President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order directing the Interior Department to raise entrance fees for foreign tourists visiting U.S. national parks. The announcement came Thursday, alongside a proposal to reduce the National Park Service’s budget by more than a third.
We don’t know yet how much more it will cost or when it will start, but the government is definitely changing its strategy for funding public lands. The White House is pitching the idea as a way to make international visitors help pay for park upkeep, with the money going to conservation and much-needed repairs.
Prioritizing Americans in Permit Access
In addition to the fee hike, the order also instructed the Park Service to prioritize U.S. citizens in all permit and reservation systems.
Currently, only about 100 of the Park Service’s 433 sites charge admission. The order did not clarify how many of these locations would be affected by the new policy.
The White House noted that U.S. residents already contribute more through a combination of admission fees and taxpayer funding.
“Charging higher entrance fees to foreign tourists is a common policy at national parks throughout the world,” the administration said in a statement.
Budget Cuts Add Strain to Park Operations
The executive order comes as the administration proposes cutting over $1 billion from the Park Service’s 2026 fiscal budget, a reduction of more than 33 percent compared to the previous year.
Staffing challenges have already taken a toll. Since Trump took office, permanent staffing in the Park Service has dropped by 24 percent. A promised hiring plan for 8,000 seasonal workers this summer brought in only about 4,500, according to a new report by the National Parks Conservation Association.
That shortage has led to visible consequences. In parks such as Yosemite in California and Big Bend in Texas, the report noted fewer available programs, longer wait times, and delays in emergency response services.
Park Attendance Remains High Despite Cutbacks
Even with declining staff and fewer resources, national parks continue to draw record numbers of visitors.
Last year, admissions reached 331 million — an increase of 6 million from the previous year.
It’s unclear whether the new fee structure will affect those numbers, especially among international travelers. But the growing tension between rising public demand and shrinking budgets is not new.
This executive order, paired with deep funding cuts, raises questions about how the country manages its most visited natural and historic sites — and who ends up paying for them.
