The State of Maine has decided to scrap plans to collect a mandatory fee from visitors to three state parks this summer. Instead they will continue to charge a fee at only one, Colonial Pemaquid in New Harbor.
At the request of Gov. John Baldacci, the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, under the Maine Department of Conservation, will suspend its proposed mandatory fee collection at two Portland-area park lands, Mackworth Island in Falmouth and Kettle Cove Beach in Cape Elizabeth.
At Colonial Pemaquid, fees will still be collected for those visitors going to the museum, the Fort House and the Fort William Henry area. No fees are required for those visitors going to the boat ramp or the restaurant, or for those visitors who have family members interred at the privately owned cemetery on the grounds.
Baldacci asked the Bureau to revisit their decision imposing mandatory fee collection in light of public concern over the pending change in fee collections. Both Mackworth Island and Kettle Cove attract daily visitors from the Portland area who value the two park areas for recreational and relaxation purposes.
“I am concerned at a time when we want to encourage Maine people to enjoy the outdoors and be as physically active as possible that these fees may inhibit such activity,” Gov. Baldacci said Wednesday. “Maine people clearly support these valuable places, and we want them to continue to use these park areas as much as they have in the past.”
The BPL had planned to collect mandatory fees at the Mackworth Island in Falmouth and Kettle Cove Beach starting in May in order to help address the state’s budget shortfall. Under an agreement with the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf, visitors to Mackworth would have paid fees at the school’s security booth. A temporary collection booth also would have been installed at Kettle Cove.
Instead, the bureau now will install what is known as “iron rangers,” or metal fee receptacles, at the entrance of the park areas. Fee payment will be on a voluntary basis as it is at all parks during the off season. Fees at both park areas for Maine residents will be $2 for adults; $1 for children ages 5 to 11; and free for all others. Non-resident adults will pay $3.
For more information, go to: www.parksandlands.com.
