A while back we had a thread going with the pro's and con's of the Va State Park Dog fee's ($5 per night, per dog-max 3 nights) there were a lot of thoughts of better ways to offset the "cost" of pet's in the park. Please list ideas. Don't need to hear how bad it is to charge responsible pet owners and such. Just solutions and ideas. I have a meeting scheduled with a representative, who will present these to the Va Dept of Conservation & Recreation. First two ideas would be a Pet Deposit, refunded after your camping site was inspected. (seems cost prohibitive) second would be a flat fee per night per site. Not per animal per night per site. Please forward any other ideas so we can have a chance of changing this policy.--------------------------------------------------------------------OK, have heard back from the meeting. Jist is they are making money from the fee, but plan to do away with it at the next round of price increases. In other words the fee will be assorbed by overall increases that are already on the schedule. Should kick in next year.I'm guessing around July 1 when next budget starts, but that's just my opinion.

A fee per site would make more sense. Will make a return to a Va park next week after a 2 yr. hiatus. $37. + fees/nt. makes it double the cost of NC park we frequent, sr. discount included. Camping with 2 dogs. SC parks provide doggie bag stations, dont charge a pet fee and rates are around 30. or less. Thanks so much for trying to improve the situation. Much appreciated!

Extra charge for people and kids (maybe over some age) per site. They are the ones getting the most use of the campground, not our pets that stay on a 6' of less leash and get cleaned up after. The state pays to hire people to clean us after people. More people cost more to clean us after. there is no need to clean the toilets and showers after pets. There is extra cost to clean toilets, showers, day use facilities, garbage cans that people use.

Honestly I'm fine with current system at this time. Although $5.00 for 1st dog and $1.00 each for each additional dog may help multiple dog campers. Limit # of dogs per site to 3. Set max fee at $21.00 for multiples and $15.00 for single owners.I'm OK with $5.00 per day but I can see where multiple dog owners can get hit hard.

3 dog nights wrote:A while back we had a thread going with the pro's and con's of the Va State Park Dog fee's ($5 per night, per dog-max 3 nights) there were a lot of thoughts of better ways to offset the "cost" of pet's in the park. Please list ideas. Don't need to hear how bad it is to charge responsible pet owners and such. Just solutions and ideas. I have a meeting scheduled with a representative, who will present these to the Va Dept of Conservation & Recreation. First two ideas would be a Pet Deposit, refunded after your camping site was inspected. (seems cost prohibitive) second would be a flat fee per night per site. Not per animal per night per site. Please forward any other ideas so we can have a chance of changing this policy.agree with you that the deposit/inspection/refund idea is too cumbersome and labor intensive. I don't like the idea of a flat fee, either. a family with 3-dogs can do three times the damage as a family with a single dog. a fee of $X (and X has to be realistic in order for it to make a difference) per animal is the way to go. is 3 the maximum number of dogs, the maximum number of nights the fee is charged regardless of the length of stay or the maximum number of nights someone with a dog may stay in the park? I'd be against limiting the number of nights someone with a dog can stay in the park (and I understand that most govt campgrounds limit stays to 14 or 21 days and I agree with that). the rule has got to include a process by which irresponsible pet owners who simply ignore the rules can be ejected from the park.

rk911"is 3 the maximum number of dogs, the maximum number of nights the fee is charged regardless of the length of stay or the maximum number of nights someone with a dog may stay in the park? "No, three nights is the max the fee would be added. 14 is the max number of consecutive nights. No max number on dogs. so three night max on one dog $15, on four dogs $60 on top of normal site fee.Yes, as the moniker suggests, I do have skin in the game. But I don't think my three, who are outside a total of 20 minutes over the course of a day do anymore damage then someone else with one dog.

Va State Parks & Dog fees | Good Sam Community

peaches_cream
Explorer
Jul 21, 2013
wbwood wrote:
pasusan wrote:
3 dog nights wrote:
-----------------------------------------
OK, have heard back from the meeting. Jist is they are making money from the fee, but plan to do away with it at the next round of price increases. In other words the fee will be assorbed by overall increases that are already on the schedule. Should kick in next year.
I'm guessing around July 1 when next budget starts, but that's just my opinion.
Great! So now we all pay for the dogs. That's what you might call Communism.

Last time I was in a VA state park there were loose dogs and the Rangers were coming around asking if we'd seen them and did we know where they belonged. It was stupid and it takes the Rangers' time. This is what is behind the dog fee. And now - thank you - I have to add this dog off leash thing onto my fee. :R

BTW the word is gist, not jist. And I suppose the price will be absorbed, not assorbed by the rest of us.

Was camping at a nc state park this weekend and saw the rangers drive by with some bikes in the back of the truck. We noticed they went to a site a couple doors down and dropped the bikes off there. Geeks we are paying for the rangers to be delivery service also...

