Public comment on proposed fee increase
Posted By The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. on April 25, 2007
A fee increase for National Park Service (NPS) units nationwide has been proposed by the Federal government. At Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, the proposed increase would be from $3 per person aged 16 and up to $7 per person for the entrance fee (good for a week), and the annual family park pass would increase in cost from $15 to $30. The park held two public meetings on April 18 and 19. If you couldn’t attend or want to make sure your comment in received separately, the park and the Friends strongly encourage you to comment in writing to Superintendent Keith Payne. You may comment by email (keith_payne@nps.gov) or regular mail:
Keith Payne
P.O. Box 185
Florissant, CO 80816
All comments, along with the names and addresses of individual respondents, will be available for public review during regular business hours. Requests to withhold personal information will be honored to the extent allowable by law, and must be stated prominently at the beginning of your comment. All comments from organizations or businesses and individuals or officials who represent organizations or businesses will be available for inspection in their entirety. Commenting in writing ensures that the NPS will receive your individual opinion clearly, as the public meetings can only be summarized.
Fee money collected under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) is used for a wide variety of projects, ranging from trail maintenance to funding scientific research. At Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, 100% of visitor fee money stays within the park and goes towards projects such as
- Construction of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-accessible theater in the visitor center to show the park’s new film (2007, underway).
- Stabilization of the historic Hornbek house (2007, underway).
- Research projects in the paleontology division, including partial funding for doctoral student Mary Ellen Benson’s work on Florissant diatoms and a comparative study of Florissant’s Eocene plants with modern vegetation in California (underway).
- Reconstruction of the ADA-compliant Ponderosa Loop Trail (2006).
- Comparative study of possible consolidants to protect the fossil stumps from weathering and erosion (2005).
For more information about the proposed fee increase or FLREA, please call the Monument at (719) 748-3253. You are welcome (and encouraged) to discuss the fee increase in the comments to the post, but formal comments must be sent to Superintendent Payne by email or regular mail.
The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Friends of the Park group supporting 
I do not support the currently proposed fee increase. I can understand and support an increase, but to double the current annual fee next year is extreme.
I would support a graduated increase, but again, to double the fee at once is ridiculous.
Thanks for your comment! To anyone else reading this, you are welcome to discuss your opinions on the proposed fee increase here, but comments for the park must be sent to Keith Payne.
-MB