Bucking the trend: Fee revenue rises at Olympic National Park
A car goes through the Heart O' the Hills entrance station at Olympic National Park on Saturday. -- Photo by Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News
By Rob Ollikainen
Peninsula Daily News
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Park spokesman Dave Reynolds said revenue from entrance fees and all permits was $2,524,000 last year.
That's a modest increase from 2009, when the fee and permit revenue was $2,494,000.
National Parks Traveler reported last month that entrance fee revenue across the national parks system dropped from $129.6 million in 2009 to $125.8 million last year.
Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Russ Veenema said the increase in Olympic National Park fee revenue was consistent with hotel-motel tax within Port Angeles and Clallam County.
"Both were up in 2010 compared to 2009," Veenema said.
Many tourists who stay in Port Angeles hotels visit Olympic National Park, Veenema said.
Although fee revenue was up, park visits dropped from 3,276,459 in 2009 to 2,844,563 in 2010.
Hurricane Ridge Road is now open daily in the winter except during storms.
"I hope it has an impact," Veenema said. "We think it started out pretty strong.
More using Ridge Road
"We do seem to have more people using the Ridge Road. I have heard there are cars up there every day."
Veenema said the Ridge would likely be getting more visitors if there were more snow. While the rope tows are in operation, the Poma lift on the north side of Hurricane Ridge is closed because of a lack of snow.
Traffic on the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce website is getting more hits this year compared with last year, Veenema said.
"There's some pretty good rationale to think that people are looking for information on Hurricane Ridge," Veenema said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: February 06. 2011 10:10PM
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