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Yellowstone must be swimming in cash then base on attendance alone.

Not all visitors pay the entrance fee, i.e. America the Beautiful Pass holders. The Annual Passes also provide a substantial discount to frequent visitors. America the Beautiful Pass holders also get substantial discounts on other fees like camping. According to this article, the average age of visitors to Yellowstone was 54.  According to the Park, in 2015, funding from Fees amounted to $7.5 million of the parks $69.1 million budget.

Here is a link to the Inspector Generals 2015 Audit of the NPS fee program for anyone that may be interested.

 
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State Parks are usually run down due to state budget constraints and I know that $$ doesn't stay in the parks.

That depends on the state. According to this article about New Mexico, "A network of 35 state parks costs $28.5 million to operate each year. The parks receive $8 million from New Mexico's general fund." It is my understanding that the rest of the funding comes from fees and revenues from mineral, timber and grazing leases. I don't think it stays in the individual park, but I remember an unsuccessful attempt a few years back to move money to the general fund.

Edited October 28, 2017 by TCW

  On 10/27/2017 at 12:33 PM, theeyres said:

It would be great if we didn't have to pay but the fact is the government budget is not starting to cover the costs of keeping our NP system up to par. So I see no other remedy but increasing entrance fees. While I love my senior pass I don't think it would be unfair to start asking us to cover more of the entrance fee.

I could think of several places to adjust the ‘budget’  that would fund parks and huge number of other ‘people-centered’ endeavors.  But, that will bring us into a political discussion.  

  On 10/27/2017 at 3:08 AM, chirakawa said:

Considering that many of us have spent $100 per head per day to visit places like Disneyworld, $70 for a carload of people to visit Yellowstone for a few days sounds pretty reasonable.   I know there are those who think we shouldn't have to pay to visit "our" lands, but I understand the need to pay for maintaining our parks for future generations to enjoy.

I thought the same thing. I have no children and when I die, I'm going to leave my estate to NPS and the Humane Society. 

I saw this on another forum.  Not sure what the answer is; seems just about every government agency is running out of and asking for more budget as the years roll along.  What is the appropriate level of funding for the NPS?  Sure glad we just got our Golden Age Pass this past summer! 

Having worked in Yellowstone the last 4 summers and recognizing that the national parks were established for "the citizens to enjoy" I'd like to see the entry fees for non US citizens increased and no annual passes for non citizens.

Based on personal observation, a large portion of the daily maintenance time is devoted to correcting (cleaning) overseas guest's messes (standing on toilet seats when using restrooms, throwing TP behind the toilets rather than in them, using restrooms as kitchens, etc.). Granted, much of this is due to differences in how things are done in different countries, but the cost is still borne by the parks. Obviously, the big bucks have to be spent on big projects (roads, infrastructure, etc.), but keeping up with the guests requires a great deal of effort.

At Yellowstone, they have reduced law enforcement ranger staffing to an absolute minimum due to cost.

As others have said here - it's would still be cheap compared to private recreation industry costs.

Don