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Forester
I would like to make some observations about the US Forest Service and the Nat Park Service. Their funding is likely to continue to decline in the future unless we charge people more for park entry and campgrounds. The wilderness system continues to expand in the West. Nevada was passed over the first few times in Congress, but now we get new areas all the time that we used to be able gain road access to hunt and camp, but now the roads are closed. Many old, small campgrounds are closing due to lack of funding.
Americans are changing over to RVs and tent camping is actually declining in most places. The FS and NPS have been slow to expand the size of their campsites to accomodate even 20 foot trailers. It is not that expensive to expand the size of the pads. Sometimes roads need to be widened or trees need to be taken out which costs money.
The point to be made here is, that all of these things cost money. Do not be offended if the cost of using these facilities continues to go up. The days of 5 or 8 dollar FS campsites are probably over except for the ones with no maintenance. Some are not cost effective to keep in operation.
Americans are changing over to RVs and tent camping is actually declining in most places. The FS and NPS have been slow to expand the size of their campsites to accomodate even 20 foot trailers. It is not that expensive to expand the size of the pads. Sometimes roads need to be widened or trees need to be taken out which costs money.
The point to be made here is, that all of these things cost money. Do not be offended if the cost of using these facilities continues to go up. The days of 5 or 8 dollar FS campsites are probably over except for the ones with no maintenance. Some are not cost effective to keep in operation.
