With more Americans seeking recreation in state and national parks, the parks industry is experiencing continued growth.  Visitation at other states’ parks has been increasing, and visitation for Wyoming’s state parks and historical sites has outpaced the growth of park systems nationally:  over the past ten years, Wyoming’s visitation increased 31 percent.  This growth has placed more pressure on state government to manage and protect Wyoming’s state parks and historic sites.

SPHS Administers Wyoming’s

Fee Program

Wyoming’s state parks and historic sites are administered by the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources (SPACR) in the Division of State Parks and Historic Sites (SPHS).  The Legislature created SPACR in 1999 when it reorganized the former Department of Commerce.  SPHS is responsible for the operations and maintenance of state parks and historic sites, including administering the state park fee program. 

Under W.S. 36-4-101, the Governor, with advice and consent of the Senate, appoints the nine members of the Parks and Cultural Resources Commission (PCR Commission).  The PCR Commission’s purpose is to provide informed guidance and consultation to SPACR, and to be an advocate for the public. 

In the FY99-00 biennium, the Legislature authorized SPHS to expend $12.9 million.  Of that amount, $9.8 million, primarily in general funds, was for Parks and Sites program administration as well as operations and maintenance for the individual parks and sites.  Federal funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (L&WCF) grant are a source of matching monies for public outdoor recreation development and improvements.  Wyoming communities as well as SPHS receive L&WCF funds, with SPHS administering the grants. 

Figure 1: Authorized Budget for Parks and Sites

FY99-00

Category

Amount

Administration

$1,583,900

L&WCF Grants

   $400,000

Field Operations

$7,850,414

Total for Parks and Sites Program

$9,834,314

Source:  SPACR

Evolution of Wyoming’s Fee Program

The Legislature first established fees for state parks in 1973 when it authorized the Wyoming Recreation Commission to offer for sale “bucking horse” permits that allowed the occupants of vehicles displaying them to camp in state parks.  At the same time, the Legislature established a nightly fee for camping in state parks. 

Other than for changes in permit and camping fee prices in 1988, the fee program remained unchanged until 1991, by which time, the agency estimated only 25 to 30 percent of visitors were paying the camping fees.  This prompted SPHS to begin a systematic effort, lasting nearly a decade, to develop and extend the fee program.  Joining SPHS were legislators concerned about visitor control problems at Guernsey State Park, who proposed access fees as a solution.

In 1991, the Legislature took the first of several steps that led to the creation of the SPHS fee structure as it exists today.  One of the initial steps was funding a study on the feasibility of collecting entrance fees at all parks and sites.  The “Wyoming State Park Fee Study” was a comprehensive study of park fee collection from a recreation planning perspective.  This study formed the foundation for the fee program the Legislature subsequently established.  The study also determined that, by establishing a system of staffed fee stations and self-service honor stations, or canisters, a fee program could be operated at a net gain.

Second, the Legislature funded a season-long pilot program in 1991 “to collect access control fees at Guernsey State Park, to ensure payment of user fees for park access, and to ensure efficient management and controlled utilization of park facilities.”  Based on the success of the pilot program and the information in the fee study, SPHS and the PCR Commission recommended that SPHS move forward to collect entrance fees on a permanent basis at many parks and sites.  Thus began a phased approach to implementing an extended fee program at 16 SPHS locations.

Three Phases of Fee Program Implementation

The Legislature went on to approve a series of statutory changes that eventually implemented a new fee program at parks and sites throughout the state.  The first phase occurred in 1992, when legislators established the requirement that visitors pay entrance fees at several parks and two historic sites for part of the year.  The legislation also established camping fees at several state parks and one recreation area, as opposed to authorizing camping fees at all state parks as had been the case.  In 1993, during the second phase, the Legislature added two state parks and another historic site to those requiring entrance permits. 

