Since the North Carolina Arboretum was established by the General Assembly in 1986, admission to the 426-acre public garden has been free.

Too bad that has to change, but it does. Sometime between July 1 and Sept. 1, the arboretum will begin charging a parking fee.

Money from the fee will offset anticipated cuts to the arboretum's $2.1 million budget because of the $1.5 billion shortfall facing the state budget.

To be sure, there are other ways to deal with the coming budget cuts. The arboretum could reduce its hours, limiting people's access to the many educational programs, the 36 acres of cultivated gardens and nine miles of trails that have made the arboretum one of the mountains' top outdoor attractions. Or the arboretum could cut back personnel and allow all the plants to die. Or the state could raise taxes.

Obviously, charging visitors to park is the best choice. The fee schedule is reasonable: $6 per car, $25 for vans that carry more than 14 passengers and $45 for large tour buses. Bicyclists will be charged $3 each, but pedestrians will get in free.

School groups will get in free, and to serve local people who visit the gardens frequently, no parking fee will be charged Tuesdays from 3 p.m. until closing. Frequent visitors can also avoid the parking fee by joining the North Carolina Arboretum Society ($35 annually for individuals, $50 for families). Society members will be admitted free.

Up until now, all funding for the arboretum has come from the General Assembly. The money has lagged behind the increasing number of people visiting the gardens, located in the Bent Creek Research and Demonstration Forest of Pisgah National Forest. In 1996, the arboretum hosted 60,000 people. By last year, the number had increased to 494,000, a jump of more than 700 percent. Arboretum staff estimates about half the visitors are local people. Yet past budgets increased only 4 percent a year, which didn't even keep up with inflation, much less help the arboretum keep up with its growing popularity.

Executive Director George Briggs said the state's financial woes mean the arboretum's budget will be trimmed by 5 percent this year and by another 10 percent for the coming year. The cuts will cost the arboretum $200,000 to $300,000, Briggs said.

Briggs said the fees are expected to generate about $280,000. The arboretum is also working on a plan to raise funds through the sale of gifts and food, and the staff is pursuing grants, contributions and a capital campaign, he said.

Briggs and his staff have done a good job of explaining the need for the fee, including preparing a handout that answers frequently asked questions.

The arboretum has done the right thing in asking people who use the facility to share the cost of properly maintaining the plants, the trails and the tours that draw them there.