Back in the good old days, the campgrounds of America were very nearly free for all Americans. For a dollar a month, or one-time annual fee of 12 dollars, the government issued any American a Golden Eagle Pass. This pass was truly golden for it offered its bearer the right to enter, and stay for up to two weeks, any of the nation's hundreds of national parks. No overnight charge, no daily use fee. Occasionally some parks had a coin-op machine on a hot shower stall. Otherwise, once the annual fee was paid our national parks were truly a free gateway to beautiful vistas and incredible natural phenomena, to be shared by all citizens equally.
These services were afforded because every tax paying American paid a small stipend to the government which went toward the upkeep of one of the nation's most treasured resources, the national park system. Hiking trails were built, campgrounds leveled, and tables and fire pits provided so anyone, regardless financial means, could afford to commune with nature. Living in tents and sleeping on the ground, breathing clean air and swimming in crystal-clear lakes and rivers, hearing the night sounds of insects and rumbling brooks and, above all, leaving the sirens and lights of the city behind was, and still is, psychic balm for the soul.
What happened? As far as I know a portion of our tax dollars still goes to fund those same parks. It can't possibly cost as much to maintain these parks as it cost to develop them in the first place. And remember, inflation raises the price of everything, but nothing inflates faster than the tax bite on our earnings. Now a night stay in a national park is a long way from being free. People with motor homes can expect to pay as much as nights stay in a motel room to park their camper and hook up to the electric and water. People staying in tents are paying about half the cost of a night in Motel 6 to sleep on the ground. With the nation's parks filled to overflowing, the parks system must certainly be self-supporting by now, but we still contribute hundreds of millions of dollars annually in taxes to "support" the system.
Camping in national parks (state parks are following suit) is no longer within the reach of everyone in this nation. To be able to stay in a park during the "season" a substantial deposit is required months in advance. Just to enjoy a parks vistas or lakes while driving through can cost a pretty penny. At the rate the government is usurping the prerogatives of the people I would not be surprised to find one of our legislative revenue agents proposing a "free air tax" sometime in the near future.
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