Fort Worden State Park will charge a $5 parking fee for some visitors beginning Jan. 1 as park officials consider how to assess the fee without hurting other revenue generators on park property.
The mandatory fee goes into effect at almost all state parks next month, though the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission has given Fort Worden officials authority to decide how they will manage fee collection.
Parking fee revenues, approved in September by the state parks commission, go into state parks coffers to help offset an anticipated state budget shortfall.
Other affected state parks in Clallam and Jefferson counties are Fort Flagler, Anderson Lake, Old Fort Townsend, Mystery Bay, Dosewallips, Shine Tidelands, Pleasant Harbor, Bogachiel, Triton Cove and Sequim Bay State Park.
Rothschild House in Port Townsend is exempt from charging the fee because it charges a $2 adult admission fee.
The parks will charge $5 per visit or $50 for an annual pass, then increase the fee to $7 or a $70 annual fee in 2006.
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