Georgia panel raises state park fees with additional price hikes in the works 

The Georgia Board of Natural Resources has voted in favor of a plan to increase parking pass rates at state parks, and the Department of Natural Resources could be considering further cost hikes. The new changes, which include surge pricing for campsites, cabins and yurts as well as golf courses, could go into effect next […]

A campsite on the water at James H. "Sloppy" Floyd State Park or other Georgia state parks could go up in price on a beautiful sunny weekend. The Department of Natural Resources has agreed to implement new revenue increasing measures, including surge pricing on campsites and tee times. Photo by Jill Williams

The Georgia Board of Natural Resources has voted in favor of a plan to increase parking pass rates at state parks, and the Department of Natural Resources could be considering further cost hikes.

The new changes, which include surge pricing for campsites, cabins and yurts as well as golf courses, could go into effect next year without a board vote. The agency’s external affairs manager Haley Chafin said Tuesday that leadership does not currently have a timeline to implement the price changes.

Parking fee bump approved

Under the plan the board approved Tuesday, the daily per vehicle fee would increase from $5 to $10 and an annual pass would go from $50 to $70. It is the first parking fee price increase since 2009.

Veterans would see a daily pass increase from $3.75 to $7.50 and an annual pass go from $37.50 to $52.50.

Sherman Neal II, deputy director of the Sierra Club of Georgia’s Military Outdoors program, criticized the fee increase for servicemembers.

Neal said Georgia should join states like Alabama in offering free admission to veterans and active duty military. He said half of the servicemembers in Georgia earn less than $33,000 per year and that making it easier for them to visit state parks would honor their commitment to the country.

“I understand the necessity to address deferred maintenance and steward the land,” Neal said. “However, we must reject shifting the burden onto Georgians. Access to nature saves lives – we should dedicate resources towards studying the positive health outcomes associated with time spent outdoors and maintain focus on removing barriers to enjoying public lands – not emplacing new obstacles.”

Fayette Democratic state Sen. Kenya Wicks introduced a bill this year that would waive park fees for service members. That bill did not move forward, but it remains in play for next year’s legislative session.

Damon Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of Friends of Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites, said raising park prices isn’t comfortable, but maintenance isn’t free and money doesn’t go as far as it did in 2009.

“At Friends, we understand how important it is to keep our parks affordable and accessible for everyone, but we also recognize that the cost of caring for them has risen dramatically in the past 16 years,” he said. “The park pass remains the only dedicated source of funding for maintenance and repair in our park system, and while new capital projects like the beautiful visitor center at Vogel State Park are changing the landscape of our parks, the backlog of maintenance and repair continues to grow.”

Before the unanimous vote, board member Duncan Johnson praised the state parks for operating for so many years without a fee increase.

“I have been here 11 years, and out of those 11 years, I have always fought increases in any fees because I don’t like imposing them, but I also think we’ve gone 16 years without any increase, and I’d like to propose a motion for this, but I’d also like to consider going another 16 years after this,” he said.

Accommodations and golf

But it could be a little sooner than that for Georgia parkgoers to start paying more for camping spots or golfing.

In a recent audit of the Department of Natural Resources State Parks and Historic Sites Division the state auditor’s office found the division could take steps to increase revenue, including by increasing parking fees as well as charging more for campsites or tee times based on demand.

The department agreed to those recommendations with a proposed implementation date of Jan. 1, but prices are not expected to change that day, Chafin said.

Georgia’s parks already charge different rates based on demand to a limited extent, but the auditors pointed to states like South Carolina and Alabama, which use reservation systems that automatically increase rates based on occupancy.

The auditors gave examples including charging more for cottages during the summer, when demand is high, and less in the winter when occupancy drops. Campers looking for a primo site, like one on the water, should prepare for the possibility of forking over more money as the auditors recommend increasing the variation between campsites based on desirability as well as demand.

The parks division agreed with the auditors’ recommendation to increase pricing variation but noted that “there is a desire to maintain consistency in prices across the system and ensure that the parks are accessible to the public,” according to the report. “As a result, any methodology used to create variation in accommodation pricing should balance revenue maximization with the division’s mission of serving the public good.”

The auditors also recommended fee increases at state park golf courses, including raising the price of annual memberships and boosting the cost of green fees for busier times like weekend mornings to be closer to other public golf courses, as well as instituting no-show fees for golfers who book a tee time but don’t show.

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