Costs contributed to decision to discontinue fees

For the first time in 24 years, visitors to the Fort Scott National Historic Site will not be charged fees to enter the park.

The site, a unit of the National Park Service, recently discontinued admission fees that have been in place since 1987 and will now allow members of the public to visit the site free of charge. After careful analysis of administrative costs associated with the collection of entrance fees, it was determined that costs exceeded the amount of funds collected.

Following the analysis and consideration of other factors, the site initiated the decision to eliminate the fees, FSNHS Superintendent Betty Boyko said.

"There is strict criteria on what the funding collected can be used for," she said. "Fee management regulations restrict how long the funds can be carried over. Also, we're required by law to do background investigations for anyone collecting fees."

After the analysis is complete, it's submitted to the regional NPS office for approval.

Boyko said the cost of those investigations, as well as the time it took to deposit and record fees, contributed to the decision to discontinue the admission fees.

"It cost more than what we were collecting," she said.

Boyko said 80 percent of fees collected are returned to the park, with the remainder going back to the NPS.

Money collected from fees must be used for various specific projects, such as restoration work on a particular object at the site. Plus, the site couldn't carry over more than 65 percent of fees collected during the previous year, Boyko said.

"It became a challenge sometimes to find enough money to do something you really needed done," she said.

NPS officials at the site believe they can still provide a quality visitor experience without the fee.

Boyko said she and her staff are hoping funds the park previously generated through those fees will be recovered through community donations. She said she doesn't expect the removal of the admission fees to have a negative effect on programs the site offers or regular site operations.

She also said staff are "hopeful" the change will result in a boost in the number of people who visit the park each year.

Previously, the site charged entrance fees of $3 for people 16 years of age and older while children 15 years of age and younger were admitted free of charge.

In addition, the site will no longer sell the America the Beautiful Interagency passes. These include the Access Pass, the Senior Pass and the Annual Pass. These passes will continue to be available at Harry S. Truman National Historic Site in Independence, Mo., Wilson's Creek National Battlefield in Republic, Mo., Pea Ridge National Military Park in Garfield, Ark., and the following sites in Kansas: Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in Stafford and Great Plains Nature Center in Wichita, which have only senior and access passes, and Cimarron National Grassland in Elkhart, which has all three passes.

Interagency Annual Passes can also be purchased online from the U.S. Geological Survey at http://store.usgs.gov/pass/index.html. Instructions for obtaining the Senior and Access passes by mail can also be obtained from this website.

Fort Scott NHS will continue to offer regularly scheduled interpretive activities including living history, education programs, special events and daily guided tours during the summer. Site hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. For more information, call (620) 223-0310, or visit www.nps.gov/fosc.