The monthly newsletter of the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds  (ARVC) is a valuable source of information emanating from the purveyors of commercial camping.  Being tightly affiliated with both the motorhome industry and the American Recreation Coalition, ARVC's website provides a portal for those wishing to know more about the concerted efforts of these industry groups (working collaborative in tandem) to guide, shape, mold and when possible actually set outdoor recreation policy at the State and National level.

Pasted below is an excerpt from their November newsletter and here is a snippet from that excerpt:

Many ARVC member parks and campgrounds are located near national parks and benefit significantly from the popularity of the parks. Declining visitation of any magnitude is not welcome news for those parks. With Kempthorne's pledge to reverse declining attendance and with RV and tent camping in the national parks playing a significant role in that drop, efforts to reinvigorate tent and RV camping in the parks could become a point of contention among the RV industry interests. In order to attract back tent and RV campers, the national parks may institute programs to expand and upgrade park service campgrounds to improve their appeal. This can be done either directly by the park service or through a concession or permitting program that would entice private sector interests to invest in upgrading park service camping facilities.

Scott

-- begin quoted excerpt --

(Source:  National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds - November 2006)

NPS Visitorship Declining

During the recent debate over the new National Park Service management policies that would, according to outdoor recreation advocates, likely reduce recreational opportunities in the parks in favor of conservation and resource protection, those objecting to the policy's apparent tilt away from park visitation pointed out that visitorship to the parks was in a steady, long term decline even as the park system was growing from 310 units to 390 today. As a result of this public discussion attention to NPS visitorship is increasing and recent press reports have pointed out that a decline in camping in the parks is a major contributor to the overall declining visitor rates.

A recent article in the Denver Post points out the severity of the decline in camping. According to the report, overnight stays in national parks fell 20% between 1995 and 2005 and were down another 4.3% during the first 8 months of 2006. Of this decline, tent camping dropped 23%, RV camping was down 31% and back country camping declined 24%.

The visitor declines are generally consistent across the system with parks such as Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountain reporting drops of 2% to 15% in 10 years. According to one park official, "camping is one of those areas that is a concern to us. That is definitely going down." The decline in overnight visits can be attributed to many things including a change in vacation patterns to more frequent shorter vacations rather than extended travel, gas prices, competition for people's time, and changing recreational tastes among the public. Department of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has reportedly stated in no uncertain terms that he is committed to reversing the decline in visitation to parks and other public lands.

Many ARVC member parks and campgrounds are located near national parks and benefit significantly from the popularity of the parks. Declining visitation of any magnitude is not welcome news for those parks. With Kempthorne's pledge to reverse declining attendance and with RV and tent camping in the national parks playing a significant role in that drop, efforts to reinvigorate tent and RV camping in the parks could become a point of contention among the RV industry interests. In order to attract back tent and RV campers, the national parks may institute programs to expand and upgrade park service campgrounds to improve their appeal. This can be done either directly by the park service or through a concession or permitting program that would entice private sector interests to invest in upgrading park service camping facilities.


RAC Advisory Committees to Oversee Recreation Fees

The U. S. Departments of Agriculture and the Interior have established a new public advisory committee structure to provide recommendations concerning recreation fee proposals for public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act requires the Secretaries to establish Recreation Resource Advisory Committees (Recreation RACs) in each state or region unless, in consultation with the governor of the state, it is determined insufficient interest exists to establish a Recreation RAC. The Forest Service is currently accepting nominations for membership on the five new Recreation RACs. People interested in serving on a committee may review the application criteria and obtain a nomination packet at www.fs.fed.us/passespermits/rrac.

Nominations for these positions will be accepted through Oct. 23, 2006. The interagency agreement is also available on this website. Although the existing BLM RACs already have members in place; they periodically solicit nominations for vacancies on the committees. Those interested in serving on a BLM RAC, can find local information on www.blm.gov/rac.

State RV park and campground associations should monitor these committees in their state and region as they will be influential groups in setting fees for various recreational activities on public lands.

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