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Log inProspect: State parks bureau touts free pass for all seniors
Prospect: State parks bureau touts free pass for all seniors
by Outspoken on Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:10 am
Prospect: State parks bureau touts free pass for all seniors
By Rich Hewitt
Staff Writer Bangor Daily News
PROSPECT, Maine - Senior citizens will get a free ride at Maine's state parks this season.
The Bureau of Parks and Lands will not charge fees to anyone 65 and older to enter the day-use state parks and historic sites.
The policy is a boon for seniors, but it will be a financial bust for the Friends of Fort Knox, according to members who said the group relies on a portion of the entrance fees at the fort to fund improvement projects around the state.
The free admission for senior citizens policy has been in place for decades, but rarely has been advertised or promoted at the parks, according to Tim Hall, the BPL northern region manager.
"There was never anything on the fee sign," Hall said Thursday. "But it was there if you asked for it. That was the way it worked. It was available if you asked for it."
There has been a senior pass available, but over time, inconsistencies developed in the system with different parks handling seniors differently, said Bureau Director Will Harris. Some parks charged senior citizens unless they asked about a senior discount. Some required the pass for free admission and others would just check Ids. Others would wave through anyone who looked 65 or older.
"We wanted to get some commonality in the system so we had everyone doing things the same way," Harris said. "So if you go to Fort Knox or Camden Hills or Peaks Kenny, you're treated the same way. This is supposed to be a state park system, and we want to have similar rules around the whole system."
He stressed that this is not a change in policy. For at least the past 25 years, the policy has been that people 65 and older get in free. Harris added that the day-use parks do not charge out-of-staters differently in any other age category, although the bureau does use out-of-state rates in the state's camping parks.
Members of the Friends of Fort Knox argued that the policy flies in the face of financial prudence and will result in lost revenues for the state and the Friends.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/hancock.aspx?articleid=165646&zoneid=178
By Rich Hewitt
Staff Writer Bangor Daily News
PROSPECT, Maine - Senior citizens will get a free ride at Maine's state parks this season.
The Bureau of Parks and Lands will not charge fees to anyone 65 and older to enter the day-use state parks and historic sites.
The policy is a boon for seniors, but it will be a financial bust for the Friends of Fort Knox, according to members who said the group relies on a portion of the entrance fees at the fort to fund improvement projects around the state.
The free admission for senior citizens policy has been in place for decades, but rarely has been advertised or promoted at the parks, according to Tim Hall, the BPL northern region manager.
"There was never anything on the fee sign," Hall said Thursday. "But it was there if you asked for it. That was the way it worked. It was available if you asked for it."
There has been a senior pass available, but over time, inconsistencies developed in the system with different parks handling seniors differently, said Bureau Director Will Harris. Some parks charged senior citizens unless they asked about a senior discount. Some required the pass for free admission and others would just check Ids. Others would wave through anyone who looked 65 or older.
"We wanted to get some commonality in the system so we had everyone doing things the same way," Harris said. "So if you go to Fort Knox or Camden Hills or Peaks Kenny, you're treated the same way. This is supposed to be a state park system, and we want to have similar rules around the whole system."
He stressed that this is not a change in policy. For at least the past 25 years, the policy has been that people 65 and older get in free. Harris added that the day-use parks do not charge out-of-staters differently in any other age category, although the bureau does use out-of-state rates in the state's camping parks.
Members of the Friends of Fort Knox argued that the policy flies in the face of financial prudence and will result in lost revenues for the state and the Friends.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/hancock.aspx?articleid=165646&zoneid=178
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
