Coloradans will now automatically be charged $29 for a state parks pass when they register their cars
By including the $29 Keep Colorado Wild parks pass with every vehicle registration, Colorado Parks and Wildlife could see additional revenue for search and rescue, avalanche education and more staff to help manage record traffic at 43 state parks.
The Colorado Sun
Mike Sweeney, Special to The Colorado Sun
Colorado’s Parks and Wildlife Commission on Wednesday approved a $29 price for the new Keep Colorado Wild Pass. The pass, which will be part of every vehicle registration in the state unless drivers choose to opt out, could generate more than $54 million a year for Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s 43 state parks.
“A historic day,” commission chairwoman Carrie Hauser said after the unanimous vote approving the $29 price tag.
The Keep Colorado Wild Pass was created in 2021 with legislation intended to increase revenue for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Starting in 2023, license plate renewals will include an annual state parks pass, with an option to not pay the $29 fee if drivers choose. The agency, which does not use taxpayer dollars, says the extra revenue will help manage record visitation, which hit 17 million individual visits in 2020, up from 14.7 million in 2019 and 12.3 million in 2011.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission spent the last year debating and studying a price for the pass, with the legislation limiting the price to not more than half the fee of today’s $80 to $120 annual state parks vehicle pass.
Read the full story at http://www.coloradosun.com.
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