I dunno, have you looked at budget sheets for the parks? Many states are pulling money from their parks programs to fund other things, other "Priorities" that constituents ask for (roads, schools, other infrastructure, etc...). It's easy to point fingers and say the private parties can do better, but last I looked, the tolling and road maintenance programs at Illinois that are supposedly public/private are utter rubbish. Our Oregon rangers are some hard-working folks. Some of them are even armed to serve an anti-poaching function. They've had a devil of a time keeping up with all the new people moving to the area, some "Artists" from other states thought it would be an improvement to tag the landscape with their "Art". They put up with plenty in these parts. Last I checked, many private parks in these parts tend to either cater to a high end clientele, or cram in lots of RV parking slots, or push a more "Modern" type of living with tons of amenities. Many State parks here tend to try and keep things more "Natural" or "Rustic", as best as they can. So they do assess the affects to the parks out here when looking into upgrading. I know that Cape Blanco was sporting some nice new cabins and 50 amp service in some spots. That's more my pace for camping. Don't really see your neighbors very well, plenty of space, and unspoiled scenery for the most part.
Also, the claim of "Government owns a lot of land out west" has a lot of caveats with it. Is it Federally owned? State owned? County? City? Which government? Hell, we have a housing crisis in the PNW. Much of the bigger cities in the entire west coast have tons of "Private Owners" that rent houses and rooms. Last I checked, most houses aren't special, or maintained any better than most places. But they sure like charging an arm, leg, first born, etc... I hate to think what would happen with a fully privatized market that knew there was such a demand for RV camping and they could "Raise Rents". So I think it's a little naive to paint with such a broad brush without understanding the issues in full depth.
