BS: Waive Park Fees Permanently

Item: Interior Department waives entrance fees for national parks on three prime summer weekends /Bill Schneider, New West

Bill Schneider /New West: Yesterday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced he was waiving national park entrance fees for three prime summer weekends (June 20-21, July 18-19 and August 15-16), a widely reported and welcomed pronouncement . But I’m more interested in the back story. To me, even though Salazar didn’t say a word about it, his action seems to forecast a new philosophy coming out of the National Park Service (NPS), starting with this admission that ever-increasing fees are partly responsible for steadily declining park visitation. And ending, hopefully, with something I trumpeted two years ago in this column, making our national parks a free tradition .

• H/T: TreasuredValley.com

Question: Should the federal government permanently waive entrance fees at national parks?