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 I've said it a million times. I'll say it again. Our neighbors to the North began the process of privatizing their National Parks several years before we began the process. In Canada the combination of defunding parks, outsourcing park operations and paying for it all with higher entrance and user fees, has failed. It has failed, failed, failed. And as the appended article from Canada states, "The government is getting greedy, greedy, greedy."
The failure of the privatization process in Canada is now universally recognized. The failure of the privatization process in the USA is being increasingly understood with every passing day. It's not just the National Parks that are threatened. All public open spaces, from the smallest of city parks (such as Bryant's Park in New York City), to largest of iconic National Parks (such as Yosemite) are threatened.
The appended article is to the point and should serve as a warning to everyone, everywhere, who cares about parks.
Scott
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February 17, 2007
Park fees have few fans
But resource is degrading, minister admits
By DARCY HENTON, LEGISLATURE BUREAU
Alberta's new parks minister admits provincial parks have deteriorated
over the past few years, but user fees likely aren't the solution to
the problem.
While Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture Minister Hec Goudreau
didn't rule out the idea floated by cabinet colleague Ted Morton this
week, he didn't warmly embrace it either.
"We've been struggling with ongoing maintenance for our parks for a
number of years," he said. "There's a tendency to say the user shall
pay. I'm not fully convinced that's the case."
He says private operators are complaining their costs of maintaining
parks are increasing, but charging day-use fees may pose a barrier to
families.
"We want to make it affordable," he said.
Critics have blamed the erosion of the province's 500 parks and
recreation areas on huge cutbacks in the 1990s and the contracting out
of parks services, but Goudreau says he has no intention of revisiting
that privatization policy.
He said he's asking for a "considerable" increase to his $43-million parks budget to address the issue.
Several outdoors advocates have complained that parks funding has
decreased significantly over the years, and the parks are starting to
show it.
The province recognized the decline last year with the launch of a
$60-million three-year parks capital plan to replace aging
infrastructure.
Liberal critic Bharat Agnihotri said introducing park and trail user
fees this year would be a bizarre way to celebrate the 75th anniversary
of the parks.
He says a province as rich as Alberta can afford to maintain its
natural treasures without insisting that parks have to generate revenue.
"This is ridiculous," he said. "The government is getting greedy, greedy, greedy."
NDP Leader Brian Mason said his party opposes contracting out park services and abhors user fees.
"Obviously we have to make sure people's access to public land is
unimpeded by a bunch of silly fees that may cost more to administer
than the revenue they bring in," he said.
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- Privatization 
