LOS ANGELES, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- A group of 11 U.S. state attorneys general said in a letter Wednesday that they oppose the plan to significantly increase visitor fees for the country's 17 popular national parks.
It came after a proposal by the National Park Service to increase ticket prices for national parks like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone.
"The Service's proposed fee increases, which double or even triple existing entrance fees, threaten to put many Americans to the choice of beauty or bread and to distance them from the places in which so many experience the natural wonder of our great and unique nation," read a letter written to the Service's acting director.
Petitioners include California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and 10 other attorneys general of Arizona, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.
"We cannot let the most popular and awe-inspiring national parks become places only for the wealthy. As Americans, we are all public landowners. All Americans should have access to these lands, especially communities that the Service's surveys show have often been underrepresented, including inner city children and Hispanic-American and African American populations," they said.
The attorneys general urged the Service to scrap the proposed fee increases and instead seek adequate funding from U.S. Congress and support existing bipartisan legislative proposals, such as the National Park Service Legacy Act, which would provide more revenues for national parks without increasing park fees.
According to the proposal of the National Park Service, vehicle entrance fees at popular national parks, including the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Joshua Tree National Parks, would increase from 25 or 30 U.S. dollars to 70 U.S. dollars during the five-month peak season.
Individual entrance fees would go from current cost of 10 U.S. dollars to 15, even to 30 U.S. dollars, it says.
The Service announced its plan in October, citing a 11.3-billion-U.S.-dollar maintenance backlog.
The Service estimated that the proposal would generate an additional 70 million U.S. dollars a year to help maintain and upgrade park infrastructure. If approved, the increases will go into effect in 2018.
