"About a quarter of the 400 federally managed parks collect an entrance fee from visitors. Those fees are waived multiple times per year, generally on federal holidays - including Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day weekend, Constitution Day, and Veterans Day - during which time there tends to be more visitors. Parks also offer free entry on August 25, the date the National Parks Service was founded, and October 27, the birthday of Teddy Roosevelt, who is viewed as the father of the National Park System."
""How is cutting MLK Day and Juneteenth anything but racist?" podcaster Michelangelo Signorile said in a post on Bluesky. American history professor Manisha Sinha also noted the absurdity of the changes. "No sitting president has had their birthday declared as a free day at the park," Sinha said in an interview with ABC News. Sinha added that "the reasoning behind this change is a little mysterious because it will not benefit most visitors to these parks,""
The National Park Service removed Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth from its list of days with free admission and added Flag Day, which falls on June 14 and coincides with President Donald Trump's birthday. About a quarter of the 400 federally managed parks charge entrance fees, which are routinely waived on several holidays and specific dates like August 25 and October 27. The change has provoked criticism, with commentators calling it racist and questioning its rationale, noting that adding a president's birthday as a free day is unprecedented and may not benefit most visitors who use federal holidays for park visits.
Read at Truthout
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