Letter to Charles Sams, Director of the National Park Service - King, Daines Urge National Park Service to Offer Digital Parks Pass to Modernize Access to Recreation
Press Release
Dear Director Sams,
We write to request that you coordinate with the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, and Army Corps of Engineers to offer a digital America the Beautiful Pass option, in addition to the existing physical pass.
The digital age has dramatically increased the information available at the tap of a finger, and the public has grown to expect the convenience of modern technology during daily activities--from ordering off of a contactless QR code menu to scanning a mobile boarding pass at the airport. The technology in use on public lands often lags behind visitor expectations. Despite options to purchase America the Beautiful Passes online, the passes themselves are not available for digital download or use on mobile devices. This means those who lose or forget to bring their physical pass to a federal recreation site must buy another at the entrance station, and those who purchase a pass online must wait days to receive it in the mail. This can create unnecessary barriers and inconvenience for would-be public lands visitors.
We are pleased to see that some public lands passes are already digitally available through Recreation.gov. The Acadia National Park website encourages visitors to "Avoid long lines by buying your Entrance Pass online" and provides links to purchase an Acadia-specific park pass and a vehicle reservation for the Cadillac Summit Road, both of which may be downloaded immediately. These types of digital options should be extended to America the Beautiful Passes, which provide access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites by covering entrance fees at National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges, as well as day use fees at National Forests, National Grasslands, and lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and the Army Corps of Engineers.
Offering a digital America the Beautiful Pass option, in addition to the existing physical pass, would improve visitor experience and increase efficiency at entrance stations. We look forward to working with you on this issue.
Source