The NPS plans to spend at least $90 million on preparations for the July Fourth celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, instead of their typical use for urgently needed repairs across the park system.
Updated: 15 minutes agoConstruction workers ride in the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial. Eleven senators are demanding answers from the Trump administration on the use of national park entry fees for the president’s “vanity projects,” according to a letter that the lawmakers sent to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Wednesday.
The National Park Service plans to spend at least $90 million in entry fee revenue on D.C. beautification and preparations for the July Fourth celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, instead of their typical use for urgently needed repairs across the park system, The Washington Post reported last week, citing internal documents. In the letter, led by Sen.
Adam Schiff , the senators wrote that Americans “deserve transparency” on how the money is being spent and criticized the awarding of contracts without a competitive process. The senators allege that an even higher proportion of revenue from online sales of park passes is being diverted to President Donald Trump’s D.C. projects. Joining Schiff on the letter are Sens.
Martin Heinrich , Ben Ray Luján , Angus King , Michael Bennet , Kirsten Gillibrand , John Hickenlooper , Edward J. Markey , Jeff Merkley , Jack Reed and Ron Wyden .
“The lack of transparency around awards for these beautification projects, as well as the loss in revenue meant for the maintenance and betterment of our national parks threatens the public’s trust and the long-term integrity of our nation’s most beloved public lands,” the letter states. Interior Department spokeswoman Katie Martin said in an email that the Trump administration “is looking at different funding mechanisms,” including “revenue brought in from the sale of park passes.
” “The National Park Service has not only been focused on beautifying the district but has also been working on many deferred maintenance projects throughout the country,” Martin said.
“While other administrations have let the city fall into decay, President Trump has made Washington, D.C. Safe and Beautiful again and we should all be grateful. ”More than 100 national parks charge entry fees, with generally 80% of that revenue going to pay for that park’s operations, while 20% goes into a more general fund for use across the park system.
Out of that 20%, the National Park Service plans to spend $76 million to repair fountains in the capital and $1.6 million on the July Fourth fireworks display, among other D.C. -focused expenses, according to internal government documents reported by The Post last week. That report helped prompt the senators’ letter, which also cites recent coverage from the New York Times and NOTUS, a Washington-area news outlet.
The senators’ letter goes a step further to state that “much, if not all” of the revenue from online sales of annual and lifetime passes - which are not governed by the same 80-20 split as sales at the park gate - is instead going to the D.C. beautification drive, citing “credible sources with direct knowledge of these matters” who reported it to Congress.
“As we investigate the potential waste, fraud, and abuse by the administration, we request a detailed explanation for where the revenue from digital passes is being directed and what percentage of this revenue is supporting the D.C. projects rather than supporting the maintenance of our public parks,” the letter states. Democrats, being in the minority in Congress, generally do not have the votes to launch formal investigations, but that could change if the party wins the majority in the midterm elections with Trump’s disapproval ratings at all-time highs.
The Explore Act, enacted in January 2025 in the final days of the Biden administration, expanded online sales of passes. Trump’s Interior Department this year launched online sales of annual and lifetime “America the Beautiful” passes, which grant access to the entire park system and other public lands. Online sales were previously limited to individual-site access.
Emily Douce, acting vice president for government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group, said park superintendents had been concerned they would lose revenue with visitors opting to buy online, bypassing an individual park’s ability to collect 80% of the proceeds. But the law was passed with the understanding that a new formula would be created to ensure individual parks receive some of that money, she said.
Whether from sales at the gate or online, it is concerning, Douce said, that the administration is directing the fee revenue to D.C. instead of addressing the $24 billion backlog in needed repairs across the park system.
“Parks really depend on those fees,” she said. “Diverting these fee dollars to one particular area in this country hurts the rest of the system
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