Those concerned about a 250 percent hike in admission cost to 17 of the nation’s most popular national parks have another month to lodge a comment, after the Department of Interior heeded a request from Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner and others to give people more time.

While Gardner, a Republican from Yuma, is asking people to speak up, Colorado’s senior senator. Democrat Michael Bennet from Denver, has been directly defiant of the Trump administration’s plan to pay for a $12 billion backlog of repairs and maintenance.

Rocky Mountain National Park could see prices soar from $20 to $70 for a four-wheeled vehicle, $50 for motorcycle riders and $30 for cyclists and hikers starting June 1. Colorado Politics spelled out the political dynamics of all this earlier this month.

“As a fifth-generation Coloradan, I understand how important our national parks are to our state,” Gardner said in a statement. “Colorado’s National Parks are one of our greatest resources, and keeping them open and accessible to the public is one of my top priorities.”

Last week Gardner sent a letter to the acting head of the National Parks Service, Mike Reynolds, saying a 30-day comment period wasn’t enough given the enormity of the decision to raise prices this much.

“Although we respect the National Park Service’s attempt to find solutions to the deferred maintenance backlog, raising entrance fees to this degree could unfairly burden the public and create new barriers to the visitors that you hope to reach and inspire,” the letter states. “Likewise, the many small business owners and operators that will be impacted by increased CUA operator fees need to be provided an opportunity to assess the implications of this new policy on their businesses, employees, and customers.

“We all believe that our National Parks are treasures that must be accessible to everyone. Given the concerns with these new proposals, it is my hope that the Park Service will provide Alaskans, Montanans, Coloradans and all Americans the opportunity for additional time to comment on this issue.”

To file a comment, click here.

The other parks are Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands and Zion in Utah; Yellowstone and Grand Teton in Wyoming; the Grand Canyon in Arizona; Denali in Alaska; Glacier in Montana; Acadia in Maine; Olympic and Mount Rainier in Washington; Shenandoah in Virginia; and Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Joshua Tree in California.

Last week Bennet fired off a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke opposing the fee hikes. He asked Zinke to answer about how such high prices were determined and how the new money from the fee increase would help make parks more inclusive to all kinds of people.

“Access to public lands drives Colorado’s outdoor economy,” Bennet wrote to Zinke. “In 2016, more than 4.5 million visitors to [Rocky Mountain National Park] spent an estimated $298.7 million and supported over 4,000 local jobs. The proposed fee increase, however, would limit the ability of some families to make the trip to RMNP, harming small businesses and local economies.”

Bennet said national parks in Colorado need $227 million in maintenance, but there are other ways to fund them.

“This growing backlog in maintenance is due, in part, to the chronic underfunding of our land management agencies,” Bennet continued in his letter. “Despite this underfunding, every $1 invested in the National Park Service still returns $10 in economic benefit. That is why I will continue to advocate for robust funding for federal land management agencies into the future.”