Information on National Park Entrance Fees increase to $70 Comment period closes November 23, 2018

$70 to visit Grand Canyon?  There is a 30 days comment period underway right now where the public (and that means you) can weigh in on a significant entrance fee proposal that would affect a number of national parks including Grand Canyon. See this link for details and to access the website for submitting comments. https://www.nps.gov/…/1…/10-24-2017-fee-changes-proposal.htm

Will lower income and under-served populations be priced out? Shouldn’t national parks be affordable and accessible to everyone?  But how do we pay for the massive maintenance backlog that exists in our national parks?  Our parks belong to ALL Americans, not just those who visit them, and our administration should be boosting park budgets, not cutting them. Congress should also support the bipartisan legislation introduced specifically to address the NPS maintenance backlog — the National Parks Legacy Act (HR 2584 and SB 751) which is currently pending.

Also, please read these related blogs from our good friends at the National Parks Conservation Association:

https://www.npca.org/articles/1669-administration-proposes-massive-park-fee-increase

https://www.npca.org/articles/1508-sens-warner-portman-introduce-bipartisan-legislation-to-address-national

“We should not increase fees to such a degree as to make these places — protected for all Americans to experience — unaffordable for some families to visit,” NPCA president and CEO Theresa Pierno said in a statement. “The solution to our parks’ repair needs cannot and should not be largely shouldered by its visitors.”