How Park Fees Pay for Things at One National Historic Site

A water heater for a public restroom, a tall drinking fountain and a timeline on a wall all came from visitor fees at one national park site. A park ranger at James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Ohio explained in December 2014 how the National Park Service uses fees, with examples from the site.

This interpretive timeline was produced using fee dollars and hangs in the visitor center at James A. Garfield NHS. NPS photo.

Why fees matter

The ranger writes that when the National Park Service was established in 1916 it covered a handful of natural sites, mostly in the western United States, and their protection was to be funded from Congress's yearly budget. By the time of the post, the service had over 400 units, and funding had not kept up with the new parks. Fees help fill the gap.

Congress has given the Service authority to charge several kinds of fees: entrance, special amenity (such as special tours and behind-the-scenes experiences), boating and camping, and others. They range from a few dollars per person to per-car fees at some larger parks. Sites also sell America the Beautiful passes, known as the annual and senior passes. Depending on the size and revenue of the park, a park is able to keep nearly 100% of its fees. That money pays for projects with a direct visitor benefit: facilities, improvements and programs that make visitors safer, more comfortable and better informed about the parks.

What one site bought

• A timeline. In 2010 the site marked the 30th anniversary of the Garfield home and grounds becoming a national historic site. Fee money paid for an interpretive timeline that layers the site's history with that of the National Park Service. Two seasonal rangers, students at the time, wrote and designed it.
• Warm water. Water heaters in the public restrooms had not worked properly for several years, and visitors got freezing water in colder months. Fees bought new heaters and paid a contractor to install them.
• Civil War panels and events. From 2011 through summer 2015 the park joined the Civil War anniversary with three banners: The Civil War in Ohio; James A. Garfield and the Civil War; and Presidents in the Civil War. Fees also paid for supplies for an annual encampment weekend, including straw and firewood, fence banners and family activities.
• A brochure rack. The rack holds brochures from other presidential sites, and a volunteer calls those sites weekly to restock it.
• Wheelchairs. Two new wheelchairs carry visitors between the visitor center and the Garfield home, where tours start, a long walk for elderly visitors or anyone with difficulty walking.
• A water fountain. A new fountain in the visitor center has a tall faucet for refilling water bottles, which the park hopes will cut the number of plastic bottles thrown away.

These three panels were paid for with fee dollars. NPS photo.

Fee money bought two new wheelchairs. NPS photo.

A new water fountain for the visitor center, bought with fee dollars. NPS photo.

Sources

• National Park Service, James A. Garfield National Historic Site, How Do Fees Help Your National Parks?, by Allison Powell, park ranger, December 2014; rewritten in hubnx's own words.