Secret Forest Service plan to end 100's of campgrounds, privatize

In very sad news, the USFS has secret plans to close 100's
of your national forest campgrounds, to remove "outdated hand pump
water systems" in place of more advanced systems for RV'ers. Of the
campgrounds they keep, they plan to enlarge and create spaces for RV's
pulling ATV trailers, as well as create "modern" water systems and
electrical hookups + higher fees. Your favorite small no fee campground
tucked away in the national forest may become a thing of the past as
these areas will be closed so the USFS can focus on "Wal Mart"
campgrounds. These campgrounds will also likely be privatized. This is
one of the first steps in recent moves by the Bush adminsitration to
privatize our public lands system. A recent order to force the national
park service to operate at 30% cuts is another recent step. Please
contact the USFS and let them know what you think of this fiasco:

http://www.fs.fed.us/contactus/


Also please contact your congress people on this issue:


http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home


More on this story can be read here:


http://www.wilderness-sportsman.com/ ( April 22 Wyoming )


"Campgrounds face closure
By BRODIE FARQUHAR
Star-Tribune correspondent Saturday, April 22, 2006


LANDER -- Tucked away in a corner of the U.S. Forest Service Web site
are plans and documents which could lead to the closure of hundreds of
campground water systems and ultimately, hundreds of campgrounds
themselves throughout the national forest system.


The time-hallowed practice of fetching water from a hand pump -- for
preparing meals, washing dishes or washing dirty kids -- may become a
thing of the past. Like a small-town post office, where people meet and
talk, the campground hand pump is where campers meet and talk, forming
friendships that can last a weekend or a lifetime."

Fucking greedy pigs.

The Forest Service Master Plan info is at www.fs.fed.us/r3/measures/Prioritize/RS-FMP.htm

From the lbn thread "Campgrounds face closure (Bush plan to privatize parks)"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2242027

:kick:

They've sold everything else out from underneath us. Let's hope it doesn't go anywhere before November. In the meantime, i'm calling my reps...

K&R

Unfortunately, the Clinton administration was on this bandwagon too, albeit not to this extreme.

These people ruin everything they touch. This is why I simply don't associate with Republicans unless I'm pretty well forced to.

for quite some time.They are a Bozeman think tank made up of individuals who favor privatization of public lands They are backed by the American Recreation Coalition, a thinly disguised corporate group who have been pushing hard for public land privatization and "fine tuning" of campgrounds on public lands for rv's and atv's.

About 10 years ago, my ex and I were at a primitive camp by a stream somewhere in the middle of a national forest in Central Oregon- mile and miles from the nearest main road. There was no one anywhere- and we're just kicking it by the fire and some private pissant in a little pick-up drives in and demands $5.00, saying that this was now a "fee camp." I blew the guy off and he guff and hawedamd threatened this and that and drove away.

Unfortuntately, it made the ex paranoid, so we had to pack it all up and dry camp off in a little clearing somewhere. Now, whatever revenue the forest service got from this private firm (if they got any at all) was a pittance- and this is public land that I've camped on all my life.

Like I mentioned these assholes ruin every single thing they touch- and make people miserable in the process.

and forget that these homes on wheels get no more than 5-8 miles per gallon. if there is anything as useless as a home on wheels i`d like to know what is. the taxpayers are supposed to give these rich jerks our campgrounds?

EPA pressure?

Pam DeVore, the integrated business coordinator for the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Region, said many campground water systems will be shut down and torn out because the EPA is requiring expensive chlorination, pumping and filtration systems and frequent testing.

“No one has that much money,” she said. “It is going to make it more difficult to provide potable water to remote sites.”

DeVore acknowledged that there have been no known disease outbreaks in campers drinking from Forest Service wells, but because surface waters interact with groundwater, the Forest Service feels it must take these additional, protective steps.

Yet EPA spokesman Dale Kemery said his agency has done nothing to push the Forest Service in this direction.

“I’ve found nothing here (to account for it),” Kemery said. “It sounds as if it is driven by the Forest Service’s budget.”

...our country can't take much more of this shit.

sorry, forgot to put these up originally:

http://casperstartribune.com/articles/2006/04/22/news/wyoming/7ac8ae2b39aff646872571570062ef4d.txt

http://casperstartribune.com/articles/2006/04/22/news/wyoming/38e1bd3aadd90c448725715700701440.txt