\n<\/p>\n
A new $100 fee for foreign tourists entering US national parks has triggered chaos and frustrating waits, with staff reporting long entry lines as citizenship checks are made and irate visitors regularly ditching plans to patronize some of America\u2019s most cherished landscapes.<\/p>\n
The new fee system, introduced by the Trump administration from 1 January, has caught many visitors and National Park Service (NPS) staff off-guard, with checks now having to be undertaken to assess nationality and tourists often turning away from entrances rather than pay the surcharge. The Guardian heard accounts of problems from several NPS staff, speaking anonymously, who work at different parks across the country.<\/p>\n
Environmental advocates have argued that the newly tiered fees are also illegal under federal law and are suing to reverse them.<\/p>\n
Under the new system, every person who is not a resident of the US and visits any of 11 popular national parks, including the Grand Canyon, Everglades and Yellowstone, now has to pay the $100 charge along with the existing park entrance fee. An annual pass providing access to all parks for non-residents has increased in price, from $80 to $250.<\/p>\n
This means that cars or buses full of tourists face a steep new cost, especially if they plan to visit just one national park. NPS staff told the Guardian this has led to anger and confusion at several national parks, with a lack of signage and online warnings about the new regime and even a shortage of the new annual passes which, for US residents, now include a photo of Donald Trump on them \u2013 a portrait that if covered with a sticker will invalidate the pass.<\/p>\n
<\/span>The new National Park Service \u2018America first\u2019 annual card.<\/span> Photograph: National Park Service<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been chaos, for staff it has been very trying,\u201d said one staffer who works at the entrance gate of a major park in the US west, who did not want to be named. Some cars full of tourists have been faced with costs of $600 or more in total, they added. \u201cA lot of people just turn around, some people yell and get angry. It\u2019s an outrageous fee, it\u2019s like we are telling people we don\u2019t want them here. It\u2019s not in the spirit of national parks.\u201d<\/p>\n Another staffer for a separate national park said it felt \u201cawkward\u201d asking for passports or green cards from visitors. \u201cA lot of Americans will ask why we are doing this and then say \u2018that is messed up\u2019 when we tell them,\u201d the NPS worker said. \u201cMost of our visitors are foreign tourists, though, so I expect we will see a drop in visitation.\u201d Another NPS worker said the move risks \u201calienating visitors for decades\u201d.<\/p>\n The NPS announced the fee change in November, claiming the move would ensure that foreign visitors will \u201cpay their fair share\u201d for the upkeep of America\u2019s storied national parks, many of which have drawn record crowds in recent years while struggling with a growing backlog of maintenance costs.<\/p>\n The extra fees raised will \u201chelp keep our parks beautiful and running well, including for addressing the deferred maintenance backlog\u201d. an NPS spokesperson said. \u201cThe non-resident surcharge is a small fraction of total trip costs (air fare, lodging, transport) for foreign tourists.\u201d<\/p>\n The NPS said that it\u2019s too early to tell how much money will be raised by the fee increase, or whether the hike in cost will deter any potential visitors in the future. Some other countries, such as Tanzania and Ecuador, impose significantly higher fees on foreign, usually wealthier, tourists for access to prized parks.<\/p>\n The NPS has been upended on the first year of Trump\u2019s second term, with the agency losing around a quarter of its staff amid the administration\u2019s crusade to shrink the size of the federal government. Park managers have also been ordered to revise signs that display facts on issues such as slavery and the civil rights movement that the administration disapproves of.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are badly understaffed, people are working in multiple jobs and now this fee policy has everyone scrambling around,\u201d said a staffer at the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks in California. \u201cIt feels like they have intentionally created chaos and disrupted our workflow. A lot of people are leaving because they are so burnt out.\u201d<\/p>\n The changes to the fees and annual passes have been done hastily and illegally, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, a green group that lodged a lawsuit to reverse the move in federal court last month. The center argues that government rules don\u2019t allow changes in park fees based on nationality, with a bill to amend this situation not yet made law by Congress.<\/p>\n An NPS spokesperson did not respond to questions over the legality of the new fees.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat they\u2019ve done is illegal and will discourage people from coming to America\u2019s national parks, which are revered around the world,\u201d said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. \u201cInstead, people will come here and talk about being ripped off and how cheap and xenophobic the government is.\u201d<\/p>\n Suckling said that even the placement of Trump\u2019s image, along that of George Washington, on the \u201cAmerica the Beautiful\u201d passes is contrary to the rules as the image was supposed to have been chosen via a photo contest.<\/p>\n The winner of the contest was a picture of Glacier national park, although it is the US president, rather than the soaring yet melting glaciers, that is visible on the 2026 national parks pass. Some people have taken to covering Trump\u2019s photo on their pass with stickers, although the NPS has warned this action could invalidate the document.<\/p>\n \u201cAny American should be able to choose to cover something like this with a sticker,\u201d said Suckling. \u201cTrump is acting like a two-bit tyrant. Putting his picture on everything, like he\u2019s Mussolini, is childishly comical but also fascistically frightening.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A new $100 fee for foreign tourists entering US national parks has triggered chaos and frustrating waits, with staff reporting long entry lines as citizenship checks are made and irate visitors regularly ditching plans to patronize some of America\u2019s most cherished landscapes. 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