Go deep enough into the trails at some of America’s national parks and you’ll notice the other patrons there with you are, as often as not, speaking a foreign language.
Rep. Ryan Zinke, Montana Republican and former Interior Department secretary, figures they should pay more for the privilege.
He and several congressional colleagues announced legislation this week to allow parks to charge a higher entrance fee for foreign visitors, with most of the money remaining inside those parks to enhance their missions.
“Even at $40, it brings in over half a billion to the park system. That’s real money,” Mr. Zinke told The Washington Times.
The bill follows on President Trump’s executive order earlier this month asking the Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, to hike fees for foreign visitors.
White House officials called the proposal a matter of fairness, saying Americans already support the parks through their tax dollars, then have to pay fees to use them. Foreigners don’t pay income taxes here so they end up paying less, in total, to use the parks, the White House said.
Mr. Zinke also pointed out that foreigners often come in on large tours in vans and buses, paying only a single entrance fee for the vehicle.
He said he spoke with the superintendents at Glacier National Park, in his home state of Montana, and Yellowstone National Park, which also includes some Montana land. After going over a number of options for getting more revenue, “both of them said, ’Look, this is revenue that should be drawn,’” he said.
Joining on the bill are Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana and Reps. Jim Banks of Indiana and Riley Moore of West Virginia.
Mr. Moore said the parks face a $23 billion deferred maintenance backlog that demands attention, and the foreigner fee increase can make a dent.
“Our commonsense legislation keeps entry fees static for Americans while charging more for foreigners visiting our National Parks. This will allow us to finally start tackling this extensive maintenance backlog,” he said.
The idea of charging foreigners more has sparked strong reactions in online forums.
Some pointed out that state parks often charge different fees for residents than they do for out-of-towners.
But there was also anger, with charges of xenophobia lobbed at those who backed the idea.
Mr. Zinke rejected complaints about fairness, saying some other nations already have different fees for locals versus foreigners.
He also said he doesn’t expect visitation to change much.
“They’re still getting a great park,” he said.
The bill wouldn’t force fees on parks that don’t already charge for entrance and would exempt the Washington Monument on the National Mall and Glacier National Park, which, along with Canada’s Waterton Lakes National Park, constitutes the binational Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.
