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Comments
How about we limit access for non-US visitors during peak days/times? American citizens' taxes go to pay for the parks, we should get access before busloads of foreign tourists. I have no issue with people from outside the country visiting, but something has to be done about the congestion at parks like Acadia, Yosemite, RMNP, and Yellowstone and taxpayers should get priority during peak times.
Are you willing to expect the same treatment when Americans go visit the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, etc.?
I agree. Last time we went could not get in because so many buses of non Americans.
Make their buses and groups should on be a certain number.
I wonder if you both treat guests to your home in the same ugly fashion because that is what they are, guests in our country and should be treated as such. You pay a minuscule amount in taxes to support the parks. Many foreign visitors are here for a limited time, a week, two weeks and hope to see as much as they can in that short time. Sad to see these comments.
The one good thing about this reservation system is the certainty of what the visit to the park would be like as far as crowds. if they are limiting visitation, then each visitor's experience would likely be optimized.
First of all, I vote against xenophobia. People just love to blame immigrants or visitors for everything. Enough Of that.
Second, I vote for Ed Abbey‘s idea of making the national parks primarily foot and bicycle focused. Keep the roads where they are, but use them only for park busses to shuttle around the people that can’t get around on foot or cycle. It would reduce congestion, pollution, and damage from too many people in the parks. I respectfully disagree with those that value access over conservation.
Yes on xenophobia. What has gotten into this country. I also agree about Abbey's idea for restricting access. Visitation now is way beyond what it was in Abbey's time, most of it by Americans by the way. If the park service is to meet its dual mission it has to restrict access by private vehicle and help those who cannot walk or bike.
Sean, while I don't agree with banning non-US visitors, there is nothing xenophobic about the comments nor is anyone assessing "blame" on immigrants or visitors. Words like xenophobic and racisists have been so miss used in recent years they risk losing their real meaning and true negative context. These folks don't fear or hate foreigners, they just feel (unjustifiably) they have already paid for the parks so they should have first dibs. As to making the parks primarily foot and bicycle, that might work in a few parks but I suspect under those circumstances, parks like Arches would be empty in July and I doubt many want to walk or bike from Grant Village to Old Faithful in Yellowstone.
During Abbey's time I believe horseback was the preferred method of transport. I remember the scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indy's Boy Scout group was riding through the then Arches National Monument on horseback - passing by Balanced Rock.
As for the rest of the discussion, the one word I would use to describe it is "facile". It's overly simplifying the problem to one that can be solved by something that seems simple. But of course it's going to create a whole lot of different problems such as identifying who is or isn't eligible to enter. The real problem we have is summer vacation. An ideal situation would spread out visitation to spring and fall, but summer is when kids are off from school.
How about we limit access for non-“America the Beautiful“ passholders during peak days/times? The fees for these passes go to pay for the parks, we should get access before busloads of non-passholders. I have no issue with people without passes visiting, but something has to be done about the congestion at parks like Acadia, Yosemite, RMNP, and Yellowstone and passholders should get priority during peak times.
Ok, I don’t mean to dismiss Ms. Kingley’s proposal completely, just illustrate how the same statement could be easily changed without much effort, and next time you or I might just be on the excluded end of things.
Regarding her specific proposal, I don‘t know that I want the already long lines at the entrance stations to get even longer waiting for the fee collectors to also perform a citizenship check for each occupant of the vehicle. Nor would I want the limited park resources spent on training entrance fee collectors to properly make citizenship assessments. I may not like the Park’s timed entry proposal, but it sure seems easier to implement than a citizenship-checking process.
I wonder if a hybrid system is worth considering. If you want to drive your car into a park, then you need a reservation. But, if you are willing to ride a shuttle, and park off site in a giant parking lot, then you don't. I also wonder if the second might actually be preferred by 'touristas.' As I've written before, I favor breaking down the large tour buses into 12 to 15 person vans, each with a guide.
there is already such a system in place at Joshua Tree NP. We just got back from there and if you ride the free shuttle no entrance fee or long car lines to get in the park.
That's the system at Muir Woods National Monument, more or less. The problem there was never that the park was really all that crowded, but that parking was extremely limited. I've literally parked nearly a mile away after dropping off my group. However, even the shuttle buses from Sausalito/Mill Valley require reservations. No reservation is needed for biking in. I think motorcycles need a reservation though since there are no motorcycle specific parking spaces. One could walk in or be dropped off. I believe tour buses secure reservations ahead of time, so that's one way around the limitations. And it's really about parking, so it might be possible for tour buses to drop off passengers then wait elsewhere.
That doesn't necessarily provide more fees for the parks. Your proposal there would likely reduce total fee collection. For example, The America the Beautiful regular annual pass is still $80. The Yosemite NP vehicle entrance fee is $35. Interagency annual pass fees go directly to a federal recreation general fund that's split between NPS, Forest Service, BLM, Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corps, etc. The current NPS Fee Demonstration Program keeps 80% at the specific park and 20% to a fund for NPS units that charge no fee. Now something like a Yosemite annual pass is part of the Fee Demonstration Program. However, at $70 for a Yosemite annual pass I would easily make the decision for the interagency pass at $80.
If visitation during peak times is restricted to passholders, that doesn't necessarily provide more in fees unless it's for park-specific passholders. Also - it might spur people to get annual passes (just to visit) which would then encourage them to make more visits. Frankly it would make more sense (in terms of money to the parks) if there was a preference for one week/daily fees. Even someone with an interagency pass might consider paying the one week entrance fee if that's the only way to get in.
The way some theme parks work is that they actually limit access to annual passholders when it's too crowded. The rationale is that the non-passholders are actually paying more (compared to annual passes amortized per visit) and often will be the ones that won't be returning soon.
I propose that if you have been to a NP in the last 12 mos you must wait a year to go back....and if your kids were a PINB while there you must wait 5 years....
Why can't all the national parks do what has already been done at the Grand Canyon and a few other parks for years, i.e. restrict all vehcles except for National Park trams or shuttle buses that will take tourists to all the places they want to see more efficiently and without the added hassle of parking at each stop? It works fine in the Grand Canyon, so why not use it at all the other parks as well.