Letter to Jonathan P. Jarvis, Director of the National Park Service - Sandy Hook Fee Increases

Letter

Dear Director Jarvis:

I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed increases to the parking and camping fees at the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Park. The National Park Service (NPS) should abandon this proposal, which would be the second fee increase in just five years.

Currently, NPS is proposing to increase the parking and camping fees on vehicles accessing Sandy Hook in 2017. This would be a dramatic increase from what fees were in 2011, when it cost $10 a day to park a car at Sandy Hook. This increase would cause additional financial burden to the many individuals and families who visit the park for recreational purposes, and has the potential to negatively impact the local economy. We should be looking at ways to encourage more visitors to the parks, helping the surrounding economies. This proposal to yet again increase park fees moves us in the opposite direction.

Ensuring affordable access for the public to Sandy Hook has been important to me throughout my time in Congress. I have repeatedly called upon NPS to avoid fee increases, and have worked to forgo or reduce these increases in the past. However, I find myself again having to appeal to the NPS to withdraw this latest proposed increase. In order for the NPS to fully understand the impact these fee increases would have on the visitors to Sandy Hook, I call upon the NPS to have a public hearing to hear directly from local residents, officials, and visitors to Sandy Hook. I would also request that the NPS provide to me statistical information related to Sandy Hook -- specifically visitor counts and revenue information from prior to the last fee increase through the most recent data available. In addition, I request a meeting with NPS representatives who can provide an explanation of the proposed use of the increased fees, and if the fee money collected at Sandy Hook is dedicated specifically to Sandy Hook, or if any is diverted to other parks within Gateway National Recreation Area, or other NPS parks.

I thank you in advance for your attention to this letter, and I look forward to working with you and your staff on this matter.

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