The Legislature approved the final phase of the fee program in 1999, to become effective in January 2000.  This legislation added the final group of parks and sites to the group requiring entrance permits.  See Appendix B for the dates of fee implementation at specific locations.  The legislation changed the name “entrance fee” to “daily use fee” to more accurately describe the fee requirement.  The 1999 fee structure changes also extended the daily use fee throughout the calendar year. 

The same legislation created an enterprise account, which allows SPHS to use 80 percent of fee revenue for capital construction, with the remaining 20 percent going to the General Fund.  This represented a significant change for SPHS funding and planning because, since the fees were first established in 1973, all fee revenue had been deposited to the General Fund.

At every phase of the fee program, the Legislature provided funding for the initial costs of constructing fee booths, purchasing equipment, and for personnel.  For all the parks and sites, the construction and equipment costs were one-time expenses of approximately $700,000, while personnel costs are recurring costs.  From the inception of the fee program through July 2000, a total of $5.2 million in SPHS fee revenues has been collected.  Most of this amount was returned to the General Fund, as statute required, prior to the establishment of the enterprise account. 

State Parks and Historic Sites

SPHS has varying responsibility for 36 properties, including 12 state parks, 21 historic sites, 2 archaeological sites, and 1 recreation area.  These properties extend over approximately 122,000 acres of both land and water.  SPHS administers the fee program at 16 of these locations, including 9 state parks, 5 historic sites, 1 archaeological site, and one recreation area.  The locations from which SPHS collects fees encompass 98 percent of total land and water acreage within the system.  Two more SPHS properties charge fees, but statute authorizes other entities to manage them and receive the fees generated.

The 16 parks and historic sites from which SPHS collects fees are located in 12 of the state’s counties.  Their locations vary from settings within city limits to more remote areas up to 35 miles from the nearest town.  Visitors can easily access some SPHS locations by interstate highways or other major thoroughfares, while others are off less traveled state highways.  Appendix B lists the 16 SPHS locations charging fees and the type of fees applicable to each.

State Owns Few SPHS Locations Collecting Fees

The state, through SPHS, owns all of the historic sites from which it collects fees, but owns only one of the parks collecting fees, Edness Kimball Wilkins.  The state also owns two parks that statute waives from the fee program, Bear River and Hot Springs, as well as another collecting fees under a statutorily authorized private contract, the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Park and Historic Site.

The largest water-based state parks from which SPHS collects fees, Buffalo Bill, Boysen, Keyhole, Guernsey, Glendo, and Seminoe, belong to the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation).  SPHS assumed responsibility for administering the lands and facilities at these reservoirs in a memorandum of understanding with Reclamation, in effect until 2017.  Because the primary purpose for these reservoirs is to provide irrigation, flood control, municipal and industrial water supply, Reclamation retains control over the water levels.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (G&F) owns Medicine Lodge State Archaeological Site and Sinks Canyon State Park, and SPHS also operates them through a memorandum of understanding.  G&F purchased these properties as wildlife habitat, using federal funds.  This ownership places some restrictions on the type of fees SPHS can charge.  Finally, the City of Cheyenne owns Curt Gowdy State Park, and a conservation district owns Hawk Springs State Recreation Area.

Parks and Sites Provide Varied Recreational

and Educational Opportunities

Most parks and sites offer predominantly outside activities, ranging from water sports to bird watching.  Many state parks offer activities such as boating, fishing, picnicking, hiking, and wildlife viewing.  Of the 16 locations for which SPHS charges fees, 10 allow camping, and 8 offer water sports such as boating, water skiing, and fishing.  Some locations have unique features such as an archery range, a unique geological phenomenon, petroglyphs, or fine examples of Civilian Conservation Corp work.  Historic sites provide educational interpretation opportunities at locations of historical prominence.

Visitation Differs Significantly

Among SPHS Locations

Among the parks and sites charging fees, visitation varies up to 97 percent between the state park with highest visitation and the historic site with the lowest.  As a group, the parks offering water sports and camping have the highest visitation, while the sites offering historical interpretation have the lowest.  The parks or sites offering water sports, but which are relatively isolated, have low visitation relative to the others in that group.  However, one historical site located near an interstate had greater visitation in 2000 than a park offering camping and water sports located on a major thoroughfare to Yellowstone National Park.  A day use park located near a large Wyoming city and an interstate had more visitors than three parks or sites that offer camping and water sports.  Historic sites have primarily out-of state visitation.  See appendix C on visitation.

