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Tennessee's House Of Representatives Opposes Backcountry Fee At Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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Published Date

April 18, 2013

In its biggest political coup to date, a group fighting the backcountry fees charged at Great Smoky Mountains National Park has gotten the backing of the Tennessee State House of Representatives.

In a proclamation adopted April 9, the House expressed its "opposition to the imposition of any backcountry camping fees in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that are not directly associated with the use of amenities or a commercial purpose and strongly urge an immediate appeal of any such imposed fee."

Previously, the Knox County (Tennessee) Commission, as well the commissions in Bradley and Blount counties in Tennessee and Swain County in North Carolina, condemned the fee and called for its repeal.

The backcountry fee of $4 per night per person, with a $20 per person cap per trip, took effect February 13. It is intended by park officials to help streamline and improve the backcountry permitting process and heighten the presence of rangers in the backcountry.

Pinched by an inadequate budget and unable to charge an entrance fee for any of the roughly 9 million yearly visitors, park officials say they see no way of improving visitor services and protecting backcountry resources without charging users who spend the night in the woods.

The park can't charge an entrance fee because the state of Tennessee, when it agreed to transfer land to the federal government for the park, essentially forbade it.

"By condemning and calling for a repeal of this hugely unpopular and specious tax on backcountry users, the State of Tennessee has proven its intent to provide a voice for citizens that was ignored by the National Park Service as evidenced in the public comments that tallied 18-1 in opposition to the fee," said a statement from Southern Forest Watch, a non-profit group organized to lobby for the fee's repeal.

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Comments

you say other national parks don't charge for backcountry camping, but several of them do.

No I didn't and don't say that. I say other parks don't charge EXCLUSIVELY for backcountry camping. You pay a fee to get into Yellowstone whether to drive, hike, horseback ride or camp. You pay a fee to get into Grand Teton whether to drive, hike, horseback ride or camp. You pay a fee to get into Rocky Mountain whether to drive, hike, horseback ride or camp.


Isn't just keeping a national park open a "service?"

Actually, Lee no. Keepong the backcountry open to camping cost virtually nothing and what it does cost is supplied by volunteers. People were camping in this backcountry long before it was a national park.


EC, not sure you're exactly right on the exclusivity of backcountry fees. You do indeed need to pay $25 for a backcountry permit at Yellowstone, and there are similar fees at Grand Teton, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and other parks. Those fees, often are referred to as administrative fees, but you can't legally go backpacking without a permit. And they are separate from the entrance fee you pay to enter these parks.


Kurt, I am not saying that GSMNP is the only park that charges for backcountry camping. It is the only park I am aware of that ONLY charges for backcountry camping and not for other uses. All the other parks you mention charge just to get past the gate.


Thanks Kurt Repanshek . I see no exclusivity either. ALL campers pay a fee to camp overnight in GSMNP (whether front country, horse camping, or back country). Likewise, ALL campers pay a fee to camp overnight in the other national parks you mention -- Grand Teton, Grand Canyon, Glacier, Yellowstone, etc. And in those other parks, that fee is separate from and in addition to a park entrance fee (which GSMNP obviously does not have).

I don't see how a judge can look at those same fees in all the other national parks and not allow such a fee in GSMNP. They set precedent. They are legal.


ebuck, there are indeed fees charged for other uses at GSMNP besides backcountry camping for backpackers. There is fee for picnic shelters, a fee for campsites, a fee for group camping, a fee for horse camps, a fee for use of Mt. Le Conte Lodge, to name a few. Everybody who camps pays a fee. No one group is being singled out.


Everybody who camps pays a fee.

But, unlike all other parks, not for those that don't camp. And all those items you mentioned have amenties that have associated costs. The backcountry has no amenities.


Yep, that's true ebuck, GSMNP has no entrance fee. Thus, it can't charge people just to wander through the park for the day. As far as amenities go, the backcountry areas in all those other national parks have no amenities either and yet folks who camp overnight there are charged a fee. If you want amenities, you need to camp in the horse camps or the group camps or the car camping sites. If you want more of a wilderness experience, backcountry is it. But, just as in the other parks mentioned, you pay a modest fee for the overnight experience wherever you choose to camp. No big deal.


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