Discussion
FFS. For the first time, non-citizens will be charged a hefty surcharge to enter US national parks (an extra $100/person, and annual passes for noncitizens will cost $250 instead of $80).
Our national parks are absolute jewels, and a significant contributor to US tourism. Or were.
https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm#changes-in-2026
@debcha @mattblaze it's so infuriating; clearly being done to both communicate hostility and contempt for visitors while simultaneously providing an excuse to demand papers from residents in new contexts.
@mattblaze so park rangers have to be immigration cops now?
@mattblaze Yeah, no one wants to come here anyway, bro. ugh.
@mattblaze if visitor numbers decrease they will use it as an excuse to destroy the park. Our park. And then they'll call them unprofitable.
We can't have everything be for profit! The nation will fall. It already is falling and we might not be able to reverse course. I loved the national parks and they were a sense of pride in my country that we had them for the public.
This mentality that everything in existence needs to turn a profit for the rich is not affordable. We can't afford the wealthy anymore
@mattblaze having to pay to go to national parks seems weird, it's free in Australia and New Zealand, not sure about the rest of the world
How much of the American economy does tourism count for?
Does this apply to disneyland?
The only things on my bucket list in the US was places in national parts, so I suppose we put this on the pile reasons to not visit.
@mattblaze normally I'm happy to pay the relevant national or state authority fee anywhere in the world, to counter the harm my being there does to the very environment I'm visiting / to support preservation of natural environments. In the US case, under this administration, I am immediately concerned to know how this payment will be used. I actively do not want to contribute funds to vote buying or turning wilderness into Trump branded theme parks...
@mattblaze Time to boycott your local National Park, which may be a good thing as the lack of humans fucking up the parks further may improve the ecological footprint of these parks.
@mattblaze Barbarous and disgusting
@mattblaze The Soviets-Russians have done the same thing. My wife bought tickets and I said nothing. Didn't even get caught when I spoke in the Hermitage. Sweet!!!!!
@mattblaze I am almost in tears... I visited Yosemite and Acadia in the last couple of years and only paid like 35 USD for each entry... I hiked up the Beehive and now appreciate that. I did not make it to the Yosemite Valley back then because it was winter... Now it is over 100 USD to enter...
I will buy more Parks Canada passes..
"GoVeRnMeNt rUn lIkE a BuSiNeSs"
@mattblaze Somebody needs to pay up for all the crap Agent Orange does, like financing ICE etc.
So he's starting with the tourists, making sure that they will think twice next time about a vacation in the USA.
America first. Rest of the world: don't care.
@mattblaze wow this will affect foreign students in the US too (F1 student visa is non resident alien for 5 years).
@mattblaze All part of the: "America The Beautiful. Don't Come Here." marketing plan.
@mattblaze Sitting in a cafe in East Vancouver, BC (an hour north of WA) and this is what the intergenerational group at the table next to me is talking about — how they go hiking and camping on the other side of the border, and the impact (and message conveyed) by the sharp rise in costs for non-residents.