Burgum’s National Park Fee Scheme Raises Only A Quarter of What He Promised

The Troubled Interior Secretary Keeps Raiding Park Fees for Trump’s D.C. Vanity Projects As National Parks Maintenance Backlog Grows

HELENA, MT – New reporting shows Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s international-visitor park surcharge has raised just a quarter of the $90 million a year the administration promised when it rolled out the new fees. Burgum brushed off the shortfall to a friendly outlet as “early growing pains” rather than admit that his policy is a failure that’s left our National Parks even more underfunded than before.

“Doug Burgum sold this international park entrance fee as a win for American families and parks, yet it’s only raised a quarter of what he promised. It’s hurting our national parks and the gateway communities and the small businesses that rely on tourism revenue,” said Jayson O’Neill, Save Our Parks spokesperson. “Meanwhile, he’s had no problem finding tens of millions in park fees to bankroll Trump’s reflecting pool disaster, ballroom, gold-plated horses, and the gaudy Arc de Trump in DC. Burgum can always find money for Trump’s ego projects, just not for the trails, rangers, and repairs our parks actually need. In 2027, a new Congress should demand a full accounting of every dollar Burgum has stolen from the parks Americans love.”

The failure lands squarely on the same secretary who has spent the past year siphoning national park entrance fees to bankroll Trump’s D.C. vanity projects, from the botched, algae-choked Reflecting Pool to the Freedom 250 slush fund to breaking ground on the “Arc de Trump.” Parks still face a maintenance backlog north of $24 billion, and Burgum is actively making it worse.

Burgum’s already slashed national park staffing by over a quarter, while the Director of the National Parks System position remains vacant, and has proposed more draconian cuts that would further undermine our nation’s park system. Burgum’s already in hot water for prioritizing a land giveaway in Yosemite National Park to a developer, and news broke last week that he is proposing a major reorganization of America’s National Parks despite their and the agency’s overwhelming popularity.

Additional Background:

• Doug Burgum Raids National Park Fees for Donald Trump's Political Events and Vanity Projects

• National Park Check-In: Doug Burgum is Leaving America’s Parks Understaffed and Underfunded

• Doug Burgum Is Raiding America’s National Parks to Fund Trump’s White House Makeover

• Systematic Destruction of Parks & Public Lands Under Trump And Burgum

To speak with Save Our Parks spokesperson Jayson O’Neill, email jayson@focalpointstrategygroup.com. 

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