Mark Twain National Forest = 1.5 million acres

Yellowstone National Park = 2.2 million acres

Mark Twain Total Visitors 2003 = 699,741

Yellowstone Total Visitors 2006 = 2,870,295

Mark Twain Day Use Pass = $2.00 or $3.00/day or $20/year (per vehicle)

Yellowstone Day Use Pass = $25/week (per vehicle)


Just by way of comparison...MTNF sees about 1 visitor/year per 2 acres under management @ an average of $2 each in usage fees (per day). YNP sees about 2.2 visitors per acre annually for an average of $6 each in usage fees (per day). So that's $13.60/acre per day for Yellowstone and $1/acre per day for Mark Twain. No wonder Yelllowstone is so nice! Add all the concessions and correlated businesses that rake in about $1.5 billion per year and there's a LOT of money flowing through Yellowstone. And NONE of that includes the burden born by the total US taxpayer base.

I'm not arguing that Yellowstone isn't nice...or even "worth it." It's gorgeous and wonderful. Just some interesting statistics and comparisons pointing out why I was a bit surprised by the current entrance fees at Yellowstone. FYI, MOST of MTNF has NO entrance fees. These fees are only applicable in the developed recreational facility areas of the NF, which are pretty sparse. Most of it is just rugged wilderness. For example, in my recent column here on FAOL "A Good Kind of Sore," I was fishing in the Ozarks National Scenic Riverways section of the MTNF. I paid $6/night for a tent campsite and NOTHING in usage fees to fish the rivers, hike the trails, or go sit in the lodge at Montauk State Park (right on the border) to enjoy the air conditioning. I did, however, have to pay a couple of bucks for my breakfast at the lodge.

Oh! And cell phone coverage in the MTNF is spotty, but ranges from excellent to none.