National Parks

The park service received more than 109,000 comments on the proposal, most of them opposed, during a two-month comment period that ended in late December.

The agency estimates the increase would generate an additional $70 million to help address backlogged maintenance and infrastructure projects.

Officials say the higher fees are needed to address a backlog of maintenance and infrastructure projects.

The National Park Service wants an extra $70 million a year to help with their stewardship of our heavily used national parks now and for future generations.

The National Parks Service makes every park in the U.S. free on Sept. 30, 2017. Some are free year round, of course, but all will celebrate the National Park Service's second century. It turned 100 in 2016 and this year offers more.

Winter activities at Yellowstone National Park are coming to a close.

Visitors to America's national parks will encounter fewer rangers, find locked restrooms and visitors centers, and see trashcans emptied less often if 5 percent across-the-board federal budget cuts are enacted.