BLM access about to be lost
There is a fantastic BLM dispersed camping site in Colorado on the Arkansas River that is in danger of being converted from free BLM camping to an expensive, reservation only campground run by the sta...
Forum Discussion
Bipeflier- I guess you were on my website- if you had read a littler further you would have learned that the 'lottery" I won was the same lottery you won- that of being born in a rich western country as opposed to the people I was with in Eritrea and Sudan.
My opposition to this is on many levels- the States grabbing Federal land that should belong to every US citizen- this is a huge issue in the west. Worse in Utah than here. The state wants to take millions of acres of Federal land- then the states will not have the resources to manage them, so then they sell off half of it to the highest bidder and it gets developed or turned into a private ranch for a wealthy person from out of state.
The other issue more than the $23 per night is this is the only camping area on the river that does not require a reservation so folks who don't camp on a schedule will be unable to use it- including dozens of people from Denver who come down on the weekends often at short notice to boat and bike.
It is also an economic issue for Salida- as it is now since it is free people stay longer and this helps the economy - since it is close to town they go in for meals and shopping- less people or driving them to farther away campsites hurts the economy.
Another reason is that those that still want free camping will go directly across the river to another BLM camping area or one across the highway or others in the area farther away- the difference between these and Salida East is that SE has toilets- so maybe a few dozen people a night who now camp where there are toilets will be camping where there are none- can you figure out the result of that.
Lastly folks like you from states like Missouri probably do not understand how open land that anyone can camp on anytime is a part of the west- losing it is losing part of our heritage.
As far as YOUR tax dollars- if it stays in BLM hands even if they turn it into a paid BLM non reservation site you and I would pay the same and it would be first come first served- if it goes to the state YOU as an out of state person will pay more than me with my Colorado discount-
So take your indignation and shove it.
Rob
My opposition to this is on many levels- the States grabbing Federal land that should belong to every US citizen- this is a huge issue in the west. Worse in Utah than here. The state wants to take millions of acres of Federal land- then the states will not have the resources to manage them, so then they sell off half of it to the highest bidder and it gets developed or turned into a private ranch for a wealthy person from out of state.
The other issue more than the $23 per night is this is the only camping area on the river that does not require a reservation so folks who don't camp on a schedule will be unable to use it- including dozens of people from Denver who come down on the weekends often at short notice to boat and bike.
It is also an economic issue for Salida- as it is now since it is free people stay longer and this helps the economy - since it is close to town they go in for meals and shopping- less people or driving them to farther away campsites hurts the economy.
Another reason is that those that still want free camping will go directly across the river to another BLM camping area or one across the highway or others in the area farther away- the difference between these and Salida East is that SE has toilets- so maybe a few dozen people a night who now camp where there are toilets will be camping where there are none- can you figure out the result of that.
Lastly folks like you from states like Missouri probably do not understand how open land that anyone can camp on anytime is a part of the west- losing it is losing part of our heritage.
As far as YOUR tax dollars- if it stays in BLM hands even if they turn it into a paid BLM non reservation site you and I would pay the same and it would be first come first served- if it goes to the state YOU as an out of state person will pay more than me with my Colorado discount-
So take your indignation and shove it.
Rob
