National Park Officials Rethink Steep Fees While Seeking Alternatives
Photo Credit: The Department of the Interior is reconsidering raising national park entrance fees. Pictured are travelers at Yosemite National Park in California. Flickr / Kārlis Dambrāns
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U.S. national parks became really popular during the past decade but you wouldn't know it from how Congress has historically treated them. Travelers have gotten used to paying higher fees for virtually every other part of their trips – why should national parks be any different?
U.S. national parks were established to ensure visitors would always have access to the parks' beautiful landscapes and natural wonders. But a recent proposal to raise entrance fees at popular parks has drawn outrage from many visitors who argue they wouldn't be able to afford higher fees. The message was heard: Officials are reconsidering the price hikes.
The Washington Post reported last week that the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, received more than 100,000 complaints about the proposed entrance fee increases during a public comments period that made officials reconsider the move.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said in October that he originally proposed the fee hike to bring in more revenue to address the park service's $12 billion, decades-long maintenance and infrastructure backlog.
Visitors to some 17 popular parks, such as Joshua Tree National Park in California and Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, would hav
