By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch Don't be surprised if visitors start paying more next year to enter and camp at Mount Rainier National Park. The National Park Service has asked officials at all 130 national parks that charge admission fees to propose higher fees to generate more revenue to meet the cost of maintaining and enhancing the parks. At Mount Rainier, where increases could be $10, the park entry fee is the same as it was eight years ago, and the camping fees are lower than those at competing campgrounds nearby, said Tracy Swartout, the park's deputy superintendent. The basic fee for a vehicle to enter the park hasn't been raised since 2006, when it went from $10 to $15. The proposed new rate would be $25 for a pass that would continue to allow the holder to come and go for seven days. Campground fees, which now are $12 to $15, would become a flat $25. That would still be lower than the fees at the nearest campgrounds outside the park, Swartout noted. She said the new camping fees are based on comparisons with those other camping options. For example, Eastcreek Campground, a private campground in the Elbe-Mineral area, charges $20 to $35. Alder Lake Park, which is operated by Tacoma Public Utilities, has fees of $23 to $33. Public meetings, still to be scheduled, will be held for discussions of Mount Rainier's proposed new fees that, if approved, could take effect next summer. Most national parks haven't raised fees since the mid-2000s, according to Park Service officials. Swartout said about 75 percent of the income from fees at Mount Rainier stays with the park to help cover costs such as maintaining facilities and trail repairs and upkeep. Mount Rainier's four campgrounds have a combined 480 campsites that are used by many of the approximately 1 million people per year who visit the park. Other facilities at the park include visitor and information centers at the Paradise and Longmire recreation areas. The park recorded 1.3 million visits in 2013. The number of visitors dropped about 140,000, or 3 percent, in 2007 after the 2006 fee increase. But in 2008, one full year after the increase took effect, total visits rose 10 percent.
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