NEWS RELEASES
Kansas, Nature Conservancy Debate $50 Access Fee For Badlands Park
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through The Wichita Eagle's website.
WICHITA, Kan. - Controversy surrounds the fees to be charged for backcountry access passes to the newest park in the Kansas State Park system, as reported in the Wichita Eagle. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) wants to charge $50 a day for access to fragile areas of the Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park. But the Nature Conservancy in Kansas, which owns the property, questions the high fee, and has stated that it wants to keep access to the park affordable. The conservation group bought the Little Jerusalem site in 2016 from an owner who wished to see the unique property join the state park system. The Nature Conservancy retains ownership of the property, located four hours west of Wichita, while the parks department will manage the rock formations.
KDWPT officials hope the high fee will help preserve the rare geological features, including the state’s largest Niobrara chalk formation, located within the park boundaries. The chalky spires and buttes towering to 100 feet are extremely fragile and house fossils, archaeological artifacts and unique ecosystems. The $50 backcountry fee (free for children under 16) would pay for guides for visitors and for staff to regulate the area, ensuring there’s no damage to the rocks. Other trails in less fragile areas of the park would be free to hike, including a 2-mile trail around the perimeter of the rock formations.
“We’ve never had such a fragile piece of land under our stewardship, and we want to do it right,” Linda Lanterman, director of the Parks Division of KDWPT, told the Wichita Eagle. Negotiations with the Nature Conservancy are ongoing. The state hopes to open Little Jerusalem sometime in 2019.
For more information, visit the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism website and the Nature Conservancy’s Little Jerusalem webpage.
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