Like many Americans, I think our National Parks are jewels to be treasured and preserved. This year we visited the Everglades and Acadia in Maine. Both were wonderful, with excellent staff and interpretative information. Both could have used more funding.
My brother-in-law Tom from Grass Valley sent me an article from the L.A. Times detailing suggested “improvements" proposed by the “Made in America” Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee. The committee, consisting of Trump appointees, proposes to allow Amazon deliveries at campsites and an end to senior discounts.
Three of the people on the Committee have potential conflicts of interest. One is the head of concessions in Yosemite who donated $167,700 to Trump’s campaigns. One is the president of Aramark, which runs a $2 billion contract to operate hotels, eateries, and campgrounds at Yosemite. The committee also includes the former president of Kampgrounds of America and Brad Franklin, government relations manager of Yamaha Motors, the U.S.A. producer of electric-powered bicycles that recently were allowed on federal trails in national wildlife refuges.
The Committee has recommended digital services, flushable toilets, hot and cold showers, equipment rentals, mobile camp stores, food trucks, kayaks, and overnight tent rentals. All of this would be privatized. The Committee is using the Park Service maintenance backlog to scare the public into accepting these recommendations as a way to fund the parks.
There are times I would like to just grab Trump supporters and shake them and yell “Do you not understand what is happening? Do you not get what this administration is doing? Is this making America great again?”
The report of the “Made in America” committee recommendations can be found in Louis Sahagun, “Trump Team Has a Plan for Nationwide Parks: Amazon, Food Trucks, and No Senior Discounts,” Los Angeles Times, (Nov. 4, 2019). Thank you Tom for bringing this to my attentional.
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