Want to give your kids’ kids’ kids a good excuse to celebrate the beauty of Yellowstone? We’ve never seen anything like the Inheritance Pass.
Usually, when you shell out some cash for a park pass, it only lasts a year. Never have we seen a pass that’s good for a date 150 years in the future.
But that’s the case with the Yellowstone Inheritance Pass — the only park pass now on the market that will still be valid in 2172 (actually, only valid in 2172, that is).
That’s the plan, anyway — buy it today for a $1,500 donation, and you’ll get an annual pass to Yellowstone National Park within the next year (for you to enjoy while you’re alive), plus annual access for your distant progeny.
The Yellowstone Legacy: 150 Years and Counting
Sure, $1,500 is notably more costly than a regular ol’ yearly $80 national park pass. On the other hand, how else can you guarantee your hypothetical offspring access to America’s oldest national park?
The initiative celebrates Yellowstone National Park’s age — 2022 marks the 150th anniversary of its tenure under federal jurisdiction. The number also appears to symbolize hope for an increasingly uncertain global future. Changes to the United States’ land-use profile, and even how we access our park resources, are mounting.
But if there’s one thing every outdoor enthusiast can agree on, it’s the enduring beauty of places like Yellowstone. Inheritance Pass donations, the park said, will help fund initiatives like protecting wildlife, preserving resources, and enhancing the visitor experience — for generations to come.
The pass itself looks like a stately card-stock object, executed in forest green and imitation gold leaf. But if generational tumult manages to take a bit of the shine off it, or if it simply gets lost to the annals of time, the park’s got you covered with its email support system for donors.
There’s no telling what kind of a planet we’ll pass down to the generation of 2172. Hopefully, the landscapes and geysers of Yellowstone are still around. But, short of the choices you make regarding public policy, there’s one thing you can do to help influence how your familial successors will experience it.
Buy an Inheritance Pass, and someone who’s not yet alive can go see Old Faithful on your dime.
