E&E News: Dems urge Burgum to pause park fee hike for international visitors
By Heather Richards
Senate Democrats are warning the Trump administration that its plan to increase fees on foreign visitors to national parks could drive down tourism and put pressure on park rangers.
The letter asked Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to pause the increase, set to take effect Jan. 1, pending study of its impacts. It was signed by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) as well as Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Adam Schiff of California and Ron Wyden of Oregon.
“We strongly believe these fees are being implemented too quickly, without public input, and will be a barrier for both residents and non-residents alike,” the senators wrote.
“We request that you stop implementation of the new non-resident passes and fees until the public has an opportunity to weigh in, impacts to visitation are studied, and clarity on implementation is provided to Congress, NPS employees, and impacted stakeholders.”
Under the Trump administration’s plan, non-U.S. residents, or those without a valid government-issued identification card, will pay $250 for a new international version of the annual America the Beautiful pass. The pass allows visitors access to multiple parks and public lands for an entire year. Residents will continue to pay $80 for the passes.
Nonresidents who don’t purchase an annual pass will instead face a $100 per person entrance surcharge at 11 of the country’s most popular parks — including Grand Canyon in Arizona, Grand Teton in Wyoming and Yosemite in California. The fee hike is intended to drive more revenue to the parks and help chip away at a nearly $23 billion backlog of deferred maintenance.
“These policies ensure that U.S. taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations,” Burgum said in a statement earlier this month.
The Property and Environment Research Center, a free-market environmental think tank, has long advocated for a fee increase for international visitors, comparing it to similar programs in other countries.
In their letter, the senators acknowledged the importance of fees to help pay for parks maintenance but argued that increasing prices without public input violates the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act.
The law mandates that the “Secretary shall provide the public with opportunities to participate in the development of or changing of a recreation fee.”
The lawmakers demanded any analysis Interior completed on the economic impact of increasing fees and requested details of its plan on implementing new fees, including guidance to park staff.
Additionally, the lawmakers said they were concerned that park rangers were going to be tasked with determining U.S. residency status, potentially lengthening wait times to enter parks.
National parks are currently understaffed and have lost employees like fee collectors and information technology staff since the beginning of the year, the letter states. More than 1,600 park employees left as part of the Trump administration’s buyouts of federal employees.
In expressing concern about a visitor drop, lawmakers pointed to an International Inbound Travel Association press release from earlier this month, which said visitation from Canada had fallen by 25 percent compared to the same time last year. International visitors as a whole had fallen by 3 percent, according to the association.
The association has been critical of the planned price increase, in part because organizations have already booked tour contracts for the next year and beyond.
Other critics of the administration’s plan include Visit USA, a travel group based in the United Kingdom that recently launched a petition against the fee hike.
The rollout of new fees also sparked a lawsuit from a conservation group earlier this month over the administration’s plan to put an image of President Donald Trump face on the new park passes.
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