Justice
Will Higher Fees Hurt the National Park Service's Diversity Efforts?
A trip to Yosemite or Yellowstone doesn’t come cheap. Some experts worry raising the entrance fee from $25 to $70 could make a difference in who is welcomed.
A trip to some of the U.S.’s top national parks doesn’t come cheap. Once you factor in travel costs, food, lodging, and gear, the dollar amount can easily reach into the hundreds.
So when the National Park Service on Tuesday proposed raising the entrance fee per vehicle to $70—more than double the current rate—critics responded that the agency risks pricing even more people, particularly low-income families, out of what is supposed to be public land. In doing so, NPS may be running counter to its own diversity campaign that it ramped up last year during its centennial celebration.