U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, has told Interior Secretary Zinke that his surge-pricing scheme for national park entrance fees is not a good solution to the Park Service's maintenance backlog/HO

A Republican senator from Colorado is pushing back against Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's surge-pricing scheme that would more than double entrance fees at 17 popular national parks during the height of the travel seasons, urging the secretary instead to work towards a "legislative solution to the maintenance backlog."

The Interior secretary believes that boosting weekly entrance fees to $70 for such parks as Acadia, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Zion and 13 others would help address the $11-$12 billion maintenance backlog in the National Park System. He also has labeled as "baloney" opposition to his plan, which currently is in limbo while public comments on the proposal are reviewed by the Park Service.

“As a former military, there’s two things we need to fund absolutely: our military and our parks. So come on, America,” Secretary Zinke told a Fox reporter earlier back in November. “If you think that $80, all year, every park, all the time, by a carload, is too much to ask — I mean, come on.”

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner thinks the proposed increase in entrance fees is too much to ask.

“While I share your urgency on the need to address the park maintenance backlog, I have concerns that sudden and dramatic increases in the costs of passes for both private individuals and commercial operations could have unforeseen negative consequences on the communities that rely on visitation to these parks to keep their economies thriving,” Sen. Gardner said in a letter sent to Secretary Zinke last week. “Additionally, I have serious concerns about the elimination of day pass at (Rocky Mountain National Park)."

Under the fee proposal laid out last fall in a press release, "entrance fees would be established at 17 national parks. The peak season for each park would be defined as its busiest contiguous five-month period of visitation."

During the peak season, the release explained, a seven-day-long "entrance fee would be $70 per private, non-commercial vehicle, $50 per motorcycle, and $30 per person on bike or foot. A park-specific annual pass for any of the 17 parks would be available for $75."

Parks to be affected by these rates, if approved, are "Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Denali, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Olympic, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Zion national parks with peak season starting on May 1, 2018; in Acadia, Mount Rainier, Rocky Mountain, and Shenandoah National Parks with peak season starting on June 1, 2018; and in Joshua Tree National Park as soon as practicable in 2018."

Sen. Gardner told the secretary " if the proposal moves forward as written, RMNP would be subject to an increase of over 100 percent and 400 percent on private and commercial passes, respectively, while also eliminating day passes."

"There is an urgent need to address the more than $11 billion dollar maintenance backlog on lands managed by the National Park Service, over $220 million of which is here in Colorado," the senator added a bit later in his letter. "However, we must ensure that any changes we make do not cause a reduction in visitation that could affect the local economies that support the parks. I oppose any immediate fee increases at RMNP and urge you to engage with the stakeholders prior to finalizing any proposal for the fee structure as well as keep the day pass that generates the most revenue for RMNP.

"I stand ready and willing to work with you to find a legislative solution to the maintenance backlog that will more ably address the issue."