President Trump has signed an executive order telling the National Park Service to charge non-U.S. residents more to visit National Parks. The Department of the Interior says the fee could generate more than $90 million. There’s no word on when the charges would go into effect and whether it would apply to all parks.
Trump is also directing the NPS to give U.S. residents priority access through its permitting and reservation systems. This comes as the Trump administration plans to cut $1 billion from the NPS budget for the 2026 fiscal year, while slashing permanent NPS staffing by 24%, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.
The foreign visitor charging concept is based on a proposal by a think tank called the Property and Environment Research Center, which points out that parks in other countries like Ecuador, Tanzania, and Kenya all charge foreigners much more than locals, while U.S. national parks charge all visitors the same across the board.
“I think we’re way undercharging, as a nation, for international visitors,” Secretary Doug Burgum recently told lawmakers. Burgum has been tasked by Trump to develop a strategy to follow this executive order.
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