O’Halleran, 89 members of Congress urge Zinke to not increase National Park fees

Rep. Tom O'Halleran is calling on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to not raise National Park fees.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-1) sent a letter, signed by 89 other members of Congress, to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke urging him to not adopt the recently proposed increased entry fees for 17 national parks.

“Our public lands are a national treasure, and communities throughout Arizona have been positively impacted by the tourism that these beautiful parks attract,” said Rep. O’Halleran, whose district includes much of the Grand Canyon National Park. “Raising the entrance fees to these popular destinations will make our public lands inaccessible to hardworking families, and it will devastate tribal and rural economies that support tourism.”

“The agency’s proposal to increase per-vehicle and per-visitor entrance fees during peak season is misguided and will have a tremendously negative impact for both working families and the local economies that these parks support,” wrote the 90 lawmakers led by O’Halleran. “We cannot support the raising of entrance fees that may have the unintended consequence of slowing the economy and limiting access to our shared public lands.”

Last month, the National Park Service proposed a new peak season entrance fee at 17 national parks across the country, including the Grand Canyon. The proposal would increase the entrance fee to $70 per vehicle, up from $30 for a weekly pass. In 2016, a record 331 million people visited national parks across the country, spending more than $18 billion in gateway communities and supporting 318,000 jobs.

“Nearly doubling or tripling entrance fees, as is currently proposed, would severely curtail the number of American families who are able to afford to visit the parks that belong to them,” continued the lawmakers. “At a time of record visits to national parks across the nation, the Administration should be working with Congress to allocate sufficient funding to tackle the maintenance backlog, not shifting those costs to visitors.”

Read the full letter below or online here.

Dear Secretary Zinke,

We write with great concern regarding the Department of Interior’s proposed plan to drastically increase entrance fees to 17 of our nation’s most popular national parks, including the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and more.

The agency’s proposal to increase per-vehicle and per-visitor entrance fees during peak season is misguided and will have a tremendously negative impact for both working families and the local economies that these parks support.

In 2016, there was a record 331 million visits to national parks across the country, and our local economies saw significant economic benefits. Last year, visitors spent as much as 18.4 billion dollars in gateway regions, communities within 60 miles of a national park. In these regions, this spending led to 318,000 jobs and 12 billion dollars in labor income. This is a significant increase in tourist spending merely three years ago and represents a bright spot for rural economies. We cannot support the raising of entrance fees that may have the unintended consequence of slowing the economy and limiting access to our shared public lands.

Nearly doubling or tripling entrance fees, as is currently proposed, would severely curtail the number of American families who are able to afford to visit the parks that belong to them. Under the proposed fee structure, low-income families would essentially be priced out from our most cherished public lands, contradicting the very reason the parks were established. Public lands belong to all Americans, not just wealthy families who can absorb the steep fee increases.

At a time of record visits to national parks across the nation, the Administration should be working with Congress to allocate sufficient funding to tackle the maintenance backlog, not shifting those costs to visitors or cutting critical NPS resources and staffing, as has been proposed in the Administration’s budget.

We urge you not to adopt the proposed fee hikes, and instead to work with Congress to ensure national parks have appropriated the funds and resources they need to support current visitors and generations of visitors to come.

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