|
In preparation for rollout of its major new public lands legislation, ( the "National Recreation Policy Act" ), the American Recreation Coalition is readying a massive Public Relations blitz (see appended).
The ARC has already launched a brand new website called "Great Outdoors Month ." A related website has been created by Ticketmaster/ ReserveAmerica and will be fully operational within days. That site is called "The Recreation Agency" and its slogan is "The Official Agency of the Great Outdoors." Are they serious??? Check it out and keep watching as it grows.
Please note that the ARC's slogan which adorns every page of their website is, "Outdoor Recreation in America, Brought to you by the American Recreation Coalition."
Q. Put them both together and what do you get??
A. 'The Corporate Takeover of Nature' and 'The Disneyfication of the Wild'.
As anyone who has followed my updates knows, ReserveAmerica is a private company that now provides the gateway to YOUR public lands. If you want to reserve a campsite, get on a interpretive tour or buy a ticket to a National Park Service event, ReserveAmerica is the place to go. It is, in fact, the ONLY place to go because ReserveAmerica has the federal monopoly. Check them out!
Then understand that as your favorite recreational pursuits become increasingly commodified, the things you enjoyed doing freely upon public lands will be more tightly controlled by, and regulated for, the fiscal benefit of land managers and their corporate partners. Opportunities to participate in outdoor recreation will be MARKETED and SOLD to you. You will, in other words, become THEIR paying customer.
Hunting, fishing, hiking, floating, touring, viewing, exploring and skiing are activities that the agencies have already identified, labeled and begun marketing as THEIR "Recreation Brands" (see their brand logos). It would not surprise me in the least, if The Recreation Agency were to become the exclusive portal through which all paying customers will someday pass in order to access those branded activities.
Unbelievable???? --- Hardly.
Hell, it's an almost inevitable.
Preventable???? --- Perhaps.
Scott
PS... If America's "Great Outdoors" are transformed into 'Great Recreation Shopping Malls and Fun Centers', these are the organizations who will be responsible for that transformation.
--- begin quoted ---
Great Outdoors Week | 02/10/2005
Contact: Derrick Crandall
GREAT OUTDOORS WEEK 2005 WILL FOCUS ON PROPOSED RECREATION POLICY ACT AND NATIONAL RECREATION STRATEGY
Washington, D.C. - Great Outdoors Week 2005 - June 5 -11 - will
highlight efforts underway to enact a new national recreation policy
act designed to enhance outdoor recreation's contributions to
Americans' health and quality of life. The legislation also calls for a
new National Recreation Strategy that responds to changing and growing
demands for quality recreation on federally-managed lands and waters -
areas that cover one-third of the nation's surface.
The week will again be coordinated by the American Recreation Coalition
(ARC) and will include events hosted by more than a dozen federal
agencies and national organizations. Public/private cooperative
ventures - from Take Pride in America to WOW-Wonderful Outdoor World -
will be highlighted, along with presentations of key awards, including
the 17th annual Sheldon Coleman Great Outdoors Award, ARC's Legends
Awards to outstanding federal recreation program officials, and best
practices awards by the Coalition for Recreational Trails.
For the second year, the Washington-focused Great Outdoors Week will be
a key component of Great Outdoors Month. First proclaimed by President
George W. Bush in 2004, Great Outdoors Month - June - includes a long
list of recreation community events and meetings, including National
Trails Day and National Fishing and Boating Week. Full details on the
month are available at www.greatoutdoorsmonth.org.
Great Outdoors Week will include a Recreation Policy Forum on the
nation's surface transportation program, highlighting its importance to
recreation opportunities and honoring Congressional champions of the
Recreational Trails Program, the Transportation Enhancements program
and the National Scenic Byways Program. The week will also include a
session on new outdoor recreation technologies designed to enhance
recreation experiences and improve recreation program management, as
well as the June Recreation Exchange, which will focus on the key link
between health and participation in active recreation. Great Outdoors
Week has traditionally included a focus on youth and volunteerism, and
2005 will continue this pattern with a combined Take Pride in
America/Greater Washington WOW-Wonderful Outdoor World Day on Saturday,
June 11.
|
- Privatization 
