Yellowstone National Park is increasing the cost of its fishing and boating permits for the first time in years to fund its aquatic invasive species program.
The new fees went into effect Wednesday for anglers in Yellowstone National Park. Fishing permits can be purchased online, as well as at stores in the park and surrounding communities this spring.
The park raised the fee for a 7-day fishing permit from $25 to $55 dollars, and a 7-day motorized boating permit from $10 to $40 dollars. The increased boating permit includes a fee for aquatic invasive species inspections.
Staff in a press release say the park found financial weaknesses in the park’s aquatic invasive species program last year.
They say conservation efforts at Yellowstone Lake cost the park around $3 million a year and scientists estimate it’ll take another five years for the park to restore the lake’s native Yellowstone cutthroat trout population and meet other conservation goals.
This is the first time Yellowstone National Park has raised the price of a fishing permit in nearly a decade and the cost of a boating permit for the first time in almost three decades. Aquatic invasive species inspections before this year were free.
