sammytoo wrote:
Since this is an RV forum we probably all have campers of some sort and we share a common interest, but really, should all those millions of people who don't use park service campgrounds be subsidizing our vacation.
Should the people who never get to visit a national park have to pay for an interpretive ranger to tell us what kind of fish are in the river?
How about boat ramps? Shouldn't the folks who use boats pay for them?
Senior passes...Do the taxpayers owe me anything just because I managed to live this long?
Someone mentioned they would rather pay less at the government campground than stay at the KOA down the road. How about that KOA? Shouldn't they be able to operate without competing with taxpayer funded parks charging less than operational cost. What if the government ran hardware stores and gas stations ?
I don't see how my camping at a national park is being subsidized. When I use the camp facilities at a national park, I pay a fee. People who don't camp at the park do not pay the fee. We all pay the same amount in taxes for the benefit of the parks in general, but when I camp in the park i pay a fee, so I don't see how my stay is being subsidized by anybody. Likewise, the parks do not exist in order to turn a profit by selling camp sites. The parks are there to preserve and protect the natural resources that belong to all of us. This is what our tax dollars pay for. The camping fees are intended to cover the use of the resource when we camp. This is not a subsidy.
Also, I disagree that the parks are in competition with private campgrounds. Private campgrounds and national parks have different objectives or "missions" so they are not in competition with one another, in the same way that a priest or pastor is not in competition with a social worker.
