President Trump has ordered higher entrance fees for foreign visitors to U.S. national parks, sparking concerns from environmental and tourism groups, after signing a major spending bill that slashes the National Park Service budget.

SACRAMENTO, United States, July 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered higher entrance fees for foreign visitors to U.S. national parks, hours after approving the sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill, which cuts hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars from the National Park Service (NPS) budget.

Under the directive, U.S. citizens will continue paying the current daily, weekly or annual vehicle pass fee, while foreign travelers will face a surcharge to be set after a public comment period.

"This Order builds on President Trump's legacy as a conservation President and fulfills his promise to put Americans first," a fact sheet document released by the White House with the executive order touted.

U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told reporters at a departmental briefing that a draft fee schedule will be published later this summer, and that implementation is unlikely before 2026.

The newly passed spending law rescinded unspent funds from the Biden-era budget while authorizing a nearly 40 percent cut in discretionary funding for fiscal 2026. Park advocates worried the twin moves amount to taking cash away with one hand and asking visitors to replace it with the other.

Administration officials argued that foreign visitors, who pay no U.S. taxes, should contribute more to the system's upkeep, pointing to Ecuador's Galapagos National Park, where adult foreigners pay 200 U.S. dollars and locals 30 dollars each, as a model.

However, the Natural Resources Defense Council countered in a statement that the fee plan "does little to address core staff shortages and environmental rollbacks."

Meanwhile, travel industry groups also voiced concerns over the potential impact on the industry. The U.S. Travel Association said the surcharge, if set too high, could slow a recovery in inbound tourism that still lags pre-pandemic levels by about 15 percent.

Conservative think tank The Property and Environment Research Center, whose 2023 study first proposed differential pricing, estimated that adding 25 dollars to the current vehicle pass fee could raise roughly 330 million dollars a year without sharply reducing visits. Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior stressed that all proceeds will flow into a maintenance fund and cannot be diverted elsewhere.

Burgum told reporters his team is studying electronic pre-payment systems to avoid hour-long queues at peak sites such as the Grand Canyon, where summer traffic can back up 3 kilometers.

He added that the department will publish an environmental justice assessment to gauge impacts on gateway towns that depend on international spending.

Advocacy groups have signaled they may sue if the final rule skips a complete economic impact analysis. For now, foreign travelers planning 2026 holidays are advised to monitor NPS advisories and brace for steeper prices to witness Old Faithful's eruptions or Yosemite's granite walls.■