Current Two-Tiered Fee Structure

The fee structure for state parks and historic sites is essentially a two-tiered system, with one level of fees applying to parks and other locations that offer camping, and a second level applying to historic sites.  See Figure 2 for a summary of fees and Appendix A for related statutes.  In the first tier, which includes state parks and the lone recreation area charging fees, daily use fees are required for each day of use and are assessed by vehicle.  However, each person entering the parks on foot, bicycle or horseback must pay an individual daily use fee. Exceptions to daily use fees in this tier are the two SPHS-managed locations that belong to G&F, where ownership restrictions forbid such fees. All locations in the first tier that offer camping, including those owned by G&F, require camping fees.  Visitors must pay the camping fee as well as the daily use fee for each night of camping.

The second tier of fees applies to historic sites.  At these locations, no camping is available and visitors pay by the head for daily use.  Visitors under the age of 18 are exempt from daily use fees at historic sites.  As well, persons traveling on busses or in guided tours each pay a fee when they enter parks or sites. 

A permit system essentially overrides the two-tier system.  SPHS offers permits to residents for daily use and for camping.  Purchase of both permits allows residents unlimited use of all SPHS locations with fees.  SPHS also currently offers a non-resident daily use permit; those who purchase it have unlimited daily use of SPHS areas with fees.  Permit holders may obtain a second vehicle permit for each permit they hold, allowing them to bring additional vehicles into the parks, sites, and areas without having to buy full-priced permits for them. 

Figure 2: Fees for Residents and Non-Residents

Source: LSO analysis of SPHS fee structure
*Note: $5.00 discount if purchased between January 1 and February 1.
**Note: The second numbers are recent changes, to become effective January 2002.

Fee Program Revenues

In addition to the two-tiers, Figure 2 illustrates another important aspect of the fee structure:  it requires non-residents to pay higher fees than residents.  LSO analyzed SPHS fee revenues for the year 2000 and found 59 percent of revenue was collected from out-of-state visitors, while 41 percent was collected from in-state visitors. 

Further analysis revealed most fee revenues, 53 percent, were from daily-use and 47 percent were from camping.  Most fees, 63 percent, are collected at staffed fee stations; 21 percent of fees are collected through permit sales and 16 percent through canisters. 

We analyzed fee revenue by type of activity and found camping fees paid by out-of-state visitors generated the most revenue, with daily-use fees of in-state visitors generating the second highest amount.  Figure 3 details this information.

Figure 3:  SPHS Fee Revenues by Type of Activity

Calendar Year 2000

Type of Activity

Total Fees

Percent of Total

Camping In-State

$201,006

15%

Camping Out-of-State

$430,740

32%

Park Daily-Use In-State

$343,813

26%

Park Daily-Use Out-Of-State

$296,530

22%

Historic Sites In-State

$10,055

1%

Historic Sites Out-of State

$64,154

5%

Total

$1,346,298

100%

Source:  LSO analysis of SPHS data.

How the Fee Program

Currently Operates

At the 16 SPHS locations authorized to charge fees, the fee program is carried out through a combination of seasonally staffed pay stations at the busiest entrances, and canisters at less popular entrances.  This approach is consistent with recommendations from the 1991 study on the feasibility of a fee program.  Some locations have only one or two entrances and they can easily be controlled with staffed fee stations.  Other locations have so many entrances that staffing them would not be economical; there, the use of self-pay canisters is necessary.  A canister is a locked, heavy metal pipe structure set in concrete.  Park personnel collect the fees left in canisters on a regular basis.

Parks and sites have different styles of staffed entrances, depending on individual circumstances.  In some, staffed pay stations are stand-alone fee booths with drive-through lanes where visitors stop and pay fees.  There are a total of 17 fee booths at 8 of the 16 locations collecting SPHS fees.  Upon payment, visitors receive a receipt that serves as their use pass.  Visitors with annual permits must stop at the pay stations at all locations, with the exception of Glendo which has a pass-through driving lane. 

Another style of staffed entrance is a visitor center or museum desk; four historic sites have such entrances.  Visitors enter on foot and stop to pay the required fee, while visitors with annual permits attached to their vehicle state they have a permit and are not charged.  Sites with this type of entrance may typically intermingle fee collection with other duties associated with serving visitors.  At these sites, fee collection staff are not as isolated as collectors in a booth.  At both types of entrances, payment of fees is transacted through a cash register, with provisions for notifying law enforcement in an emergency.

Open hours for fee stations vary throughout the season, with longer hours of operations during peak visitation in the summer.  When fee stations are not staffed, visitors put payments, under the honor system, into canisters located near the staffed pay stations.

Four locations have no staffed pay stations:  Seminoe, Sinks Canyon, Hawk Springs, and Medicine Lodge.  At these locations, visitors are trusted to fill out an envelope, enclose the correct amount of money, and place it in a canister. 

Fee Collector and Fee Supervisor Duties

Some fee collectors work exclusively with the fee program in shifts in fee booths.  Fee booths are equipped with a cash register, air conditioning, a telephone, and a silent panic button that notifies the statewide law enforcement system. 

Seasonal fee collectors work May through September, earning between $6.00 and $7.25 per hour.  Fee collection involves transacting the fee payment process through a cash register, balancing at the end of the shift, and preparing shift reports for the fee supervisor.  In addition, fee collectors are expected to be information liaisons with the public and must keep current on all information visitors would typically seek. 

Fee supervisors train and schedule fee collectors, complete required reports for SPHS, and ensure that all revenue is accounted for using established procedures.  They earn between $7.25 and $8.00 per hour; they typically work full-time during the summer season and as needed during the rest of the year.  Not all locations have fee supervisors, in which case the superintendent serves in this capacity. 

Law Enforcement Program

Complements Fee Program

To implement a more extensive fee program, SPHS officials determined, early in the process, that an enhanced law enforcement presence was needed in the parks.  Enhancing law enforcement was seen as a means of encouraging payment of fees, or compliance.  By the early 1990s, camping fees had long been in place, but without the ability to enforce them, SPHS had minimal compliance.  Park maintenance employees were responsible for fee compliance as well as their normal duties, such as trash removal and routine facility and grounds maintenance.  Since the establishment of the expanded fee program, some of the parks have employed seasonal park rangers, in part to ensure compliance with the fee program.  

SPHS Fee Program Statute

Continues to Change

During the past decade, with the phasing-in of fees at 16 locations, the SPHS fee program has undergone constant change.  The 2001 legislative session generated further statutory changes that will become effective in the year 2002:  it approved a bill sponsored by the Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee, [1] lowering the SPHS fee rates for non-residents to twice as much as resident fees.

This change was prompted by notification from the U.S. Department of the Interior that certain non-resident fees charged at Wyoming state parks were in conflict with L&WCF regulations.  If Wyoming had failed to adjust its fees to meet federal requirements, the state’s eligibility to receive future funding would have been jeopardized, as would funding for many Wyoming communities.

Future Benefits of the Fee Program

We found the fee program has slowly evolved from a completely voluntary approach at the time of the bucking horse camping permits, to a consistent program that provides visitors with more information and services.  In the future, we believe the fee program can be used to achieve even further benefits in terms of both quality recreational experiences and resource protection. 

This report provides an historical account of the evolution of the fee program in Wyoming’s park system, and shows that it has operated at a net gain.  It also offers a context for how Wyoming compares to its surrounding states, and how fee structures can enhance or limit management objectives.  Based on experiences of surrounding states and at the federal level, we suggest alternatives for using the fee program to more effectively manage the high-use parks in Wyoming.