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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Hikers May Face Higher Fees at Tent Rocks
By Polly Summar
Journal Staff Writer
It may get more expensive to visit Tent Rocks this fall.
Officially called Kasha-Katuwe Rocks National Monument, the area now charges $5 per car for a visit. Under a proposal being put forward by the Bureau of Land Management, that could increase to $12 — but the pass will be good for seven days.
Other national monuments, like Bandelier, already charge $12 for a seven-day pass, but they often have added amenities, such as campgrounds and a visitor center.
BLM officials say their proposal for the Tent Rocks' fee increase is just that: a proposal. “We're putting it out for public comment,” said James Sippel, state lead recreation planner for BLM.
Higher fees would pay for public services, such as maintaining existing trails, roads and other operations. They also could fund improvements such as interpretation, shelter construction, trail construction and upgrading, and development of a water source. Costlier projects would be evaluated based on availability of funds.
For the 2008 fiscal year, the cost of operating Tent Rocks was about $278,000. But only some $70,000 — less than 25 percent of the annual operating costs — came from fees. The proposed fee increase could cover about 55 percent of operating costs, according to the BLM. Operational costs include activities such as pumping vault toilets and picking up trash collection.
Under the proposal, other fees would remain the same: $25 a day for groups up to 25 people; and $100 per day for groups of 25 to 100 people.
Donna Hummel, BLM's deputy chief of the office of external affairs, said, “We know we have many users of this national monument” in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area, and she urged the public to make their opinions known to the BLM. Hummel said that once the proposal is put out for public comment, the comments will go through a state office review, then back to the national office, and then the resource advisory council in New Mexico will make a recommendation for a final fee.
“It sounds very bureaucratic, but it allows all the different entities to be involved,” Hummel said.
Comments must be received by July 29. Contact Danny_Randall@blm.gov.
You also can send comments via our comment form
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