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LOS ANGELES - Three people - including one from Southern California - are suing the National Park Service over its new cashless policy at some of its locations.
The lawsuit was filed March 6 by Esther van der Werf of Ojai, California, Toby Stover of High Falls, New York, and Elizabeth Dasburg of Darien, Georgia.
All three visitors claimed in the lawsuit that they were prevented from paying cash at various national parks, monuments, and historic sites in Arizona, New York, and Georgia, alleging that the cashless policy is in violation of federal law that states U.S. currency is legal tender for all public charges.
"NPS’s violation of federal law cannot be overlooked in favor of any purported benefit NPS Cashless could hope to achieve such as reducing logistics of handling cash collected," the lawsuit states.
For example, Stover said she was unable to take a tour at Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Site in New York after she tried to pay the $10 tour fee with cash.
Van der Werf was allegedly denied entry at three different NPS-run locations in Arizona after she tried to pay for her entrance fees in cash.
Dasburg claimed she was told via email to go to a grocery store or Walmart and purchase a gift card, which could be accepted at Fort Pulaski National Historic Site in Georgia, instead of cash, the lawsuit states.
The cashless policy was put in place at around 29 locations in 2023, including Death Valley National Park in California. According to the NPS, the $22,000 in cash collected by the park during the previous year took more than $40,000 to process.
"Cash handling costs include an armored car contract to transport cash and park rangers’ time counting money and processing paperwork," the Park Service said in a statement. "The transition to cashless payments will allow the NPS to redirect the $40,000 previously spent processing cash to directly benefit park visitors."
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs do not want the NPS to stop accepting non-cash payment options, but rather "ask the court to restore entrance to NPS sites to those who cannot access non-cash payment methods (and those who choose not to)."