PATRIOT Parks Act Creates New, Targeted Surcharge for International Visitors to Fund National Park Maintenance

The Protecting Americas Treasures by Raising Inflow from Overseas Tourists Parks Act—or the PATRIOT Parks Act—is straightforward: it creates a new fee specifically for international tourists visiting our National Parks. This bill allows individual National Park Service (NPS) superintendents to tack on a surcharge to the existing entrance fees for nonimmigrant visitors entering on B visas (tourists/business) or through the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). The goal is to maximize the revenue coming into that specific park unit while still keeping international visitation high, with all the collected money staying local for maintenance, staffing, and visitor services (SEC. 2).

The 'Maximizing Revenue' Balancing Act

This is where it gets interesting. The bill hands significant new authority to individual park superintendents. They have to set the surcharge amount through official regulations, but their mandate is to find the sweet spot: charge enough to maximize revenue, but not so much that international tourists stop coming. Think of it like dynamic pricing for nature. For a park like Yosemite or Grand Canyon, which see massive international traffic, this could mean a substantial, dedicated funding stream for deferred maintenance. However, since the term "maximize revenue" is subjective, it gives superintendents a lot of discretion. If a park superintendent decides that a $50 surcharge on top of the standard entrance fee is the maximum the market will bear, that’s what international visitors will pay, creating a two-tiered fee structure based on where you’re from.

Who Pays and Where the Money Goes

This new fee is completely separate from the visa fees collected by the State Department or Homeland Security. It’s purely a park access fee targeting non-citizens (SEC. 2). For the average American family going to Yellowstone, their entrance fee won't change. But if you’re a tourist from Germany or Japan, you’ll pay the standard entrance fee plus the new surcharge. For parks that charge per vehicle, the NPS will have to figure out a proportional way to charge the surcharge only to the international visitors inside that car—which sounds like an administrative headache for the park gate attendant.

Crucially, the money collected from the entrance fee surcharge stays 100% at the park where it was collected, dedicated to local needs like fixing trails, improving visitor centers, and hiring staff. This is a big win for local park operations.

The Pass Surcharge: Funding the Big Picture

The PATRIOT Parks Act also impacts the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass (the annual pass that gets you into all parks). If an international visitor buys one of these passes, the Secretary of the Interior is required to apply a surcharge to that purchase as well. Unlike the entrance fee surcharge, the revenue from the pass surcharge doesn't stay local; it goes directly into the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund. This fund is used for massive, system-wide restoration projects. The amount of this pass surcharge is also discretionary, allowing the Secretary to increase it by whatever percentage they deem “reasonable” (SEC. 2).

In short, this bill is a direct revenue stream for the NPS that shifts the maintenance burden onto international tourists. It gives local park leaders financial independence but introduces a new, targeted cost for visitors from abroad, who will now be paying a premium to experience America's natural treasures.