For Washington State, all you need now is the Discover Pass, which is good for State Parks, WDFW sites like boat launches and game sites (places where you used to need a hunting/fishing license or a watchable wildlife access pass), and DNR lands (that used to be free).

The only other pass that might be useful is a Sno-Parks pass, as some sites require a Sno-Park pass to access in winter (limited to places specially managed for snowmobiles and/or cross-country skiing and/or snowshoeing).

Some State Parks and Sno-Park sites, and maybe some WDFW sites, can be accessed using a day pass, but the cost is a substantial percentage of the Discover Pass, so buying the pass is definitely worthwhile. See http://wdfw.wa.gov/licensing/discoverpass/

Note that the Discover Pass is for a SINGLE VEHICLE, non-transferrable. So if you have multiple cars, you need multiple passes.


For Federal Lands, the best choice for birders is probably the America The Beautiful Interagency Annual Pass for $80. Those 62 and over can get the much cheaper but otherwise equivalent Senior Pass. The pass will typically get one carload onto a site. See http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm

Note that the Annual Pass can be signed by TWO people but is not otherwise transferrable. So if a couple might be visiting sites independently and simultaneously, each needs to get a pass.

Hope this helps.

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland, WA
== http://www.marymoor.org/birding.htm
== http://www.marymoor.org/BirdBlog.htm
== birdmarymoor at frontier.com


From: Pterodroma at aol.com
Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2012 4:50 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] seeking advice: passes to WA public lands

So, just how many different kinds of passes are there to various public lands in Washington State???

I'm sitting here looking at my auto license renewal form along with which comes a Washington State "Discover Pass" option, $30/year for access to state parks, DNR, and DFW lands, but maybe not quite all or not always applicable. Not sure.
see: www.discoverpass.wa.gov

Pertaining to National Parks, I'm covered for life with the best deal of all, the "Senior Pass" (one time fee $10 and good for the rest of my life plus perks & discounts for anyone 62+).

As for the rest, like National Forests, winter recreation sites, and even some 'wildlife area' areas, etc. where I've seen signs but I wasn't sure what they meant. They just scare me off and I drive away. This topic comes and goes on Tweeters from time to time and has over the years. For years, a decade or more maybe and still confused, my simple solution was just give up and not bother going anywhere at all, ...hardly even Seattle anymore which requires an enter and exit 'pass' now in some cases. Of course I had an excuse when I was out-of-state for months on end which is now no longer necessarily the case.

So, apart from my National Parks good for life Senior Pass, it sounds like the Washington Discover Pass might be a worthy investment. What else is there where yet a different pass would be required or you would recommend? I don't want to spend money unnecessarily on something I likely would never use, yet It would be nice to be covered for 'everything' so I never have to worry about it anywhere. I just don't know for sure what 'everything' is.

Thanks for your help and advice. There's probably others out there that might find some Tweeters feedback helpful too.

Richard Rowlett
Bellevue (Eastgate), WA


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Tweeters mailing list
Tweeters at u.washington.edu
http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters