Yellowstone Park Official Warns Of Budget Shortfall

Yellowstone National Park will face a $75,000 budget shortfall in 1997 if not allowed to increase entry fees under an experimental fee system, according to a park official.

Assistant Superintendent Marv Jensen said even though the park’s budget for 1997 is $700,000 higher than this past year’s, the combination of a 3 percent raise for park employees and cuts in special project funding will leave it $75,000 short.

That could mean the park, which was forced to close one campground this year because of funding shortages, could face similar cutbacks this year, Jensen said.

The park’s budget for 1997 was set at $20.4 million.

National Park Service officials have said Yellowstone is likely to be included in an experimental entry fee system under which some national parks will be allowed to keep 80 percent of the money they raise through the fees over what they raised in previous years.

Currently, parks are allowed to keep only 15 percent with the rest going to the U.S. Treasury and being divided among other facilities.