into a fund to support park units where fees are not charged (six of the nine national park units in Hawai‘i do not charge entrance fees).
In 2017, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park collected $6,787,910 in fee revenue, and sold 13,413 Tri-Park Passes. Recent projects funded by fees include wheelchair-accessibility improvements at Mauna Loa Lookout; a new summit eruption viewing area at Jaggar Museum; the replacement of the lighting system in Thurston Lava Tube; a new exhibit to protect and share ancient Hawaiian footprints preserved in the Ka‘ū Desert; and the restoration of the 1932 Administration Building (‘Ōhi‘a Wing) into a cultural museum. Entrance fees also fund ongoing projects to protect Hawaiian plants and animals, improve trails, provide visitor safety, and much more.
Entrance fees are not charged to children under 16 years old, or holders of the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Senior, Access, or Military passes. These passes are available at the park, or online.
An NPS report shows that 1,887,580 visitors to Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park in 2016 spent $159,195,500 in communities near the park. That spending supported 1,917 jobs on island, and had a cumulative benefit to the local community of $199,923,400.
-NPS-
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
