NPS seeks comment on use fees

The National Park Service (NPS) is examining approaches to recover more of the cost of the mountaineering program in Denali National Park and Preserve.

Currently, each climber of Mount McKinley and Mount Foraker pays a cost recovery special mountaineering use fee of $200. Despite an increase in the fee from $150 to $200 in 2005, current fee revenue only covers 17 percent of the cost of this specialized program; the fee initially covered approximately 30 percent of the cost. Climber numbers since 2002 have remained essentially flat, as has NPS staffing. Excluding costs of the high altitude helicopter portion of the program, operational expenses have gone up significantly, due mainly to inflation.

The cost recovery program is authorized by Federal statute. Income from the cost recovery fee offsets some of the cost of the mountaineering program. Cost recovered by the fee fund preventative search and rescue (PSAR) education, training for rescue personnel, positioning of patrol/rescue personne (including volunteers) at critical high altitude locations on the mountain, the CMC (human waste) program, and administrative support.

The cost recovery fee was implemented in 1995. The number of fatalities and major injuries has decreased significantly since then, which is directly attributable to the increased educational and PSAR efforts made possible through the cost recovery program. The fee has also enabled the park to start and sustain effective human waste and garbage management programs on Mount McKinley.

McKinley/Foraker climbers make up less than 1/2 of 1 percent of the 378,000 people who visited the park in 2010. Denali will expend about $1,200 in direct support of each permitted climber in 2011. In contrast, the average cost for all other visitors is expected to be about $37. In recent years, the park has diverted funds from other critical park programs in order to fully fund the mountaineering program. This has negatively impacted funding available for programs such as interpretation, wildlife protection, resource management, and maintainence.

Comments from the public will be accepted through Jan. 31, 2011. Public comments may be submitted via e-mail to: DENA_mountainfeecomments@nps.gov or faxed to 907-683-961. Written comments may also be submitted by mail to: Superintendent, Denali National Park and Preserve, P.O. Box 9, Denali Park, AK 99755.

Public meetings to hear comments on the mountaineering and cost recovery program will take place in Talkeetna and Anchorage in December and in Seattle and Denver early in January 2011. Dates and specific meeting locations will be announced in the near future.

For additional information on the mountaineering program or cost recovery special use fee visit the park website at nps.gov/dena/. If you have any questions about the fee you may contact Chief Park Ranger Peter Armington at 907-683-9521. Media inquiries should be directed to public affairs officer Kris Fister at 907-683-9583.