77°F
weather icon Clear

LMNRA: Cashless entry going well

It’s been a month now since Lake Mead National Recreation Area joined other National Parks by going exclusively to payless entry.

The park now only accepts electronic card payments for entrance, lake use, and campground fees, a release late last year stated. Effective Jan. 1, entrance stations continued selling passes but no longer accept cash for payment.

This fee system aligns Lake Mead with 29 other National Park Service locations such as Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Olympic, Death Valley and Petrified Forest parks, among others, that had already made this transition. It will also align this park with several local and state destinations in the area that are moving, or have already moved, to cashless systems.

“We have seen little change to our visitor entry operations since we went cashless, other than the lines going a bit faster than before,” John Haynes, public affairs officer for LMNRA, said earlier this week.

Advance campground reservations, as well as first-come, first-served sites, are available online only through recreation.gov. Concession operations at marinas, hotels, and stores will still accept cash or electronic card payments.

The Park Service stated in a press release that the new system was adopted as a best practice that will be safer, more efficient, will cut down on visitor entry times, and will be more cost effective. The transition will eliminate about $90,000 per year in armored car transport costs, in addition to staff-hours saved in transporting and counting money. This system will also be a safer, more secure means of collecting fees, reducing potential opportunities for theft or robberies, the release said.

“We have also received very little feedback from visitors who come to the park,” Haynes said. “We went out of our way to let people know this change was coming, so people were prepared for the change to happen when the new year started.”

MOST READ
LISTEN TO THE TOP FIVE HERE
THE LATEST
Huge crowd turns out to honor Patton

It was brought up during Saturday’s unveiling of the Shane Patton Memorial Monument as to why Shane’s statue stands 11 feet tall.

Disaster in China affects Damboree fireworks show

As the city prepares for Damboree, one of our biggest celebrations of the year, a tragedy in China is having an impact on the annual fireworks show.

City Celebrates First Responders

Photos courtesy City of Boulder City

Toll Brothers gets split decision

The development of the area near Boulder Creek Golf Course known as Tract 350 (the sale of which is slated to pay for the majority of the planned replacement for the aging municipal pool) may have hit a snag last week as the planning commission voted 5-1 to deny the developers’ request to build houses closer to the street than is allowed under current law.

Council gives nod to 185 new hangars

There is at least one part of Boulder City that is set to see growth in the coming years. A lot of growth.

Boulder City ready to celebrate America

Boulder City resident James Cracolici may have put it best when he called the annual July 4 Damboree, “The crown jewel of all events held in Boulder City.”

BC can ban backyard breeders

Although there is nothing on any city agenda yet, the resolution of the issue of whether pet breeding will be allowed in Boulder City took a huge step forward last week as Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford released an official opinion on the intent and limitations of state law that had been requested by city staff last year.