Recreation Fees: Demonstration Fee Program Successful in Raising Revenues but Could Be Improved
RCED-99-7
Published: Nov 20, 1998. Publicly Released: Nov 30, 1998.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the implementation of the recreational fee demonstration program by the National Park Service (NPS), the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), focusing on the: (1) implementation of the program and the fee revenues generated; (2) program's expenditures; (3) extent to which the agencies have used innovative or coordinated approaches to fee collection; and (4) program's effects, if any, on visitation.
Recommendations
Matter for Congressional Consideration
| Matter | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| As Congress decides on the future of the fee demonstration program, it may wish to consider whether to modify the current requirement that at least 80 percent of all fee revenues remain in the units generating these revenues. Permitting some further flexibility in where fee revenues could be spent, particularly the fees from high-revenue sites, would provide greater opportunities to address the highest-priority needs of the agencies. However, any change to the 80-percent requirement would have to be balanced against the need to maintain incentives at fee-collecting units and to maintain the support of the visitors. | In discussing this matter with key congressional committee staff during GAO's most recent assignment (GAO-03-470/April 2003), it became evident that no action would be taken on this recommendation. |
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Interior | The Secretary of the Interior should require that the heads of NPS and FWS take advantage of the remaining time under the fee demonstration authority to look for opportunities to experiment with peak-period pricing and with fees that vary with the length of stay or extent of use at individual sites. |
In commenting on the report, the Department of the Interior agreed with the general direction of this recommendation. However, both the Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service disagreed with this recommendation. As of September 2001, neither agency has experimented to a significant degree with peak-period pricing or with fees that vary with the length of stay or extent of use at individual sites.
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| Department of Agriculture | The Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture should direct the heads of the participating agencies to improve their services to visitors by better coordinating their fee-collection activities under the recreational fee demonstration program. To address this issue, each agency should perform a review of each of its demonstration sites to identify other federal recreation areas that are nearby. Once identified, each situation should be reviewed to determine whether a coordinated approach, such as a reciprocal fee arrangement, would better serve the visiting public. |
The Department of Agriculture has joined an interagency task group with the Department of the Interior to look at opportunities for greater coordination in the recreational fee demonstration program. The agencies have identified additional fee demonstration sites in which coordination would be possible. As of September 30, 2000, about 30 percent of the demonstration program mangers reported in a survey to GAO that they have coordinated their fees with other federal, state, and local recreational sites. The agencies are continuing their efforts to identify additional steps to better coordinate their fees at recreational fee demonstration sites.
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| Department of the Interior | The Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture should direct the heads of the participating agencies to improve their services to visitors by better coordinating their fee-collection activities under the recreational fee demonstration program. To address this issue, each agency should perform a review of each of its demonstration sites to identify other federal recreation areas that are nearby. Once identified, each situation should be reviewed to determine whether a coordinated approach, such as a reciprocal fee arrangement, would better serve the visiting public. |
The Department of the Interior has formed an interagency task group with the Department of Agriculture to look at opportunities for greater coordination in the recreational fee demonstration program. The agencies have identified additional fee demonstration sites in which coordination would be possible. As of September 30, 2000, about 30 percent of the demonstration fee managers reported that they have coordinated their fees with other federal, state, and local recreation sites. The agencies are continuing their efforts to identify additional steps to better coordinate their fees at recreation fee demonstration sites.
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Topics
Budget outlaysFederal property managementInteragency relationsMaintenance costsNational forestsNational parksNational recreation areasPrices and pricingProfitsUser fees