The Michigan State Parks are largely self sufficient, one way this is possible is through the Michigan Recreation Passport, which will go up in price in March.
The passport currently accounts for 26.5 percent of the park’s funding, but may account for even more after March 1st, when the price of the passport goes from $11 to $12. This marks the first price increase for the pass in nearly 7 years, and only the second increase since its creation.
The price increase is due to a provision within the legislation that created the passport back in 2010. The provision outlines that the passport will increase automatically based on changes to the Consumer Price Index. The provision was created so that the price of the passport would be able to adjust to keep pace with inflation.
For now the increase in price does not affect passports for motorcycles and other small vehicles remain the same at 6 dollars. Already this year the price increased for non-Michigan resident passes, going from costing $33 to $34.
These incremental price increases will give parks around the state more funds to deal with needed infrastructure repairs and upgrades and wage increases.