Friday, November 15, 2019

Interior disbands advisory board that floated privatization at national parks

The Trump administration abruptly disbanded an advisory committee earlier this month whose recent recommendations to greater privatize national parks were met with heavy criticism.The Interior Department quietly ended meetings of the Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee on Nov. 1, more than four months before its charter was set to expire on March 13, 2020. The committee, which was established under former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in 2017 and commonly known as the "Made in America" committee, was an industry-stacked advisory board. The committee was created with the purpose of advising on “public-private partnerships across all public lands” with an emphasis on improving infrastructure. Zinke described the group as “the private sector’s best and brightest​.” All of the seats were filled by representatives of the recreation industry. At least three of the members had been reportedly flagged by Interior’s own staff as having potential conflicts of interest. The disbanding of the group comes after the board submitted recommendations in late September that suggested privatizing campgrounds within national parks, limiting benefits for senior visitors and allowing food trucks as a way to bring more money into the system. Those recommendations were met with heavy skepticism. Administration officials said no action has been taken on the recommendations... The National Park Service is struggling with a $12 billion maintenance backlog. Agency officials under Trump have suggested that parks could be better modernized with the help of the private sector. Some suggestions have included bringing in new recreational opportunities to attract visitors, such as archery lessons or ropes courses...But privatizing campgrounds in national parks is a polarizing idea. Many who view parks as a way to provide outdoors time to Americans of all stripes don’t want to see visitors priced out of national treasures...MORE 

The NPS has a $12 billion maintenance backlog and the enviro/progressives don't want private money to keep the backlog from growing even larger because some recreationists might be "priced out of national treasures." If private money is not used, then taxpayer money will be, and that means campers visits will be subsidized by others.

This all goes back to the fact the enviro/progressives want nothing "private" or "commercial" to occur on or with federal lands. And that includes not only private-run camping, but also livestock grazing, hunting, mining, oil & gas leasing, etc.  They want all things private to be excluded. That is their ultimate goal, that is nirvana for them, and after many years of effort and many dollars spent, they are slowly achieving their goal. The Trump administration has proven to be a bump in the road for them, but has not provided the the U-turn that is needed.



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