Do active old people—those who hike, bike, ski and get about outdoors—think of themselves as self-reliant, fiscal conservatives? Do they see themselves as people who are proud to pay their fair share?
Probably not. Or they shouldn’t, if they do.
We’re not talking about Social Security or Medicare here. (Yes, those programs do require support from younger generations, and they are a government-sanctioned Ponzi scheme, but there are legitimate arguments for them.) No, we’re talking about the way old people get special treatment—very special treatment—when they steer the 2003 Buick up to the gates of a national park.
Right now, anyone over the age of 62 can pay $10 for a lifetime pass that grants admission to all of the National Park Service’s 401 properties (on 84 million acres). The pass also allows entrance to a couple thousand sites managed by the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Reclamation.
Again: the pass is $10. For a lifetime. It’s probably the most amazing perk of a healthy late-middle age.
But it isn’t exactly fair. Imagine a couple of recent college graduates with a load of student loans. Imagine they decide to see the country they’ve been studying all these years—see it up close, by bike—and together they make it to the west gate of Yellowstone. To pass into the park, they will pay $12 apiece. Just like they paid at Yosemite and like they will pay at Glacier. Meanwhile, the 62-year-old guy behind them in the 30-foot RV, the guy who has his wife and three grandkids playing scrabble in the back, he flashes his $10 lifetime pass and rolls through. The same pass he used at Yosemite and Glacier and the Badlands and…and…and….
In some locations, the pass-holder also gets discounts on camping, guided tours, boat launching. It’s the golden ticket.
Sadly for old people, but happily for America and a balanced universe, this ludicrous benefit could be disappearing. Legislators are drawing attention to the absurdity of a $10 lifetime pass and some actual conservatives are picking up the cry. As one blogger put it: “It may be peanuts in the grand scheme of things, but if even these kinds of reform are out of reach, all hope is lost for more comprehensive fiscal fixes.”
Change makes sense. Many olds—especially those who are still active, and who haven’t sunk their savings into hospital bills and long-term care; especially those who can afford the gas and vehicles to travel to the parks—can pay more. It doesn’t have to be a huge increment, either. Last year, the NPS sold a half-million lifetime passes to seniors. If the charge went from $10 a life to just $20 a year, millions of dollars would flow to the agency’s top line.
This one’s a no-brainer.
