PORT ANGELES — While the number of counted visits to Olympic National Park has dipped slightly, the amount of fee money the park has taken in for projects serving visitors is up.
The number of visits to the 923,000-acre park from January through September this year has dropped 14.5 percent over the same period in 2005, or by 416,420 visits.
During the first nine months of 2006, there have been about 2.4 million visits.
During the same period in 2005, there were about 2.8 million visits.
Although the current year has shown a decrease, park visitation has been increasing over time, said park spokeswoman Barb Maynes.
“There are hills and valleys,”‘ she said.
During the same period, the park brought in more than 28 percent more money from fees than the year before.
In 2005 the park brought in $1.8 million from fees through the end of September.
During the same period this year the park brought in $2.3 million, Maynes said.
Eighty percent of money from fees stays in the park to help pay for projects and seasonal staff, Maynes said, while the other 20 percent goes to a pot that is available to all parks.
Money to pay regular park staff is budgeted by Congress.
The park raised the price of seven-day entrance passes and campground fees on Jan. 1.
The pass price jumped from $10 to $15 — a 50 percent increase — and campground fees increased by $2 a night.
Visits, not visitors
The park does not count visitors, but visits.
This is done by putting car-counting devices on roads around the park, including U.S. Highway 101 around Lake Crescent.
Those numbers are plugged into a formula according to the month.
Summer months see more visitors and so a higher percentage of cars counted are considered “visits.”
Because the park has numerous entrances, the number of individuals that actually enter the park is difficult to determine and not the goal of the park’s method, Maynes said.
Using the method that theoretically allows the same car to be counted every time it crosses into the park, Olympic National Park usually gets about 3 million visits a year.
The highest number of visits was in 1997, when the park says it had 3.8 million visits.
In 1958 the park broke the 1 million mark, the 2 million mark in 1962 and the three million mark in 1992.
Reasons for decline
Although 2006’s numbers are down, Maynes noted a series of conditions that has made it more difficult and less desirable for visitors.
First, gas prices are up, which increases the travel costs to one of the more remote corners of the state,
Second, popular destinations such as Staircase in Mason County, Second Beach in La Push and the Queets River trail in west Jefferson County were closed during August, the park’s busiest month.
“August is a big, busy month,” Maynes said.
Third, international travel has been slumping since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Foreign visitors account for about 8 percent of visitors, according to a 2000 survey.
Weather is a factor in visits as well, Maynes said, noting that on stormy days the grandeur of Hurricane Ridge doesn’t seem worth the drive.
“Nobody wants to drive up there in pea soup fog,” she said.
