National Park for foreign tourists: Trump Hike Park Fee Forener; Budget cut trigger staffing crisis | world News

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order for foreign visitors to increase the entry fee in US national parks, which aims to offset the standing cut in the National Park Services Budget and address a growing staffing crisis. The White House said that the revenue increased by high fees made to international tourists would generate hundreds of million dollars for conservation and deferred maintenance projects in the national parks of the country. However, the order did not specify the amount of increase or when it will be implemented. Instructions assigned the work to the internal department, which determines the new fee structure and oversees the park service. It was not clear how much 433 park units would be affected under its management. Currently, only about 100 national parks and sites charge the entry, with fees widely vary to locations. In addition to the increase in fee, the executive order directed the park service to prioritize access to their permits and reservation systems for foreign tourists for American residents. The White House justified the move that American taxpayers have already tolerated an important part of the cost of maintaining national parks through federal funding and their own entry fees. The White House said in a statement, “Taking high entry fees for foreign tourists is a common policy in national parks worldwide.” Amid the announcement of the administration amid the proposal of the administration, the financial year 2026 proposed more than $ 1 billion from the budget of the park service – more than one third of its funding compared to the previous year. The deduction has increased the shortage of an ongoing employees in national parks, who are working for heavy tourism traffic during the July 4 holiday. Ever since Trump took over in January, permanent staffing in park service has declined by 24%. Meanwhile, according to a Wednesday analysis by a Watchdog Group National Park Conservation Association, only 4,500 of the 8,000 seasonal workers promised by the administration for summer were hired.