LOCAL

White Sands National Monument to raise fees

Daily News Reports
Located in the historic Spanish pueblo-adobe visitor center, you can learn all about the natural and cultural resources of White Sands.

ALAMOGORDO – National parks have experienced record-breaking visitation, with more than 1.5 billion visitors in the last five years, according to a White Sands National Monument press release.

Throughout the country, the combination of aging infrastructure and increased visitation has put a strain on park roads, bridges, campgrounds, waterlines, restrooms and other visitor services and led to an $11.6 billion deferred maintenance backlog nationwide.

According to the release, revenue from entrance fees remains in the National Park Service and helps ensure a quality experience for all who visit.

In White Sands National Monument, 80 percent of entrance fees stay in the park and are devoted to spending that supports the visitor, the release states.

Entrance fees will increase starting January 2019

In April, the National Park Service announced service-wide fee increases for all entrance-fee charging parks. Therefore, White Sands will modify its entrance fees to provide additional funding for infrastructure and maintenance needs to enhance the visitor experience.

Effective Jan. 1, 2019, the entrance fees to the park will be $20 per vehicle, $10 per person and $15 per motorcycle.

For instance, a car with three passengers would pay the $20 per vehicle fee and not $30 for the three individual passengers. 

There are also five fee-free days each year.

In 2019, the fee-free days are Martin Luther King Jr. Day Jan. 21, the first day National Park Week April 20, National Park Service Anniversary Day Aug. 25, National Public Lands Day Sept. 28 and Veterans Day Nov. 11.

Kids love exploring and learning about the animals at White Sands on the Dune Life Nature Trail.

According to the release, all of the money received from entrance fees remains with the National Park Service with 80 percent of the revenue staying at White Sands.

The revenue from entrance fees at White Sands has enabled rehabilitation of the monument’s 1930s era sewage system and replacement of all cedar rail fences. Currently, needed repairs to the park’s accessible Interdune Boardwalk trail and restoration of the porch poles of the historic Spanish pueblo-adobe visitor center are in progress, the release states.

Entrance fees collected by White Sands for the last 10 years have totaled $4.6 million and have been used to add new vault restrooms and picnic shelters in the dunes area, install new museum exhibits in 2010, add new interpretive signage to road pull-offs and hiking trails, and develop education curriculum for K-12 students, the release states.

White Sands has charged an entrance fee since 1937 and the current rate of $5 per person has been in effect since 2016.

The park is one of 117 National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee; the other 301 national parks remain free to enter.

The National Park Service has a standardized entrance fee structure, composed of four groups based on park size and type. Some parks not yet aligned with the other parks in their category will raise their fees incrementally and fully incorporate the new entrance fee schedule by Jan. 1, 2020, according to the release.

The National Park Service cares for special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage.

On Jan. 1, 2019, the complete fee schedule at White Sands will change according to the following: $20 per vehicle, $10 per person, $15 per motorcycle and $40 for Park Specific Annual Pass. These rates will go up by $5 in 2020. 

The price of annual America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass and Lifetime Senior Pass will remain $80. The Access Pass remains free. For more information, go online at nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm or nps.gov/whsa.