International tourists will have to wait and see how their upcoming visits to Acadia National Park will be affected by President Donald Trump’s call to increase fees paid at National Park Service sites.

The president issued an executive order on Thursday directing Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to increase entrance and other fees charged to nonresidents at national parks and other federal lands used for recreational purposes.

The order comes on the heels of significant staffing and budget cuts to the park service, and lacks significant details, including how much fees would increase, when they would take effect, how the park service would single out foreign visitors and whether other national park sites in Maine would be affected beyond Acadia.

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Stacyville, Frances Perkins National Monument in Newcastle, Saint Croix Island International Historic Site in Calais and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail currently don’t charge fees.

“It’s difficult to say how the policy will affect us because we don’t know what it’s going to look like,” said Everal Eaton, executive director of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber is one of several authorized third-party vendors that sells passes to Acadia, which is one of the most popular national parks. Acadia annually draws more than 4 million visitors, who spent $475 million in and around Bar Harbor in 2024, according to the park service. Passes range from as little as $20 for a seven-day walking pass to $70 for an annual pass to Acadia.

Eaton said chamber employees currently don’t ask for a driver’s license or other photo identification when visitors purchase park passes; that typically happens at the park when visitors use annual or discount passes for seniors, students, military members or volunteers. He didn’t know if that would change in the future.

He noted that the order also directs the interior secretary “to grant American residents preferential treatment with respect to any remaining recreational access rules, including permitting or lottery rules, consistent with applicable law.”

Acadia visitors who want to drive to the summit of Cadillac Mountain during the busy tourist season of May through October must reserve a time online that’s subject to demand and availability. Reservations cost $6 per vehicle.

Eaton hopes the park service will provide additional information before the order takes effect, and that the chamber is given plenty of time to prepare and inform the public of fee increases.

Over 13 million foreign tourists visited national parks in 2016 — more than one-third of the 37.6 million overseas travelers who came to the U.S. that year — with the top five countries of origin being the United Kingdom, China, Germany, France and Australia, according to the U.S. Travel Association. And of the nearly 2 million travelers who visited Down East Maine and Acadia National Park in 2024, 4% came from Canada and 2% came from other countries, according to a state report.

The Maine Office of Tourism and the Tourism Association of Maine didn’t respond to requests for interviews or written statements on Tuesday.

In the order, Trump said America’s national parks have provided generations of American families with unforgettable memories.

“It is the policy of my administration to preserve these opportunities … by increasing entry fees for foreign tourists, improving affordability for United States residents, and expanding opportunities to enjoy America’s splendid national treasures,” the order states.

The order also directs the interior secretary to promote international tourism to America’s national parks and to review the “maintenance backlog” within the National Park Service.

The park service has lost 24% of its permanent staff since Trump took office and the president’s budget bill, passed last week by a Republican-led Congress, clawed back $267 million of previously committed funding for national park staffing, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.

Some members of Maine’s congressional delegation are weighing the order’s potential impacts and awaiting details on how the administration plans to implement the policy.

Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, called the order “bizarre, discriminatory and counterproductive” and questioned the impact on Maine’s tourism economy, especially after tariffs and insults have turned off travelers from Canada and beyond.

“This comes at a time when foreign visitors are already wary of traveling to the United States,” Pingree said in an emailed statement. “Many fear they’ll be detained at the airport, have their phones searched, or be punished for expressing critical views of the government.

“Now, the administration wants to charge foreign visitors more to enter some of our most popular national parks, including Acadia, based on their country of origin,” Pingree said. “Maine’s tourism industry is already facing serious challenges, including worker shortages, economic pressures, and a sharp decline in Canadian visitors. Adding new costs for international visitors risks making that decline even worse and could hurt the communities that rely on park-related tourism.”

“I’m not opposed to international visitors paying more to visit Acadia and other national parks — this is not an unheard-of practice around the world,” said Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, who is a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, which oversees the park service.

“However, this proposal comes amid other policies that have left Acadia short-staffed and a proposed $1 billion cut to the National Park Service,” Golden said in an emailed statement. “Given existing congestion challenges at Acadia, a poorly implemented verification process could make things worse.”

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, is a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and chairs the National Parks Subcommittee.

King is open to the idea of higher fees for foreign visitors, but needs much more information about how much they would increase and how they would be implemented, said spokesman Matthew Felling.

The office of Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, declined to comment on the order.