STARS Act
Key claim: The STARS Act would require the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to waive entrance and standard amenity recreation fees at federal public-lands sites on September 17, 2026 in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Abstract
(HR4285 · 119th Congress) Semiquincentennial Tourism and Access to Recreation Sites Act or the STARS Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to designate September 17, 2026, as an entrance-fee free date in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. On that date, Interior must waive (1) the entrance fees for all visitors of National Park Service sites; and (2) the standard amenity recreation fees for all visitors to each site managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Bureau of Reclamation. The Forest Service must waive the standard amenity recreation fees on that date for all visitors to sites it manages. Latest action (2025-12-10): Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Why this matters
A one-day nationwide waiver of federal recreation fees would temporarily lower the cost of access to Forest Service and Interior public lands for visitors, without altering the underlying fee structure or agency revenue model. For rural gateway communities and concessioners, a designated free day tied to the semiquincentennial could shift visitation patterns and local economic activity, while leaving longer-term public-lands fee policy unchanged.