Authorized by the Congress in 1996 as a 3-year pilot program, the recreational fee demonstration program allows the Park Service, the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Fish and Wildlife Service to experiment with new or increased fees at up to 100 demonstration sites per agency. Fee Revenues Have Substantially Increased—Particularly in the Park Service

Among the four agencies, the pace and the approach used to implement the recreational fee demonstration program have differed. This difference is a result of the agencies’ experiences in charging fees prior to the demonstration. Each agency estimated that it has generated at least 70 percent more in fee revenues than it did prior to the demonstration program, and the combined estimated revenues for the four agencies have nearly doubled since fiscal year 1996. At the same time, other sites within an agency may not have enough to meet their most critical needs. The Agencies Have Used Only 24 Percent of the Funds Available

The four agencies have spent about 24 percent of the revenues available under the fee demonstration program through March 1998. Of the $21.6 million in expenditures by the four participating agencies as of March 31, 1998, most have been for repairs and maintenance, the cost of collection, and operations. BLM did not have a national breakdown available. Headquarters officials noted that in fiscal year 1997, most sites had not been able to spend all the revenues they collected because fee collection started in the middle of the fiscal year, time was needed to make the fee deposits available to the sites for expenditure, and time was needed to plan and contract for the projects to be funded with fee revenues. Under the demonstration program’s current 80-20 percent split of the revenues, the Park Service’s park units will stand to receive very uneven shares of the program’s $136 million in estimated fee revenues for fiscal year 1998: Of the 100 fee-collecting sites (which actually includes 116 park units), the top 44 units in terms of revenues are expected to retain $93 million, or 68 percent of the total, while the remaining collecting sites are expected to retain $13 million, or 10 percent of the total, leaving $30 million, or 22 percent of the total, for 260 nonparticipating sites. Among the four agencies, a number of examples exist in which a new or innovative approach to collecting fees has resulted in greater convenience for the visitors and has improved efficiency for the agency. However, some agencies could do more in this area. Innovative Pricing Is Being Tried by Some Agencies

Besides innovating and experimenting to make paying fees more convenient for visitors, two of the agencies are also experimenting with various pricing strategies at demonstration sites. 4.2). 4.3). Preliminary Data Suggest No Major Adverse Effect on Visitation From New Recreational Fees

Although data for more years will be needed to fully assess the effect of increased recreational fees on visitation, 1997 data from the 206 sites participating in the demonstration program preliminarily suggest that the increased fees have had no major adverse effect on visitation. Surveys on the impact of fees on visitation and other issues planned for 1998 and 1999 include the following:
The Park Service plans additional research on visitation in 1998 that will (1) survey the managers at all 100 recreational fee demonstration sites concerning visitation and obtain their perceptions of the equity, the efficiency, and the quality of visitors’ experiences resulting from the fee demonstration program; and (2) conduct detailed case study evaluations at 13 fee demonstration sites, including a detailed visitor survey at each site.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the implementation of the recreational fee demonstration program by the National Park Service (NPS), the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), focusing on the: (1) implementation of the program and the fee revenues generated; (2) program's expenditures; (3) extent to which the agencies have used innovative or coordinated approaches to fee collection; and (4) program's effects, if any, on visitation.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) among the four agencies, the pace and the approach used to implement the recreational fee demonstration program have differed; (2) this difference reflects the extent of the agencies' experiences in charging fees prior to the demonstration; (3) nonetheless, each agency has been successful in increasing fee revenues; (4) the four agencies estimated that their combined recreational fee revenues have nearly doubled from about $93 million in fiscal year (FY) 1996 to an about $179 million in FY 1998; (5) of the four agencies, NPS is generating the most fee revenues; (6) for FY 1998, NPS estimates that its fee revenues will be about 85 percent of the total estimated revenues collected by the four agencies at demonstration sites; (7) about 76 percent of the funds available under the program had not been spent through March 1998; (8) thus far, most expenditures have been for repairs and maintenance and the cost of fee collection; (9) the agencies expect to make significant expenditures in the latter part of FY 1998 and in FY 1999; (10) in the longer term, because some sites may have a much greater potential than others for raising revenues, the requirement that at least 80 percent of the fees be retained at the location where they were collected may lead to substantial inequities between sites; (11) some sites may reach the point where they have more revenues than they need for their projects, while other sites still do not have enough; (12) opportunities remain for the agencies to be more innovative and cooperative in designing, setting, and collecting fees; (13) among the agencies, several notable examples of innovation exist at demonstration sites of the Forest Service and the BLM; (14) these innovations have resulted in either more equitable pricing for the visitors, or greater convenience for visitors in how they pay fees; (15) while NPS has been innovative in making fees more convenient for visitors to pay, it has not experimented with different pricing structures to make fees more equitable; (16) coordination of fees among agencies has been erratic; (17) overall, preliminary data suggest the increased or new fees have had no major adverse effect on visitation to the fee demonstration sites; (18) with data from just 1 year, however, it is difficult to accurately assess the fees' impact on visitation; (19) the agencies' surveys indicate that visitors generally support the purpose of the program and the level of the fees implemented; and (20) each agency is planning additional visitor surveys and research in 1998 and 1999.