The Department of the Interior announced fee-free days for residents in early December, 2025. The days include Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day/President Trump’s birthday, Fourth of July Weekend and more.
However, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth are not included in the list of fee-free days like in past years.
This change has become controversial in the African American community because of the connection to civil rights and being the only US holidays that celebrate black heritage. They are still considered federal holidays.
Many Americans spend MLK Day and Juneteenth doing service projects inside National Parks.
Spokesperson for the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association, Kristen Brengel, told The Guardian, “not only does it recognize an American hero, it’s also a day when people go into parks to clean them up.”
“Removing MLK Day and Juneteenth from the national parks calendar is more than petty politics—it’s an attack on the truth of this nation’s history,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “It’s an attempt to erase the legacy of Dr. King, minimize the story of emancipation and sideline the communities that have fought for generations to make America live up to its promise.”
According to Equal Justice Initiative, several books about black history have been removed from school libraries, and lessons about Dr. King, Rosa Parks and other black figures have been removed from the curriculum.
The National Park Service was also ordered to remove mentions of slavery from online and in-person exhibits and restore Confederate monuments in Arlington National Cemetery and across the nation.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federal holiday in 1983 under Ronald Reagan, and Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 under Joe Biden. Presidents don’t have the power alone to remove a federal holiday; it takes an act of Congress.
For more information, visit the National Park Service website.
Author: Lainey Porter
Photo: Adobe Stock
Editor: Briar Adams
outdoors@suunews.net
