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MPR News Staff

Dayton budget would boost state park permit fees

Telescopic view
The daily vehicle fee to visit Minnesota parks like Blue Mounds State Park, seen here through a telescope viewfinder, would rise to $6 under a proposed increase.
Jackson Forderer / For MPR News 2014

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Minnesotans would pay $1 more for each state park daily vehicle permit and $5 more for an annual pass under Gov. Mark Dayton's proposed budget.

The daily fee would rise to $6 and the annual pass would cost $30. The fee hike would help maintain the park system's vitality and let it continue operating "at present service levels," the state Department of Natural Resources said Friday.

Dayton wants to increase the $34.6 million state park annual operations budget by $9.5 million over the next two fiscal years and part of the increase would come from the proposed vehicle permit hike, the DNR said, adding those fees have not increased since 2003.

More than 8 million people visit Minnesota state parks each year and the parks provide local communities with an economic spark, the DNR added.