National parks will close campgrounds or open late

[campfirefun]

I don't want to start a dem vs. rep. Debate I hate them all in Washington but, with next weeks cuts looming here is one that could effect some here with camping -

5. National parks will close campgrounds or open late. The National Park Service will lose $110 million from its annual budget. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee plans to close five campgrounds and picnic areas affecting over 54,000 visitors. Two of the main thoroughfares into the Grand Canyon will remain closed until later this year, including the popular West Rim Drive, known for its breathtaking beauty. The delays will affect about 250,000 visitors.

[dwaynerz]

from what i have read, the coming sequestration(?) they call it amounts to a miniscule 2. something percent of the budget. they are all guilty of getting us to where we are. it will be interesting to see what pets the various "officials" want to protect.

as far as great smokey mountain national park, are the not any private campgrounds nearby that would love the business thrown their way?

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by campfirefun

I don't want to start a dem vs. rep. Debate

Thank you for stating this up front as this kind of thing can easily become problematic.

The topic you posted on is good and I can see a good discussion coming out of it if we stay on point - Nat'l Parks will close or open late.

FYI from our forum rules: General discussions of politics, general government policies, weaponry, gun rights and religion are not allowed in ANY areas of the forum. Discussions about current or pending legislation or regulations, weapons and religion that directly pertain to RVing are acceptable but will be closed or removed if they wander off topic or become disruptive.

[hkreck]

People keep saying they want less Government, you really think politician's will cut their own benefits and pay?

[RoadTrip]

Thanks Tri-guy for the reminder.

[RoadTrip]

I wonder if they could raise fees to offset the cut. Anybody got a calculator to figure the cut divided by number of campers per year?

[OldCoot]

Everybody wants to cut the fed. budget as long as it doesn't effect any of their own wants. We need a lot of cheese and crackers with all the whining.

[RickV]

Originally Posted by dwaynerz

from what i have read, the coming sequestration(?) they call it amounts to a miniscule 2. something percent of the budget. they are all guilty of getting us to where we are. it will be interesting to see what pets the various "officials" want to protect.

as far as great smokey mountain national park, are the not any private campgrounds nearby that would love the business thrown their way?

[harlan]

I really find all this hoopla hard to believe. Here are some figures as to the cuts, per Washington Post. Go figure. This equates to a 1/2% cut in funding.

Camping and hiking areas might also be closed when the National Park Service cuts $130 million from its $2.6 billion budget under sequestration measures set to start at the end of March.

[RoadTrip]

yep, gonna get closed

[Cajun Po-Boy]

Originally Posted by campfirefun

I don't want to start a dem vs. rep. Debate I hate them all in Washington but, with next weeks cuts looming here is one that could effect some here with camping -

5. National parks will close campgrounds or open late. The National Park Service will lose $110 million from its annual budget. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee plans to close five campgrounds and picnic areas affecting over 54,000 visitors. Two of the main thoroughfares into the Grand Canyon will remain closed until later this year, including the popular West Rim Drive, known for its breathtaking beauty. The delays will affect about 250,000 visitors.

Don't read too much into this...the NPS always sends these kind of messages to stimulate our crowd to contact their Reps so they (Reps) keep pushing the ball to eliminate budget cuts.

DW works for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service ( Dept of Interior)...she mentioned to me awhile back that the NPS would send a public announcement out. The USFWS has been budgeting for this possibility over 6 months ago so they won't have to interrupt visitor services, etc....unfortunately the NPS didn't and does not plan this way, therefore they must eliminate personnel to meet budget IF this goes through.

Just a little insider info for everyone....

[ng2951]

To put it very simply bureaucrats are not going to close down their pet programs that nobody cares about. What are we asking them to do? Get by on a penny or two less?

They are going to cut any program that they think will get you mad and want to pay more taxes.

Do the smart thing and tell your legislator you know the difference between a bureaucrat cut and a taxpayer cut. Give the legislator the day count to the 2014 elections too.

[RoadTrip]

Elections have consequences.

[PapaSmurf]

Some folks in Tennessee (the Governor) was wanting to impose a State income tax a few years ago. Seems there was not enough money to keep the parks operating. All the efforts failed to get an income tax passed, and a new Governor was elected. The results, no income tax, parks are fully funded, and we are operating in the black. It was amazing! After the election, we had plenty of money, and nothing had changed but the Governor...

It is amazing how picking on the parks gets everyone ready to accept a tax increase... they always use the same ploy.

Yes, there are plenty of campgrounds in the Smoky's, for RVer's... I think probably less prevalent for tent camping, which is the bulk of the camping inside the Smoky Mtn National Park.

The wife and I, almost exclusively, camp at Corp of Engineer parks in Tennessee, it will be interesting to see if they start closing those as part of the cut backs, even though they should be self-supporting.

[sherman12]

If I start to worry about this crap coupled with now again rising gas prices I might as well hang a For Sale sign off of my rig. I can't control it, my/your congressman could give a hoot about about what I/we think, so why get your knickers all twisted up over it. Go have a nice cold adult beverage and dream of how many nights you want to camp this year. Lets see...1,2,3,4.....................Oh, I dozed off, sorry!LOL

[Triguy]

Sorry all but I'm closing the thread. We've received complaints and I've had to clean up a bunch of inflammatory or potentially inflammatory posts.