Changes to National Park fees

monkey44 wrote:
RRinNFla: Monkey44 said: "Parks are over-run with tourists and visitors", not "over-run with concessionaires".

However, now that you mention it, a lot of the crowds come BECAUSE of concessionaires. If we allowed folks in only to drive/hike/walk etc in the parks, and not had so many extraneous activities (helicopters - large rafting parties - etc) the parks would remain less crowded and more pristine. And, would also reduce upkeep and maintenance. Crowds create more damage to the ecosystems and the environmental balance. No way around it ...

These national parks and forests are set aside to PRESERVE the natural balance and watershed wilderness. IF one wants to ride in a helicopter, go to Disney.
And same thing for a bus - Zion allow NO private vehicles beginning in March and all thru the season due to the crowds - you can only ride a bus. And Yosemite is heading in that direction if not already there, just to name two.

If all these extraneous activities did not exist, we'd need much less road and support maintenance, and less budget, and volunteers or specific employees with training (electrician, etc) will run the park based on budget and revenue. We only have the crowds and increasing overhead costs because we've allowed the parks to become "tourist traps" instead of wilderness areas and wildlife habitats that require visitors to leave no trace --

Believe this, if nothing else, all these tourists that require mechanical tour services damage our ecosystems and the natural balance, regardless of what kind of justification one might offer for "viewing our lands".

We have plenty of private lands in this country for air fields, heli-ports, rafting, and horseback riding without interfering with the natural conditions of our parks - that is not the purpose for which the NPS exists ... If you cannot park your vehicle and hike into the park to enjoy it, maybe the national parks aren't for you ...

Altho', accommodations for disabled are certainly in order, that in itself will not require nearly the amount of maintenance nor damage the parks as much as the millions of tourists the concessionaires require.

Monkey44 and family have been hiking and camping national parks for more than sixty years, and never once needed a helicopter or a rafting tour to enjoy our parks and forests. And, we've seen the population of the parks and the over-crowding continuously rise, and the parks continuously degrade over time. It's only a matter of years until the parks become like DisneyWorld if we keep it up.

For those of us that have been around for awhile, think for one minute about how difficult it is now even to get a reservation (a constant topic on this forum). Then, think about how different it was a number of years ago when all you needed was a weekend off to go camping pretty in much any park in the country. Then tell us - convince us - you needed a helicopter or a tour bus to enjoy that weekend ...