CONCORD, Mass. – All Corps of Engineers projects and parks in New England are sold out of the $10 Senior America the Beautiful Passes, but they are still available for purchase online.
The new annual and lifetime senior passes are coming out in August 2017 and people are rushing to obtain the current ones. The Corps parks are getting numerus calls regarding these passes but park rangers are telling callers that the passes can still be purchased online.
In order to meet requirements set by Congress in December 2016, the price of the America the Beautiful – National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Senior Pass will increase from $10 to $80. The change will take effect Aug. 28, 2017. Pass holders are given lifetime access to more than 2,000 sites and parks. The fee increase will support critical investments in maintenance projects at national parks and federal recreational lands nationwide.
Until Aug. 28, U.S. citizens and permanent residents who are 62 years or older can purchase the lifetime Senior Pass for $10. Previously purchased lifetime Golden Age or Senior Passes will be honored for the lifetime of the pass holder.
Corps projects and parks which normally sell these passes, but are currently sold out, and which will be selling the new passes in August are the following. In Vermont, Ball Mountain Lake in Jamaica and North Hartland Lake in Hartland. In New Hampshire, Hopkinton-Everett Lakes in Contoocook.
In Massachusetts, Buffumville Lake in Charlton and West Hill Dam in Uxbridge. In Connecticut, Colebrook River Lake in Colebrook, Hop Brook Lake in Middlebury, Thomaston Dam in Thomaston, and West Thompson Lake in North Grosvenordale.
The Senior Pass can be used at sites managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
All America the Beautiful passes are available or can be purchased online at: http://store.usgs.gov/pass/annual.html. The USGS Store website contains a list of parks that sell these passes.