US Public campgrounds/parks going to be privatized?

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My experience with privatizing campgrounds is limited to Georgia parks.  Jekyll Island and Stone Mountain Parks are both state owned but operated by private companies.  Both are in bad need of maintenance and upgrades.  It seems the private company spends all the money on the resort and the campgrounds are left to deteriorate.  The rest of the Georgia State Park system is pretty good with some better than others.
 
For some reason, we've never stayed at a GA state park before, although we've passed through GA many times. This winter will be our first time with a 5 night stay reserved at Crooked River SP near St Mary's, GA. We drove through it last winter and it looked like a nice enough park, but I'm a little concerned about the open site rather than site specific reservation system. At the time we drove through, it looked like almost every empty site had a name tag on it, with no signs of any occupancy. Curious...
 
I've stayed at campgrounds run by concessionaires and thought they were well run.  One example is Seneca Shadows USFS Campground at Seneca Rocks, WV.  I enjoyed my stay there.  As for cell towers this area is in the 'dead zone' surrounding the Greenbank, WV National Radio Astronomy Observatory.  Nothing works here.  Not even GPS's.  With this exception, I think that cell towers should be allowed in National Parks & Forests for safety reasons.
 
We have a mix of campgrounds here -- from concessionaire run full hookups under FS contract to private resorts to primitive FS designated sites to boondocking.  Everyone can choose what level they want.
 
mikebreeze said:
I've stayed at campgrounds run by concessionaires and thought they were well run.  One example is Seneca Shadows USFS Campground at Seneca Rocks, WV.  I enjoyed my stay there.  As for cell towers this area is in the 'dead zone' surrounding the Greenbank, WV National Radio Astronomy Observatory.  Nothing works here.  Not even GPS's.  With this exception, I think that cell towers should be allowed in National Parks & Forests for safety reasons.
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That's not quite true for the entire "dead zone"... Electronic devices are only prohibited in an area near the antenna within the GBT campus itself, not the entire 13,000 square mile dead zone that encompasses parts of three states. Permanent transmitter installation license applications, including cell towers, are subject to review within the entire zone though, for compliance with frequency and power limits. GPS signal are transmitted from satellites of course, so there's no practical way to block them, although GPS devices themselves are prohibited along with all other electronic devices within the "core zone" on the GBT campus. Considering that I81 in Virginia runs diagonally right through a large segment of the designated dead zone, that alone makes it impossible to prohibit those devices within the entire zone.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
As others have stated, they are talking about park operations & management, not actual ownership.
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  Not yet.  But once the foot is in the door. 

It's a conundrum, because the park experience inevitably changes once it becomes a for-profit business.
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  And usually it doesn't change in a way that's positive for campers of modest means.  And after the new management realizes the potential for increasing bottom line $$$$'s they hire MBA's to better manage that bottom line.  And after the MBA's take over, with their new math, 2 + 2 has to equal 5, the cost of RVing is going up.  The only remaining question will be, how high is up? 

 
I agree Gary, it will go, like almost everything else today, toward the $, not about providing a positive camping experience.

Tom
 
I am sure it is done with government oversight and control.  Nothing I feel a need to panic or worry about at all.  It is just different - that usually means some things will be better and some things won?t be as good.  I used to think it was either all better or all worse but fortunately that is rarely the case.
 
KandT said:
I am sure it is done with government oversight and control.
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Ever heard the expression, good enough for Government work.  Twenty two years working in the Corporate Office of a top tier defense contractor and I can assure you, government oversight and control leaves a lot to be desired. 
 
garyb1st said:
Ever heard the expression, good enough for Government work.  Twenty two years working in the Corporate Office of a top tier defense contractor and I can assure you, government oversight and control leaves a lot to be desired.
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As I age I have decided to wait until I see or hear of a problem with the new system before concern sets in.  There are a lot of skies falling out there and I don't have time anymore to worry about them all - Too busy enjoying life.  8) ;D

Too many people use our national parks to put up with them going to heck.  If a problem pops up it will be solved by people who love to argue.  I let them go to it!
 
I don't remember where I read it but Death Valley National Park is not opening a number of their campgrounds this year because they do not have the staff to clean the restrooms.  So in this case the choice may be 1) don't open campgrounds at all or 2) turn them over to concessionaires.

The National Park Service also has something in the area of $11 Billion in deferred maintenance (not all in campgrounds) some of which could be done through a concessionaire contract.

One other downside in additional to increased fees is it might eliminate a lot of volunteer positions for campground hosts.
 
People can say what they like about government waste and bureaucracy, but I strongly prefer public campgrounds. Privatizing will lead to profiteering over quality of service - almost every time.

If it isn't broke, don't fix it. (and in my opinion and experience, the public campgrounds I have stayed at were mostly good and I have few complaints).

 
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