Some National Forest Service campground fees in California have jumped more than 70% overnight, leaving campers in a fighting mood. While some consider campground fees of $17 a night in Sequoia National Forest a bargain, don’t think the end of the hikes has come.

Back in 2004 Congress granted authority to national agencies to raise fees to help maintain facilities on a local level. Agencies have responded quickly to take advantage of the situation, many who had been cash-strapped by little funding from Washington to improve, much less maintain, what they had.

Commenting on how things have gone in California, SanLuisObispo.com, mentions, “Yosemite and other national parks have used similar fee increases over the past decade to pour millions of additional dollars into local projects. Yosemite raised its per-car entrance fee to $20 from $5 in early 1997, under a ‘fee demonstration’ program that has since become permanent.”

But not everyone is happy about the program. In June the National Park Service beat a hasty retreat after suggesting they’d raise the entrance fees to Yosemite to $25. A howl of protest from the public made the Service back off the idea.

Fee increases and protests aren’t limited to California. Throughout the US many of the federal land agencies have either upped the ante on land use or are considering it. For a further look at the California situation, check out the full story here.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 13th, 2008 at 12:55 pm and is filed under Campgrounds, general, government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.