Maybe they need to shoot the loose dogs and put the bikes in the dump, HUH. :S
wbwood
Explorer
Jul 21, 2013
pasusan wrote:
3 dog nights wrote:
-----------------------------------------
OK, have heard back from the meeting. Jist is they are making money from the fee, but plan to do away with it at the next round of price increases. In other words the fee will be assorbed by overall increases that are already on the schedule. Should kick in next year.
I'm guessing around July 1 when next budget starts, but that's just my opinion.
Great! So now we all pay for the dogs. That's what you might call Communism.

Last time I was in a VA state park there were loose dogs and the Rangers were coming around asking if we'd seen them and did we know where they belonged. It was stupid and it takes the Rangers' time. This is what is behind the dog fee. And now - thank you - I have to add this dog off leash thing onto my fee. :R

BTW the word is gist, not jist. And I suppose the price will be absorbed, not assorbed by the rest of us.

Was camping at a nc state park this weekend and saw the rangers drive by with some bikes in the back of the truck. We noticed they went to a site a couple doors down and dropped the bikes off there. Geeks we are paying for the rangers to be delivery service also...
bucky
Explorer II
Jul 20, 2013
Maybe he's the new spell check. The other one hasn't worked for years. I actually liked the assorbed word, it certainly is where most of us are taking it anymore. It should be in the urban dictionary. Gist for the heck of it, ya know? Everybody send him a hug.
nypatnva
Explorer
Jul 20, 2013
I have a Va State park within 10 miles and 18 miles. If they drop the dog fee I will definitely camp at them. I like camping well into winter and with the parks closing in December, it give me more camping time.
CapeM1
Explorer
Jul 20, 2013
pasusan wrote:
3 dog nights wrote:
-----------------------------------------
OK, have heard back from the meeting. Jist is they are making money from the fee, but plan to do away with it at the next round of price increases. In other words the fee will be assorbed by overall increases that are already on the schedule. Should kick in next year.
I'm guessing around July 1 when next budget starts, but that's just my opinion.
Great! So now we all pay for the dogs. That's what you might call Communism.

Last time I was in a VA state park there were loose dogs and the Rangers were coming around asking if we'd seen them and did we know where they belonged. It was stupid and it takes the Rangers' time. This is what is behind the dog fee. And now - thank you - I have to add this dog off leash thing onto my fee. :R

BTW the word is gist, not jist. And I suppose the price will be absorbed, not assorbed by the rest of us.

There are times we go to campgrounds and do not use the pool or playground. I also at times do not use the fire rings that are supplied. Does that mean I should be upset that the overall costs of those items are included in the price? Of course not. If you feel so strongly about having a pet-fee automatically included in your site fee then you might want to find CGs that allow no pets at all, ensuring you a happy trip. :)

BTW, I hope your (sarcastic) spelling corrections made you feel a bit bigger when you wrote them, but actually all it did was make you look quite small. Just my opinion. Hope your day gets better.
3_dog_nights
Explorer
Jul 19, 2013
pasusan wrote:
BTW the word is gist, not jist. And I suppose the price will be absorbed, not assorbed by the rest of us.

BTW - Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy.
pasusan
Explorer
Jul 19, 2013
3 dog nights wrote:
-----------------------------------------
OK, have heard back from the meeting. Jist is they are making money from the fee, but plan to do away with it at the next round of price increases. In other words the fee will be assorbed by overall increases that are already on the schedule. Should kick in next year.
I'm guessing around July 1 when next budget starts, but that's just my opinion.
Great! So now we all pay for the dogs. That's what you might call Communism.

Last time I was in a VA state park there were loose dogs and the Rangers were coming around asking if we'd seen them and did we know where they belonged. It was stupid and it takes the Rangers' time. This is what is behind the dog fee. And now - thank you - I have to add this dog off leash thing onto my fee. :R

BTW the word is gist, not jist. And I suppose the price will be absorbed, not assorbed by the rest of us.
tarnold
Explorer
Jul 19, 2013
I guess I got all of this started with my comment on 6/09 about these fees. Special thanks 3dognight for following up and letting us know the outcome of your meeting. There has been much discussion on the two threads with opinions going both ways. Perhaps Virgina SP's has heard our concerns and will rectify their previous decision.
wbwood
Explorer
Jul 19, 2013
3 dog nights wrote:
OK, have heard back from the meeting. Jist is they are making money from the fee, but plan to do away with it at the next round of price increases. In other words the fee will be assorbed by overall increases that are already on the schedule. Should kick in next year.
I'm guessing around July 1 when next budget starts, but that's just my opinion.

That's what I think they should of done in the first place. Just raise the price all the way around and stop hiding behind an "excuse" for raising revenue. This outcome (if it happens) just proves exactly what it was all about.

Thanks for keeping us up to date 3 dog nights!
3_dog_nights
Explorer
Jul 19, 2013
See original post, I'm editing it to show my findings

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