N.Y. Times Quotes Professor Lin on Fee Hikes for Foreign Visitors to National Parks

Professor Albert Lin spoke to the New York Times for a Sept. 30 story about a lawsuit seeking to stop President Donald Trump’s administration from charging foreign visitors higher entrance fees at national parks.

As the story notes, an executive order signed by Trump last year prompted a $100 surcharge for nonresident visitors. Now an Arizona tour company is suing to stop the surcharge, arguing that the so-called “America First” pricing exceeds the authority of the Interior and Agriculture departments. 

Lin, who co-directs UC Davis Law’s California Environmental Law and Policy Center, told the Times that the  Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act “would seem to constrain the Park Service from doing what it did here” with the new fees.

Although the law gives the secretary of the interior some discretion regarding how fees are based, “Whether that leeway includes the ability to simply base the fee on nonresident status is not clear,” Lin said.

Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law Albert Lin specializes in environmental and natural resources law and also teaches Evidence at UC Davis School of Law.