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LEHIGH VALLEY WEATHER

Senior Lifetime Pass deadline for National Parks is Aug. 27

The $10 price for a lifetime “America the Beautiful - The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Senior Pass” is set to increase dramatically for those 62 years or older.

The “Interagency Senior Pass,” formerly the “Golden Age Passport,” is available for purchase for $10 through Aug. 27. The price of the Senior Pass has been $10 since 1994.

Legislation passed in December 2016 will bring up the price tag to $80 beginning Aug. 28.

Seniors on a fixed income can buy an annual Senior Pass for $20, which is good for one year from date of issuance. Passes purchased in four consecutive years can be traded in for a lifetime pass.

A United States citizen or permanent resident 62 years or older is eligible for a Senior Pass that can be purchased on-line or by mail.

The impending price increase has created a backlog of orders whereby applications can take up to 12 weeks for processing. For online purchases, the order confirmation will be honored at agency sites. There is an additional $10 processing fee for purchases made on-line or via mail.

The Senior Pass can purchased in person at four federal parks in the Lehigh Valley region.

In Pennsylvania, the pass is available at Grey Towers National Historic Site, 151 Grey Towers Drive, Milford, Pike County, and Steamtown National Historic Site, 150 S. Washington Avenue, Scranton.

In New Jersey, the pass can be purchased at Morristown National Historical Park’s Washington Headquarters (Ford Mansion), 30 Washington Place, Morristown, N.J., and Thomas Edison National Historical Park, 211 Main St., West Orange, N.J.

Those who buy their passes in person are not charged the processing fee. If passes are out of stock, “rain check vouchers” are issued. These will be honored at agency sites until the vouchers can be exchanged later for actual passes at the site where first purchased. Call to check on passes availability before visiting a historic site.

The annual and lifetime Senior Pass provides access to more than 2,000 recreation sites managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Although most National Park Service sites are open free to the public, the passes cover entrance and standard daily recreation fees for the 118 sites that charge entrance fees.

A Senior Pass admits the pass owner and any passengers in a noncommercial vehicle at per-vehicle fee areas and the pass owner plus three adults (not to exceed four adults), where per-person fees are charged. Children under 16 are free at these sites. Additional benefits include discounts on some expanded recreation fees.

Information: store.usgs.gov/pass or call: 1-888-ASK-USGS ext. 1.

PRESS PHOTO BY ED COURRIERThe museum at the Ford Mansion at Morristown National Historical Park, where General Washington established his headquarters during the American Revolution, is one of four places closest to the Lehigh Valley where an Interagency Senior Pass can be purchased. Copyright - &Copy; Ed Courrier