Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández is the lead signatory on a May 2 letter to the U.S. Forest Service protesting a new entrance fee being imposed at El Yunque National Forest, the only U.S. tropical rainforest.
While national park fees have been raised in recent years, most of the change has been in fees required of international visitors, who now face an added $100 per person per day at the most popular national parks. Fee-free national holidays have been cut, with MLK Jr. Day and Juneteenth no longer being observed with free admission. However, a number of national parks are still free to visit, including the American Samoa National Park and — at the moment — El Yunque.
El Yunque
El Yunque has been a U.S. National Forest since 1903, when President Theodore Roosevelt declared it a reserve. The official website does not mention the proposed fees, but Hernandez reports that they would be $4.00 per person for access to the forest, $20.00 for an individual annual pass, and $30 for a family annual pass. Currently, entry to the forest is free and there is an $8.00 entrance for the visitor center.
Not only is El Yunque the only tropical rainforest, it is also the most biodiverse of all the national parks. The forest is home to 250 different species of trees, 23 of which are only found in El Yunque. That total is equal to the number of different species of trees in all the other U.S. national forests combined. There are eleven different species of bats and more than 12,000 of insects, in addition to hundreds more plants and animals.
With as many as one million visitors a year, El Yunque is an important part of tourism in Puerto Rico and, since it runs through eight different municipalities, an important source of jobs.
The Resident Commissioner’s Letter
“El Yunque is not simply a recreational site,” the letter explains. “It is an ecological, cultural, and public resource central to Puerto Rico’s identity. As the only tropical rainforest in the National Forest System, it holds extraordinary ecological value and deep environmental and historical significance. For generations, Puerto Ricans have experienced the forest as a shared public space tied to heritage, community, recreation, and access to nature. Because of that significance, questions surrounding access to the forest, including any proposed fee structure, warrant careful scrutiny, particularly where they may affect how local communities interact with and benefit from this national resource.”
The letter goes on to suggest that, while the fees at El Yunque are explained by a need additional funding, there may be other sources for those funds. The letter ends with a series of questions and a request that answers be provided by May 14th:
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If the public comment period yields substantial opposition or significant adverse feedback, how will the agency account for that input in its decision-making?
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Has the agency conducted, commissioned, or reviewed any studies on how the proposed fee could affect visitors, including locals? If so, what did those studies reflect?
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How did the agency account for Puerto Rico’s socioeconomic conditions and patterns of local use in developing the proposed fee structure? What other funding avenues or non-fee alternatives has the agency considered to address the needs cited in support of the proposal, and how did those considerations inform the decision to advance a recreation fee?
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Has the agency taken any concrete steps to engage with the Commonwealth government to secure support for ongoing maintenance costs? If so, what proposals have been put forward to help close this funding gap?
In addition to the Resident Commissioner, 23 other members of Congress signed the letter, including Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Nellie Pou (D-NJ), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), and many more.
