DNR may study proposed access fees for Iowa’s state parks

DES MOINES - State park users and advocacy groups may be quizzed soon about their willingness to reimpose a fee to access park facilities as a way to help fund maintenance and improvements to Iowa's park system.

A fiscal 2017 budget bill that helps fund agriculture and natural resources functions of state government includes language calling for state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials to study the feasibility of installing electronic card reader systems at state park entrances 'for the exclusive purpose of allowing the department to more efficiently collect user fees from individuals who enter those areas by motor vehicle.”

As part of that study, according to the House File 2454 explanation, DNR officials also are to 'solicit input from state park users and state park supporter groups regarding their willingness to pay additional fees to provide funding for maintenance and operations of state parks.” State officials are to report their findings and recommendations to Gov. Terry Branstad and legislators by Jan. 15, 2017.

Sen. Mary Jo Wilhelm, D-Cresco, co-chair of the House-Senate agriculture and natural resources budget subcommittee, said the information gathering did not necessarily equate into a future park user fee, and Rep. Norlin Mommsen, R-DeWitt, the other panel co-leader, said his interest was to allow state officials to 'think outside the box” concerning new technology applications but not to reinstate a fee to use state parks.

'To me, it's a dream clause,” said Mommsen.

'I just think there must be something with these apps and stuff that we could be utilizing that we're not,” he added. 'My intent is to let them think outside the box and just what is possible. Whatever you can think of or dream of.”

Mommsen said he wanted to explore applications that could make park rangers' jobs easier, streamline check-ins or improve methods for park users to make reservations at facilities around the state. He added that if Iowans are surveyed, he believed 'people will come back and say they're against” reinstating a state park user fee. 'For most people, that's such a paradigm switch, especially for Iowa.”

Branstad spokesman Ben Hammes said the governor also does not support a park user fee.

'Gov. Branstad values our Iowa state parks and is always looking for innovative ways to make them more accessible to Iowans,” Hammes said in a statement. 'While imposing user fees to access our state parks has been used before and was unpopular among Iowans, Gov. Branstad remains generally opposed to the idea of imposing fees to access our state parks.”

Iowa had user fees for a few years beginning in 1986, but those charges - $2 a day or $10 a season - were abolished because the Resource Enhancement and Protection Program (REAP) was supposed to replace them. However, that program never has received the amount of money pledged and legislators this session have proposed $16 million for REAP and $3 million for state park maintenance and operations in various fiscal 2017 budget bills.