The Interior Department is abandoning a plan to more than double entrance fees to some of the country's most popular national parks, opting instead to apply a "modest" fee increase to 117 parks beginning this summer in an effort to raise funds for park maintenance. The announcement Thursday comes after an outcry from the public and from lawmakers, who were concerned that certain large increases that were initially proposed would price people out of the nation's parks. The original proposal, which called for nearly tripling entrance fees to 17 of the most popular parks during their peak season, generated more than 100,000 public comments. "I want to thank the American people who made their voices heard through the public comment process on the original fee proposal," Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement . "Your input has helped us develop a balanced plan that focuses on modest increases at the 117 fee-charging parks as opposed to larger increases proposed for 17 highly
↧