Free day at Olympic National Park thanks to act’s passage

PORT ANGELES — Entrance fees to Olympic National Park will be waived today to commemorate Tuesday’s signing of the federal Great American Outdoors Act into law.

After bi-partisian support in Congress, President Donald Trump signed the legislation Tuesday to address the historically underfunded, multi-billion-dollar deferred maintenance backlog at national parks and public lands.

The act will use revenues from energy development to provide up to $1.9 billion a year for five years in the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to provide needed maintenance for critical facilities and infrastructure in our national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, recreation areas and American Indian schools.

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It will also use royalties from offshore oil and natural gas to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund to the tune of $900 million a year to invest in conservation and recreation opportunities across the country.

The National Park Service accounts for 84 million acres of land at 400 different sites, but as of 2019, they were due for $11.9 billion in deferred maintenance and repairs.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt announced that entrance fees paid by visitors coming to lands managed by the Department will be waived today.

Bernhardt also announced that Aug. 4 will be designated “Great American Outdoors Day,” a fee-free day each year moving forward to commemorate the signing of the Act.

Entrance fees will be waived at all fee collecting public lands at the National Park Service (NPS), the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Department holds fee-free days throughout the year to encourage visitation and appreciation for America’s public lands.

On fee-free days, site-specific standard amenity and day-use fees at recreation sites and areas will be waived for the specified dates. Other fees, such as overnight camping, cabin rentals, group day use and use of special areas, will remain in effect.

The remaining fee-free days in 2020 at Olympic National Park: