Dick Hagerty: Yosemite will still be a fantastic bargain at $30

A visit to Yosemite National Park is not only one of life’s great joys, but it is also one of the great bargains you can enjoy in terms of dollars expended. For only $20 you can take not only yourself but an entire carload of family and friends through the gate, and that fee actually covers a full seven days of visiting rights.

Now Yosemite is back in the news as noted in a recent opinion piece on these pages (“Yosemite entry fee hikes will keep everyday people out,” Page A9, Nov. 12) which decries the entry fee increase currently under review.

The opinion writer and other critics have correctly noted that the proposal is to raise the seven-day pass a full 50 percent, but the reality is that this increase is only $10. Where else can you get this quality experience for a measly $30?

An adult couple and two kids are charged $44 for a two-hour Saturday night movie at the local theater in Riverbank. Throw in a bucket of popcorn and some sodas and that price is easily double what the proposed fee will be for Yosemite. Similarly, the cheapest tickets for any regular show at the Gallo Arts will set you back more than the entry fee into our park.

And at the park, you are encouraged to pack your picnic lunch. Try sneaking your own food into the theater or concert hall!

Seniors get into all national parks for free – well, free after paying a one-time, lifetime charge of $10. Try to get that benefit at any local theater or sporting event and they will laugh you out of the arena.

(My father often said, “Getting old is not so great, but getting that lifetime pass is one of the real benefits of aging.” And Dad used his to the max for the last 25 years of his life.)

The cost of filling your gas tank is likely greater than the entry ticket, and while many of the accommodations and eating facilities in the park are quite costly, taking your own food and having a picnic next to the river is a great way to enjoy the views and the scenery. Sure, a pricey lunch at the Ahwahnee Hotel is memorable and something I always look forward to enjoying. But the vast multitudes never set foot inside this magnificent building and do not seem to suffer from lacking this experience.

The current fee has been in effect since 1997. According to the Yosemite website, the U.S. Department of Labor inflation index indicates that $20 in 1997 is just pennies short of $30 in 2014. It is hard for me to understand how an inflation-indexed increase can cause negative comment and protest. Especially nearly 20 years between adjustments.

Far be it from me to defend the National Park Service in general and the Yosemite administration in particular. I continue to be one of their harshest critics, but in this case I am fully in agreement with the proposal.

If the extra funds bring better traffic control, trail improvements and facility improvements in general, then I say let’s go for it. Once in a great while a new government fee or assessment is truly worthwhile, and I can fully endorse this increase.

Yosemite, at any price, is a bargain. And I suspect the additional 10 bucks will have little impact on the number of visitors while giving the Park Service much-needed funds to keep our park open to all comers.

This story was originally published November 15, 2014 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Dick Hagerty: Yosemite will still be a fantastic bargain at $30."