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Federal fund cuts interaction connected nationalist parks
President Trump signed an enforcement bid Thursday calling connected the nationalist parkland strategy to complaint higher introduction fees for overseas visitors.
It instructs Interior Secretary Doug Burgum — who oversees the National Park Service — to "develop a strategy" to hike entranceway fees and recreation walk fees for non-U.S. residents astatine immoderate nationalist parkland that presently charges for entry.
"To money improvements and enhanced experiences crossed the parkland system, I've conscionable signed an enforcement bid to rise entranceway fees for overseas tourists portion keeping prices debased for Americans," Mr. Trump said successful a Thursday evening rally successful Iowa. "The nationalist parks volition beryllium astir America first."
CBS News has reached retired to the Interior Department and the National Park Service regarding erstwhile the interest hike whitethorn instrumentality effect oregon however overmuch the surcharge for nonresidents could cost.
In its 2026 fiscal twelvemonth budget proposal released successful May, the Interior Department estimated that specified a surcharge would make much than $90 cardinal annually.
Not each nationalist parks complaint an entranceway fee, and for those that do, the interest varies. Generally, visitors tin acquisition either a modular regular oregon play walk to 1 circumstantial park, oregon an yearly walk that tin beryllium utilized astatine 1 parkland oregon successful a definite portion of the country. The Park Service besides offers a much broad "America the Beautiful" pass, which costs $80 and tin beryllium utilized astatine each nationalist parks nationwide.
Some of the National Park Service's astir fashionable sites — similar Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Grand Canyon — complaint entranceway fees of $20 per idiosyncratic oregon $35 per vehicle.
Mr. Trump besides ordered the Interior Department to springiness U.S. residents "preferential treatment" implicit overseas visitors regarding "recreational entree rules, including permitting oregon lottery rules" that parks mightiness person successful place. The bid did not item what those preferential attraction rules would entail, but immoderate fashionable nationalist parks person preservation systems for introduction and camping during highest seasons.
The bid Thursday besides revoked a memorandum signed successful January 2017, astatine the process extremity of erstwhile President Barack Obama's 2nd term, which sought to beforehand diverseness and inclusion astatine nationalist parks. The determination appeared to beryllium portion of the ongoing effort by the Trump medication to standard backmost the national government's diverseness efforts.
The latest moves travel arsenic the Trump medication has sought to reduce the size of the National Park Service's staff. The Trump medication laid disconnected about 1,000 Park Service employees successful February arsenic portion of its push, led by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, to enact large-scale unit and budgetary cuts crossed the national government.
According to investigation released this week by the National Parks Conservation Association, an autarkic advocacy group, the Park Service has mislaid 24% of its imperishable unit since President Trump took bureau successful January.
In its 2026 fiscal twelvemonth budget, the Interior Department besides projected cutting much than $1 cardinal to the Park Service, which would beryllium the largest specified fund chopped successful its history.
And successful a abstracted enforcement bid Thursday, the president also established the "Make America Beautiful Again" Commission, which volition beryllium tasked, among different things, with "expanding entree to nationalist lands and waters for recreation and incentivizing voluntary conservation efforts."
The committee volition beryllium chaired by Burgum and made up of members of the Trump administration. The bid itself was spearheaded by Benji Backer, laminitis and CEO of the radical Nature Is Nonpartisan.
"It's an grant to pb this nonpartisan inaugural with the White House," Backer said successful a connection Thursday. "Today is simply a large triumph for the environment, but this is conscionable the beginning."
In a June 19 interview with CBS News, Backer was captious of a connection successful aboriginal Senate versions of Mr. Trump's "big, beautiful, bill" that would person allowed thousands of acres of nationalist lands to beryllium sold for lodging and infrastructure development.
That connection was yet removed from the mentation of the measure that passed the House connected Thursday and heads to the president's table for his signature.
"Just due to the fact that thing isn't a nationalist parkland oregon a nationalist wilderness area, doesn't mean that it doesn't merit to beryllium successful nationalist hands," Backer told CBS News astatine the time. "Donald Trump's bequest volition not beryllium bully connected conservation if this goes through."
Tracy J. Wholf and Nancy Chen contributed to this report.
Faris Tanyos is simply a quality exertion for CBSNews.com, wherever helium writes and edits stories and tracks breaking news. He antecedently worked arsenic a integer quality shaper astatine respective section quality stations up and down the West Coast.
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