Trump orders new fees for foreigners visiting national parks

Foreign visitors will soon have to pay an added surcharge to visit some iconic US attractions.

Of the more than 400 parks in the national park system, just over 100 currently charge an entrance fee, including Yosemite.Picture: Max Whittaker

International visitors will soon have to pay an added surcharge to visit Yellowstone, Yosemite and other iconic US national parks.

President Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the secretary of the Interior Department to develop a plan to increase entrance fees for foreign travellers to national parks while keeping them affordable for Americans.

“The national parks will be about America first,” Trump said Thursday night at a kick-off event for America’s 250th birthday in Iowa.

It is still too early to say the amount of the surcharge or when it would take effect. The order directs the extra funds be used for purposes that include improving the visitor experience and addressing maintenance backlogs.

This method of generating additional funding for the parks comes as the Trump administration has proposed cutting more than $US1 billion, or more than one-third, from the Park Service’s budget in the coming fiscal year.

There were roughly 330 million visitors to all national parks in 2024; the government doesn’t report how many were foreign travellers.

The White House and Interior Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Fee revenue exists outside of congressional appropriations. Of the more than 400 parks in the national park system, just over 100 currently charge an entrance fee.

Those like Yellowstone that do often charge $35 per vehicle, rather than charge per person, unless you enter on foot or by bike. Annual park passes cost $80. The executive order would apply to both annual passes and entrance fees.

There were roughly 330 million visitors to all national parks in 2024; the government doesn’t report how many were foreign travellers.

The Property and Environment Research Center, a think tank advocating free-market solutions, has pushed for charging international travellers more as a direct means of generating revenue for parks. Under the current fee structure, at least 80 per cent of entrance fees stay with the park that collects them.

The group funded an analysis of a foreign-visitor surcharge in Yellowstone, which it released last week. Charging an additional $20 per international visitor would generate $12 million a year for Yellowstone. That would be an 84 per cent increase in the current fee revenue, which would help with the park’s $43 million in routine maintenance costs, the analysis found.

The analysis also found that, with the increased cost, about 2 per cent fewer international tourists would visit, but the drop would represent a 0.3 per cent decrease in overall tourism to the park.

Yellowstone National Park

“All the world’s national parks can trace their origins to Yellowstone, the first,” said Brian Yablonski, chief executive of the advocacy group. “This executive order is the opportunity for the rest of the world to support America’s best idea and an idea with global implications and influence.”

National park staffing, and related funding, remains in flux.

The Republicans’ sprawling tax-and-spending bill rescinds portions of the Inflation Reduction Act, including provisions specifically allocated for staffing and cultural resource protection. The bill takes back more than $260 million dedicated to staffing positions, according to the National Parks Conservation Association, a non-profit advocacy group.

The park service has lost 24 per cent of its permanent staff since January, according to an analysis of internal Interior Department data from the group released this week, while just over half of seasonal employees have been hired.

Wall Street Journal