YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — The National Parks Conservation Association is calling for an immediate pause of the new $100 fee for international visitors at a dozen national parks. That list includes Glacier, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone.
The NPCA is a 107-year-old, nonprofit conservation group that advocates for U.S. National Parks. It is not affiliated with the National Park Service.
WATCH: NPCA wants immediate halt to $100 fee for international visitors at Yellowstone, Glacier parks
“So the rollout's been a bit clunky,” said NPCA spokesperson Michelle Uberuaga of Livingston, Montana.
The group claims there is confusion and chaos among both park employees and visitors about the additional $100 per person fee for non-citizens.
“That's causing confusion and delays at Park Gates, and ultimately it's also causing some visitors not to visit the parks,” said Uberuaga.
In West Yellowstone and Gardiner, MTN did not see the problems described by NPCA, and Uberuaga agreed that with light winter traffic, there is no problem yet in Yellowstone. Business people in both locations told MTN they have not run into delays or confusion either. But there are some issues.
If you go to the National Parks website, you cannot purchase an international pass or a digital pass. Both are available at recreation.gov, but a link does not appear on the park site. Still, business people say the issues are minor.
Travis Watt, the manager of Three Bear Lodge in West Yellowstone, said, “So far other than the confusion when it first came out trying to figure out how that's going to happen but once that direction came out for us as operators, and I think for the park especially here in Yellowstone it took a little bit to get all that worked out. I think once they had it from our experience, it's been pretty easy.”
“What I've been hearing so far is that it's not terribly unexpected and that it shouldn't have a gross impact on overall operations or visitation," Ashea Mills, the owner and operator of Walking Shadow Ecology Tours in Gardiner, said.
Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly said the bugs are being worked out.
“We're working right now collectively to figure out exactly what the implementation looks like, and I think it's going to be very successful," he added.
But NPCA is worried about the future.
“I think that we know that the lines are going to get long during the summer season, so if we can pause this right now and work out the kinks before that time, that'd be great," Uberuaga said.
She was quick to note that NPCA is not opposed to the extra fee for non-residents, just the implementation.
Sholly said the money raised by the new fees could be a big help for Yellowstone and added that new digital passes should also ease the transition.
“It'll kind of take us out of the dark ages, so I think that it'll be easier for internationals and domestic visitors to purchase those passes,” said Sholly.
While businesses that depend on the park said they are seeing few if any cancellations due to the new fees, there have been a very few cancellations for another reason.
“I know I have a lot of international friends and clients that aren't particularly comfortable right now crossing the border, and I know there's a lot of international concern for how things are domestically right now. I think that has more to do with the political climate and the social climate and the economic climate than it does with something like gate fees,” said Mills.
There is one workaround to the fees explained on the National Parks homepage. It says that if you have a foreign friend visiting and you want to take them to a national park with the extra fees, use your annual or lifetime pass. Those passes allow anyone in the vehicle with you to get into a park, whether they are a resident or not.
DIGITAL EXTRA
Cam Sholly interview (Feb. 2026)
Michelle Uberuaga interview (Feb. 2026)
Travis Watt interview (Feb. 2026)
Ashea Mills interview: (Feb. 2026)
