Phil Bencomo / Lake Superior Magazine
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore: Mainland Sea Caves
Submitted
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (APIS) will host two open houses to discuss a possible fee increase in 2015. The park proposes a Special Recreation Permit fee to be collected at Meyers Beach during Ice Cave events. The park proposes that this fee be in the amount $5.00 per person for visitors twelve and older. This fee is a cost recovery fee and would allow the park to cover the majority of the costs associated with staffing this event.
During the Ice Caves Special Event of 2014, over the course of ten weeks, approximately 138,000 visitors funneled through the Lakeshore’s Meyers Beach access to visit the caves. This unprecedented visitation received national and even international attention and was driven largely by the widespread use of social media to spread news of the ice cave phenomenon. We believe the Ice Caves Special Event has now entered the national and international consciousness in such a way that visitation of this magnitude will now be the norm, rather than the exception. The Ice Caves Event in 2014 brought in nearly 10 million dollars in revenue to the local communities.
Currently the park charges a parking fee at Meyers Beach of $3.00 per car. During the Ice Cave event the majority of cars parked on Highway 13 and in temporary lots. As a result the park collected only $47,000, a fraction of what it actually cost to manage this event. The Friends of APIS contributed $16,000 to assure that toilets were brought in and kept pumped, the National Park Service Midwest Region contributed funding and many local partners and agencies contributed in-kind services and staff as well. While the $5.00 fee will not cover all costs associated with this event, it will make great strides in providing sufficient staff and infrastructure for this event.
Acting Superintendent Chris Smith states that, “We are committed to keeping the park affordable but we also want to provide visitors with the best possible experience while not over burdening our partners.”
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore will host two open houses to discuss this fee and listen to comments from the public.
October 22, 2014, 10:00 a.m.-noon at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland, WI.
October 23, 2014, 4:00 p.m.-6:00 pm at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Headquarters, 415 Washington Ave., Bayfield, WI.
Submit your comments online at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/meyersfee. Written comments are also welcomed and can be sent to myra_foster@nps.gov or Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 415 Washington Avenue, Bayfield, Wisconsin 54814 Attn: Myra Foster.