Getting your
Trinity Audioplayer ready...The National Park Service is using at least $67 million worth of park entrance fees to help fund President Donald Trump’s beautification projects in Washington, according to a New York Times analysis of federal records.
Nearly $60 million in fees paid by visitors to national parks across the country is funding repairs to nine of the capital’s ornamental fountains, the analysis found. The government is putting another $7 million worth of entrance fees toward the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which costs $13.1 million overall, according to an internal Park Service document reviewed by the Times.
The analysis was based on a federal contracting database. The $7 million for the reflecting pool has not previously been reported.
Trump has proposed a host of initiatives to remake Washington in his own style and wants these projects completed by July 4, the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Some conservationists criticized the Trump administration for steering so much money to projects in Washington that appeared to be cosmetic fixes rather than urgent upgrades. National parks outside the capital have long maintenance backlogs, including repairs to deteriorating roads and water systems that threaten visitor safety.
“Our parks and public lands have been underfunded for decades, and there are many genuinely urgent projects in need of funding across the country,” said Aaron Weiss, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, a conservation group. “Instead, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is determined to divert millions of dollars to projects that President Trump can see out his window.”
The spending is legal. Under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act of 2004, at least 80% of revenue from entrance fees must stay in the park where the fees were collected. But the other 20% can be used to improve sites that do not collect fees, such as the National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington.
Among contracts signed under the Biden administration, the largest individual project backed by the fund was fixing a major Grand Canyon water pipeline.
The Park Service had a backlog of deferred maintenance projects around the country that came to an estimated $23 billion at the end of 2024, the latest year for which data is available. The projects included repairs to bathrooms, campgrounds, roads, visitor centers and other aging infrastructure.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.