Seashore Implemented Cashless Policy
(Psst – Devin and I actually discussed this exact topic in one of our very first podcast episodes. We encourage you to check it out, if you missed it!)
The National Park Service (NPS) has (finally!) been sued by three individuals for its refusal to accept cash payments, so the issue of how our federal government can deny its own currency for access to our public lands will (maybe eventually) be settled!
We’re grateful for that, but think this issue warrants further discussion.
Accessing Cumberland Island:
Potential visitors to Cumberland Island are impacted by the requirement of a bank or credit card, a minimum of three (3) separate times, to achieve an on-island visitor experience:
Campsites must be reserved and paid for at recreation.gov and require a credit or debit card for payment;
• Park entrance fees for all visitors require a credit or debit card for payment; and
• Passenger ferry fees for all visitors require a credit or debit card for payment.
• Campers and day visitors may have a “bonus” fourth experience: you can no longer pay for soda, snacks, ice, or firewood on the ferry boat without a credit or debit card for payment!
Note: Some NPS sites do not charge ANY entrance or access fees; you can find a complete list here.
Only about a quarter of NPS sites charge entrance fees, and it seems that individual park managers decide whether sites go cashless.
The agency has described going cashless as a way to improve efficiency, save money, and tighten security.
Wild Cumberland believes that justifying this inequitable policy as an operational efficiency and/or safety issue is outlandish: NPS is missing a critical opportunity, and actively avoiding its obligation, to ensure equitable access across park users.
As you know, Cumberland Island National Seashore is one unit which opted to move forward with an entirely cashless fee system in July of 2022. Its only authorized service provider subsequently followed suit.
Wild Cumberland immediately requested Seashore management reconsider its cashless policy upon announcement, and has repeatedly voiced its opposition and concerns to the agency and its partners.
In 2023, one year after going “cashless,” Wild Cumberland requested any site-specific cost savings from management; no figure was provided. A process had NOT been established for visitors who prefer to use cash, but we were told the park office would “work with” any visitor that directly contacts them if they are “unable to make a cashless payment.”
Who Does This Leave Out?
A government-imposed requirement to utilize technology for access to public lands, especially Wilderness areas, is contrary to the experience many of its users seek.
It is well-understood that our aging population struggles to keep pace with technological advances, and a cashless policy minimizes and discourages meaningful engagement with more than one subset of users.
An estimated 25 million people are further categorized as either “unbanked” or “underbanked” in the US. (For a better understanding of those terms, see below.)
Georgia’s “unbanked” and “underbanked” populations are both higher than the national average; together, the unbanked and underbanked make up more than a quarter of our state’s population.
A Brief Explanation:
- An “unbanked” person is someone that does not have a checking or savings account.
- “Underbanked” households often rely on cash and alternative financial services, as opposed to credit cards and traditional loans, to fund purchases and manage their finances.
- “Unbanked” & “underbanked” rates are typically highest in lower-income households, less-educated households, Black households, Hispanic households, working-age households with a disability, and single-mother households.
Expanding access to national parks is in the public’s interest, especially at a time when people of color are three times more likely than white people to live in nature-deprived places, according to the Center for American Progress, and 70% of low-income communities have limited access to forests, streams, mountains, and other natural areas.
The National Park Service defines relevancy, diversity, and inclusion as follows:
- “Relevancy is achieved when all Americans are able to establish a personal connection to the National Park Service parks and programs and find meaning and value in the mission of the National Park Service.
- Diversity represents the practice of actively incorporating people of different backgrounds, perspectives, thoughts and beliefs throughout the organization to ensure that NPS is advantaged by the best thinking possible. Diversity represents the wide range of visible and invisible differences and similarities that make each of us unique.
- Inclusion is the practice of intentionally building a culture that is flexible, values diverse ideas, and embraces the meaningful participation of all.”
As federally-operated park sites increasingly refuse to accept its own currency, this perpetuates issues for the most vulnerable and marginalized parts of our society — and is in complete contrast to the significant investments they have made in these areas.
We wouldn’t even know how to begin tabulating the agency’s spending and resource allocations for marketing, public relations, and partnerships related to these initiatives — but implementation of a cashless policy undermines all of them.
What Trace Do We Leave?
Digital transactions DO have a footprint — even if you can’t “see” them as easily. So, even if you’re privileged enough to be a “banked” visitor, there’s both risk and cost associated with every transaction:
- Every transaction leaves a record that can be monitored (and potentially exploited). When there’s a “middleman”, they get to learn about the transaction, too – and have a strong degree of latitude as to how they use the information they get.
- If you’ve got a credit or debit card, you probably know firsthand how devastating, time-consuming, and potentially expensive data breaches or identity theft/fraud can be — as well as how frequently they can happen.
- Digital transactions could be shifting an unjust burden to state and local taxpayers (and/or governments). Data centers are known to suck up voluminous amounts of energy.
- There doesn’t appear to be any type of environmental analysis associated with the agency’s decision to allow cashless operations, but they do exist — and include things like night sky pollution from satellite use.
Conclusion:
It’s clear that implementing a “cashless” policy without applying common sense (or public discourse) is a huge mistake by the agency.
It further demonstrates that, despite what its leadership espouses, the National Park Service works just like every other system and agency of our government.
We should note that Republican leadership initiated something called the “Protecting Access to Recreation with Cash (PARC) Act” in 2023. Wild Cumberland has also reached out to the offices of Sen. Raphael Warnock, Sen. Buddy Carter, and others for their positions on this issue with no response.
Link to Resources / Additional Reading:
Unbanked: 5.4 percent of Americans or about 7.1 million people, according to the FDIC.
Underbanked: 24.2 million households
https://www.thebalance.com/how-the-underbanked-handle-finances-in-the-u-s-4175509 [https://perma.cc/L6JV-JM9S]
https://www.frommers.com/trip-ideas/national-park/the-cost-of-going-cashless-at-us-national-parks
Lynette A. Rawlings et al., Urban Inst., Immigrant Integration in Low-income Urban Neighborhoods 29–32 (2007), https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/46851/411574-Immigrant-Integration-in-Low-income-Urban-Neighborhoods.PDF [https://perma.cc/TL58-U8TB].
Read the lawsuit here:
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/sites/default/files/attachments/vdw-v.-nps-filed.pdf
List of Cashless Sites (March 2024):
- Amistad National Recreation Area
- Badlands National Park
- Bandelier National Monument
- Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site
- Big Bend National Park
- Bryce Canyon National Park
- Capulin Volcano National Monument
- Chaco Culture National Historical Park
- Crater Lake National Park
- Cumberland Island National Seashore
- Devils Tower National Monument
- Death Valley
- Everglades National Park
- Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine
- Golden Spike National Historical Park
- Grand Canyon National Park
- Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site
- Hawai’i Volcanoes
- Isle Royale National Park
- Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
- Mesa Verde National Park
- Montezuma Castle National Monument
- Mount Rainier
- Petrified Forest National Park
- Pipe Spring National Monument
- Rocky Mountain
- Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
- Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
- Thomas Edison National Historical Park
- Timpanogos Cave National Park
- Vicksburg National Military Park
- Wind Cave National Park
- Wright Brothers National Memorial
- Yosemite National Park
Note: Some parks may revert to accepting cash or accepting it at specific locations or under certain circumstances. Details may be found on their respective websites.