The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation requested more money for next year’s budget in part because both the department and Governor Phil Bredesen want to get rid of all fees at state parks.
The 3-dollar entrance charge per car, or 30 dollars per year, was instituted in 2001 as part of a national trend to collect access fees for state parks. T-DEC Commissioner Jim Fyke says attendance at state parks is estimated to be between 25 and 27-million people per year, and Fyke says attendance at the parks hasn’t changed since the fees were started.
Bredesen says since there isn’t a major budget crisis this year, now is the time to get rid of the fees.
“I want state parks to be like libraries for all the people of Tennessee irrespective and so on.”
Currently 23 of the Tennessee’s 54 parks have entrance fees but 50-percent of T-DEC’s budget is made up of other kinds of fees.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM