Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site managers will be presenting five public meetings to gain input from the public concerning a proposal to make fee schedule changes for the park.
Two meetings will be held in La Junta at the Woodruff Memorial Library, located at 522 Colorado Avenue in La Junta. The first of those meetings is on Thursday, May 27, from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm. The second meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 5, from 10:00 am to 11:30 am.
Two meetings will be held in Las Animas at the Bent County Community Center, located at 1214 Ambassador Thompson Boulevard on Tuesday, May 25, from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm and on Monday, June 7, from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm.
Another meeting will be held at the Rocky Ford Emergency Services Building, located at 300 South Main Street, Rocky Ford, CO, on Wednesday, June 2, from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm.
Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site's (BEOL) fee program has been in place since 1987. The current fee program is based upon living history fees. For the past 25 years, the living history fees have remained unchanged and, therefore, not kept pace with inflation.
To align with National Park Service policy, to keep fees in line with the cost of living, and for administrative purposes, the most appropriate fee to charge at Bent's Old Fort NHS is a park entrance fee, not living history fees. Entrance fees are regularly updated on a national basis, and parks such as Bent’s Old Fort are the least expensive to enter.
“We currently cannot honor any of the six nationwide park passes that allow free park entrance because we charge living history fees, not entrance fees," said Superintendent West. That is just one of many issues with the current system. The superintendent plans to describe all aspects of the proposed fee system changes at the meeting.
The authority to charge recreational fees at national parks stems from the 2004 Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA). What are entrance fees used for? Federal law requires that recreational fees charged on public lands be used for direct visitor benefits. Eighty percent of every fee dollar collected at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site will remain at Bent's Old Fort, and the remaining 20 percent is available to all parks on an as-needed basis. All collected fees are invested back into the parks to improve visitor facilities and services.
The proposed implementation date for the fee schedule change is Jan. 1, 2022.
The same topics will be discussed at all four meetings. All four of these public meetings are being held to allow input from park users, park neighbors, community members, and the interested public concerning the proposal. Written comments may be submitted online via the National Park Service’s Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/beol from May 27 to June 28. Written comments, which must be received by July 6, may also be mailed to: Park Superintendent, Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site35110 State Highway 194La Junta, CO 81050.
Following the 30-day public comment period, feedback received will help determine how, or if, a fee schedule change will be implemented. For more information, please visit the park website at https://www.nps.gov/beol/index.htm or call 719-383-5012.
Details and updates on park operations will continue to be posted on the park website https://www.nps.gov/beol/index.htm and social media channels.
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Tags: fees fee change proposal fee change proposal
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
