Last Thursday, March 21, I received a letter from a local area resident in which she expressed her concern about being asked to show her ID when she presented her pass at the East entrance gate.
I wrote her a very courteous response and sent my reply on the same day I received her letter.

On Tuesday, March 25, the same letter I received was published in the Daily Sentinel as a letter to the editor. Since so many area residents have annual passes and may have similar questions, I thought it might be helpful for everyone to know why we ask for photo IDs at Colorado National Monument and in all national parks.

National Park Service recreation fee guidelines mandate that people using passes are the rightful owner and require the agency staff to request identification. On the back of park passes, it states under the signature line that “valid photo identification is required for signature verification”. This helps us to prevent people from using stolen or lost passes. Occasionally when a park is extremely busy, people are not asked to present identification.

I know how much locals love and enjoy Colorado National Monument and for that all of us who work there are grateful. It is an extraordinary “backyard wonder” for Grand Valley residents to have at the ready to recreate in throughout the year. I am most appreciative that so many locals buy annual area passes which in turn help support the operations at the monument.

Another point I would like to clarify regards Glade Park residents and their access through the monument. Our neighbors in Glade Park are permitted to drive through the monument when heading to and from their homes and are not required to pay for this. However, if Glade Park residents choose to hike or recreate in the monument they do need to show a pass so the rangers can provide a receipt for their windshield. Our rangers do check to see if vehicles in parking lots and at trailheads are displaying this receipt so that folks enjoying the park pay the entrance fee just as so many long distance visitors and locals readily do whenever they enter the monument. A large number of Glade Park residents choose to buy an annual area pass to support the monument. Again I am most grateful to these neighbors for their friendship and support.

I hope this answers questions that many in the Grand Valley have been wondering about.

Our entrance stations are open and we look forward to welcoming you back to Colorado National Monument for another great season!

Thank you.
Joan Anzelmo
Superintendent, Colorado National Monument

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 4:41 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.