SNAP News: Smith Fellows oppose targeted fee increase at National Parks

SCB’s  David H. Smith Conservation Fellows provided public comment this week opposing targeted fee increases to address the maintenance backlog that many U.S. National Parks are currently experiencing.  Under President Trump’s proposed budget, the National Park Service would receive a staggering 13% cut to funding. This user-payer model has been proposed to shore up growing infrastructure and maintenance needs.  In a letter to Acting Director Michael T. Reynolds of the National Park Service, the fellows explain that this approach will “reduce access to public lands, and disproportionately impact economically disadvantaged [and under represented] segments of the American public.” Smith Fellows explain that this model “diminishes public sense of ownership and accentuates disparities in access to our most popular parks.”

Learn about SNAP: The Society for Conservation Biology’s North American Policy Committee