Tester Applauds Successful Push to Prevent Doubling of National Park Entrance Fees

Senator: Montanans Made Their Voices Heard

(U.S. Senate) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester released the following statement today after the Interior Department scrapped its proposal to double entrance fees to the country’s most popular National Parks, including Glacier and Yellowstone.

“These parks belong to all of us and we should all have a say in how they’re managed. Montanans stood up and made their voices heard. Doubling entrance fees would have priced too many Montana families out of our public lands and undercut our state’s thriving outdoor economy. We need to find better, more effective ways to address the pressing maintenance backlog that don’t nickel-and-dime Montana families.”

Tester blasted the Interior Department’s initial proposal to more than double “peak season” entrance fees-from $30 per vehicle to $70 per vehicle-for the 17 most visited national parks. He even submitted a public comment to the Department of Interior and encouraged Montanans to do the same. After receiving more than 65,000 comments in the first 30 days, the Department extended its public comment period and ultimately decided to only raise fees by a few dollars.