Tvov wrote:
Why have "cancellation fees"? Why not just pay for what you've reserved?
If you can't make it, then you can't make it. Why should a business (or state park) give you the campground fee back?
I suspect the main reason is that, without any refund for cancellation, people who cannot make their reservation for whatever reason just won't show up without calling the park or anything, and there's no possible way for their site to be used by someone else. If they do cancel, the campground may be able to find someone to actually use the site.
I guess for a commercial campground, if people are willing to pay for and not use your facilities, that's more profit than if they pay for and use them. For a public park, however, there's usually some understanding if not actual verbiage in their mission or charter that they are there to provide public access to nature and recreation, so enabling as many people as practical to use the facilities is part of the expectation.
