Saturday, June 26, 2010

Fee Increases To Get On Beach


The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that the daily entrance fee to the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge will increase from $5 to $8 on July 1. The price of the weekly, refuge annual, interagency annual and senior passes will not change. All passes are accepted at both ends of Assateague Island.

The additional revenue will be used to offset the maintenance costs of beach parking facilities and safety services on the Virginia end of Assateague Island National Seashore, as well as additional costs of visitor service projects.

Eighty percent of all money collected from the passes with the exception of the Federal Duck Stamp remains at the refuge to be used for visitor services and facility improvements. In 2009, the refuge utilized recreation fee dollars for repairs on the historic Assateague Lighthouse, annual maintenance of roads, trails, beach parking lots, visitor safety services (lifeguards), fee collection, and law enforcement support. These are some of the many projects that your fee dollars have provided.

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