# Federal Land Entry Fees Waved for Veterans and Gold Star Families



## candycorn

This is Big News.  

The NPS and the Department of the Interior has waved entrance fees for Veterans and Gold Star families...FOREVER!






						Free Entrance to National Parks for Gold Star Families and Veterans (U.S. National Park Service)
					






					www.nps.gov
				




The edict applies to:


*The program waives National Park Service entrance fees. It also waives entrance or standard amenity fees for other participating Department of the Interior agencies, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers:*


_*Bureau of Land Management*_
_*Bureau of Reclamation*_
_*U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service*_
_*U.S. Forest Service*_
_*U.S. Army Corps of Engineers*_
So, from what I understand, the entry fees are waived but if you want to use the boat ramp or reserve a camping spot or trailer hook up...a fee still applies.  

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Just to put this in perspective....my recent trip to Yellowstone was supposed to cost me $35.00.  I drove through the West Yellowstone entrance at 4:30 in the morning and it was free.  200 yards into the park...a 2,000 pound bison was standing in the middle of the road and looked at me like "what the hell do you want".  A little further in down Firehole Canyon Drive, you can see about 800 geysers like the one pictured below (no...it isn't Old Faithful) 










Bryce Canyon...Utah:






Mt. Rushmore National Monument:






All free to Veterans as of this moment.


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## flacaltenn

candycorn said:


> This is Big News.
> 
> The NPS and the Department of the Interior has waved entrance fees for Veterans and Gold Star families...FOREVER!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Free Entrance to National Parks for Gold Star Families and Veterans (U.S. National Park Service)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.nps.gov
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The edict applies to:
> 
> 
> *The program waives National Park Service entrance fees. It also waives entrance or standard amenity fees for other participating Department of the Interior agencies, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers:*
> 
> 
> _*Bureau of Land Management*_
> _*Bureau of Reclamation*_
> _*U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service*_
> _*U.S. Forest Service*_
> _*U.S. Army Corps of Engineers*_
> So, from what I understand, the entry fees are waived but if you want to use the boat ramp or reserve a camping spot or trailer hook up...a fee still applies.
> 
> ---------
> 
> 
> Just to put this in perspective....my recent trip to Yellowstone was supposed to cost me $35.00.  I drove through the West Yellowstone entrance at 4:30 in the morning and it was free.  200 yards into the park...a 2,000 pound bison was standing in the middle of the road and looked at me like "what the hell do you want".  A little further in down Firehole Canyon Drive, you can see about 800 geysers like the one pictured below (no...it isn't Old Faithful)
> 
> View attachment 414547
> 
> View attachment 414549
> 
> Bryce Canyon...Utah:
> 
> View attachment 414550
> 
> 
> Mt. Rushmore National Monument:
> 
> View attachment 414551
> 
> 
> All free to Veterans as of this moment.



How about we make this a sticky thread in Military for awhile??


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## whitehall

It only took them 75 years since WW2. Pretty quick by federal standards.


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## Canon Shooter

This is good news!


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## my2¢

Good move.  Doesn't affect me but wife and I back in 2017 got over to a nearby Tonto National Forest office to get a $20 lifetime National Park Senior Pass just before the price was jacked up to $80.


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## candycorn

If anyone is heading out to Yosemite, Glacier, Rocky Mountain or Acadia National Parks this summer, there is a ticketed entry system that is designed to limit the number of daily visitors to roughly 15-20 thousand or so it seems.


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## 9thIDdoc

Why should the public have to pay to visit public land in the first place?


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## my2¢

9thIDdoc said:


> Why should the public have to pay to visit public land in the first place?


The vast amount of public land, such as our National Forests, have free public access.   Then there are these National Parks that offer quite a bit more in form of visitor services.  Pretty simple, huh?


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## whitehall

As far as I know Federal Land belongs to U.S. citizens. They should only charge foreign tourists and non citizens for entry.


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## Mushroom

It is called "Maintenance fees".

It costs money to keep them operating, and what do we do.  Charge everybody, or those that actually use the services?

Of you want free, go to a National Forest.  Those do not charge.  But if you go to a National Park, just deal with it.

Freaking whiners of the "Free Generation".


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