Public feedback sought for Dunes National Park proposals
Indiana Dunes National Park is asking for public comment on a proposal to start charging fees for some of its larger or more expensive programs, including some festivals and parksponsored bus tours.
The proposed fees, said Bruce Rowe, the park’s supervisory park ranger and public information officer, would help the park stretch donations from the nonprofit Dunes National Park Association and Friends of Indiana Dunes, and use those dollars in other places.
The proposed fees, according to a release from Rowe, include $5 per car for festivals like Maple Sugar Time and the Indiana Dunes Apple Festival. Additionally, a $10 per person fee is proposed for specialty programs like bus tours and Art in the Park, and a $25 per horse fee for guided horse hikes.
The vast majority of the park’s 400 public programs will remain free, but the new fees would help recover the additional costs associated with some larger or more expensive programs.
Festivals at the park haven’t always been free, Rowe said, adding there was a charge for Maple Sugar Time, held over two weekends in March, many years ago. The park also charged a fee for the Duneland Harvest Festival, a fall event that was the precursor to the apple festival.
“One of the things we’ve been looking at is charging fees for some of these larger festivals and special events,” he said, adding the donations from the non-profits can be put to other use.
The park-sponsored bus tours started two or three years ago. The seasonal tours have been paid for with a grant but that grant is running out, Rowe said.
“You did have to reserve spot but there was no fee,” he said.
The fee for Art in the Park, done in conjunction with the Art Barn School of Art in Jackson Township, would cover supplies, Rowe said, adding the cost of that program has been subsidized by Friends of Indiana Dunes.
Indiana Dunes National Park would not be alone in charging the fees.
“For special programs or larger events, there are plenty (of national parks) that charge for them,” and others that don’t, Rowe said.
Also under the proposal is a new fee of $60 for group camping sites, according to the release. While there are currently no public group sites, the National Park Service is working to establish several of these sites in the Dunewood Campground that will hold between 17 and 30 people. The sites could accommodate scouts and other large groups or families.
Additionally, the park is proposing expanding the reservation system from half the campsites at Dunewood to all the sites, to allow more visitors to use the campground, according to the release.
Without reservations, many people will not risk the chance of arriving at the park to discover there are no available campsites. The change, Rowe said in the release, would allow all 67 sites to be reserved online up to six months in advance.
There would be no increase in the fee of $25 per night. Use of the campground increased 30% in 2018 when half of the campground went on a reservation system.
Comments on the proposals can be sent electronically to INDU_Communications@nps.gov or by writing to the Superintendent, 1100 North Mineral Springs Road, Porter, IN 46304.
An open house on these topics for public comment takes place from 6 to 8 p.m.
Jan. 29 at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, 1215 Indiana 49, Porter.
Comments must be received by Feb. 7.
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.