The National Park Service (NPS) finalized and announced a plan to change free entrance days for national parks starting next year. The birthday of President Donald Trump was newly added to the list of free entrance days, but "Martin Luther King Jr. Day," a symbol of the Black civil rights movement, and the Juneteenth holiday marking the end of slavery were excluded.
On the 7th (local time), according to the BBC, AP, CNN and others, the National Park Service under the Department of the Interior released the 2026 schedule for free national park entrance days the previous day. Under the new schedule, holidays related to the Black civil rights movement were largely removed from next year's list of free entrance days. Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 20 and Juneteenth on June 19, which had previously qualified for free entrance, were deleted from the list. Martin Luther King Day had been designated a free entrance day since 2018, and Juneteenth since 2024. At the same time, the first day of National Park Week and National Public Lands Day were also removed.
Instead, June 14, which is President Trump's birthday and Flag Day, was designated as a new free entrance day. Including that day, the National Park Service set a total of seven free entrance days: Presidents Day in February, Memorial Day in May, the Independence Day weekend in July, Aug. 25 marking the 110th anniversary of the National Park Service's founding, Constitution Day on Sept. 17, and Veterans Day in November.
Civil society and human rights groups immediately pushed back. They criticized it as a political attempt to erase Black history and emphasize white-centered patriotism. Cornell William Brooks, a Harvard Kennedy School professor, sharply criticized it on social media as "blatant and disgusting racism."
Local media analyzed that the move aligns with the anti-DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) stance pursued by the Trump administration. Christine Brengel, Spokesperson for the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), said, "Martin Luther King Day is not just a holiday but a day when many groups visit parks to volunteer," adding, "the current administration is repeatedly targeting Black history."
Separately, the Department of the Interior introduced a pricing policy in this overhaul that favors U.S. citizens and residents. As floated during the discussion phase, the price threshold for foreign tourists was raised significantly. While the price of an annual national park pass available to U.S. residents was frozen at $80, the annual pass for nonresident foreigners was set at $250, more than three times higher. If a foreigner without an annual pass visits 11 popular national parks such as the Grand Canyon or Yosemite, they must pay an additional $100 per person on top of the base entrance fee. The Department of the Interior estimated that raising fees for foreigners would generate more than $90 million (about 120 billion won) in additional revenue annually.
The Trump administration said the measure is aimed at enhancing benefits for American families. Interior Minister Doug Burgum said in a statement, "President Trump's leadership always puts American families first," and called it a step to "ensure that American taxpayers can access national parks at a reasonable expense, while making sure overseas visitors pay their fair share toward park maintenance." Burgum termed it "America-first pricing."