If you are 62 (or older) and sane, this won’t apply to you, because you already have your $10 lifetime pass for the most astonishing collection of natural wonders on the planet.*  For everyone else, the National Park Service has announced a deal that is not quite as unbeatable but still very good: 17 fee-free days for visiting the parks during 2012. (The NPS also notes that many parks and recreation areas are always free, so you could check those out for the other 348 days of the year.)  And you can still visit for free this year, on November 11-13 (Veterans Day Weekend).

One can surmise a couple of motives behind this largesse. Attendance is down, and it’s a reasonable promotional strategy to give away samples. There’s also a need for the NPS to build political support at a time when needs continue to go up (the parks have a multi-billion dollar maintenance backlog that gets bigger every year) and budgets are being slashed in this tough economy. (At least one current candidate for the Republican nomination has proposed the elimination of the Department of the Interior, which makes one wonder what would happen to the parks. Would he shutter them , without rangers and other law enforcement because, remember, he’s eliminated the Department of the Interior? So they would be lawless enclaves, with geysers? Or maybe he would sell them. To China.)

That guy won’t get elected. But the issue of underfunding remains. So you should visit the parks, on free days and again when you need to pay a bit. You’ll be supporting the parks and proving the point made recently by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Citing the most recent figures (from 2009), he said that recreation in national parks, wildlife refuges and other public lands stimulated $55 billion in economic activity and supported 440,000 jobs.

*Seriously, this is too good a deal. The parks are in desperate need of cash, so it’s hard to understand why people who aren’t even eligible for Medicare get what is virtually a free ride for the rest of their lives. Yes, it’s easy to say that now because we have our pass, but still. It’s too great a benefit. We would pay more. Just ask us.

Photo of Glacier National Park via the NPS