Colorado’s state parks division is proposing to increase camping fees by $2 a night, reservation fees by $2 and boat registrations by $10 to $25.

Annual passes, good for any park in the state system, would remain at $60 per vehicle, and daily entrance fees would remain $6 per vehicle.

But a full-hookup campsite at Cheyenne Mountain State Park would rise to $24, from $22, for example. At Eleven Mile near Lake George or Mueller near Divide, a hookup site would be $20 instead of $18. A tent site at all three parks would cost $16 instead of $14, and a reservation for any site would be $10 instead of $8.

Annual registration fees will go from $25 to $35 for motorboats or sailboats under 20 feet, from $30 to $45 for 20- to 29-footers and from $50 to $75 for anything longer.

If the parks board approves the increases at a meeting next month, the new fees would go into effect Jan. 1.

Dean Winstanley, the state parks director, said fees for camping, reservations and boat registrations have remained the same for three years.

State funding for parks is plunging. In the 2008-09 fiscal year state parks received $6.7 million in operating money from the state general fund; in the 2009-10 fiscal year, which began July 1, it’s getting $4.8 million, and on Gov. Bill Ritter’s order all the departments of state government – including Natural Resources, the parent of the state park system – have submitted plans for further 10 percent cuts.

“We’ve had layoffs, there are a lot of positions that aren’t being filled, we’ve cut back on things like trash pickup and ranger patrols,” said Deb Frazier, a state parks spokeswoman. She said the Colorado state park system, which gets 11 million visitors a year, is already one of the country’s 10 least subsidized.

To comment on the proposal, go to www.colorado.gov/parks through Sept. 1.

—

Contact the writer at 476-1654

Photo by