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Quoted from appended article:
Casual visitors from valley cities often opt to go to other lakes and parks, where they don't have to pay such a large fee, said Dan Carter of Oakhurst, executive director of the Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau.
Support for the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program for lands managed by the USFS, BLM and FWS never was high. Today it has fallen to all time lows. Support for this program on lands managed by the National Park Service, however, has been and remains high. It's time for that to change.
The appended article shows what's happened at Yosemite where when entrance fees were suddenly quadrupled, attendance took a dive and has been diving ever since.
If there is one person who will suggest that this increase in fees has not adversely impacted persons of limited income to a greater extent than it has impacted wealthy visitors, let that person speak his peace. Solving the "crowding" problem by pricing working people out of the market isn't a solution and what is happening in Yosemite NP is an unmitigated disaster. Yosemite is being turned into a playground for the rich. More to the point, the very purposes for which National Parks exist are being quickly forgotten.
So I'd like to remind folks that recreation user fees are as inequitable when charged at National Parks as when charged at National Forest. Furthermore, the incentives created by allowing the fees to remain where they are collected will do every bit as much harm to the National Parks as they will do to other public lands.
It's time to carry the anti-fee-demo campaign to the National Parks and to prevent America's Crown Jewels from becoming sacrificial offerings to the Gods of Industrial Tourism.
Scott
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September 15, 2002
Fewer tourists make trek to Yosemite
By MATT LEEDY - THE FRESNO BEE
YOSEMITE -- Yosemite National Park is on pace for the lowest annual
turnout since 1990 and a sixth straight year of decreased attendance, a
trend park officials blame on the slumping economy and tourists leery
of long-distance travel following last year's Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks.
Nearby business owners who rely on Yosemite tourism say the decline
could be caused by increased entrance fees, media coverage of the Cary
Stayner triple-murder case and natural calamities.
During the first seven months of 2002, about 1.85 million people
visited Yosemite, down nearly 41,000 from last year, according to
statistics kept by park officials.
Park officials project about 3.45 million will enter Yosemite this year, down from slightly more than 3.5 million in 2001.
Attendance began declining in 1997 when floods ravaged the park, wiping
out nearly 400 campsites in Yosemite Valley and 220 rooms at the
Yosemite Lodge. The same year, entrance fees were raised from $5 to $20.
Casual visitors from valley cities often opt to go to other lakes and
parks, where they don't have to pay such a large fee, said Dan Carter
of Oakhurst, executive director of the Yosemite Sierra Visitors Bureau.
Nearby businesses also taking a hit
Business began to drop off in the mid-1990s at the Yosemite Mountain
Sugar Pine Railroad in Fish Camp, a tourist attraction about four miles
from Yosemite's south entrance. Fewer visitors are stopping by on their
way to the park, owner Max Stauffer said.
"We rely heavily on the traffic to the park, so when it goes down we go
down," Stauffer said. "I think it's because of the gate fees,
particularly for travelers in the San Joaquin Valley."
Park officials said there are fewer international visitors to Yosemite,
but more Californians are making the drive. Yosemite spokesman Scott
Gediman said the park's slump this year reflects a drop in
long-distance travel seen throughout the country.
"I think the travel industry as a whole is soft right now," Gediman
said. "And I think 9-11 is certainly factoring into it. However, more
Californians are opting for Yosemite instead of foreign trips. More
people are taking the traditional family road trips rather than getting
on a plane."
Lynn Maccarone, who owns the Mariposa Hotel Inn and caters to many
Yosemite tourists, said this year she noticed few European travelers,
who typically fill about half her rooms.
"Because of this 9-11 thing we're really slow. And this year 99 percent
of our guests have been Americans, and mostly Californians," Maccarone
said.
Fewer visitors, and less money collected each year from entry fees, has
not resulted in financial hardship at the park, Gediman said, thanks
largely to donations from the Yosemite Fund, a nonprofit foundation of
individuals, corporations and various organizations.
Martha VanAman of Oakhurst said tourism at Yosemite has been hurt by
news reports of the 1997 floods, fires sparked by lightning every
summer, and the much-publicized murders near the park of Carole Sund,
42, her daughter Julie, 15, and Argentine family friend Silvina
Pelosso, 16, in February 1999.
"I think that year after year the park has had some serious problems.
We've had fires, floods, rock slides and murders. It's like every year
we get something," VanAman said. "The majority of publicity we get is
negative."
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