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Forest Service Closing Campgrounds in Colorado
July 5, 2007 4:28 PM
The Fourth of July weekend means thousands of Coloradoans are heading for the hills, and camping in U.S. Forest Service Campgrounds. The Pike-San Isabel National Forest west of the Springs, Pueblo and Castle Rock is one of the 10 most-visited in the United States. But the popularity of its campging sites, and others in the even more popular White River and Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests may not be enough to keep the Forest Service from closing some local campgrounds and picnic areas. As KUNC's Brian Larson reports, budget cuts are forcing the agency to make some hard choices about recreation sites nationwide.
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Posted by Eric Whitney on July 5, 2007 4:28 PM | Permalink
Comments
It is interesting to note Forest Service Campgrounds are all operated by for profit concessionaires. As a part of their contractual agreement they are responsible for maintenance in campgrounds. The Forest Service budget constraints for maintenance are a shell game. The issue of closing recreation sites is all about creating a profit stream for private companies. Logic would dictate as our population goes up you would build more campgrounds to disperse human impact in the forest. We are living in a time when Forest Service Leadership believes our public land should be operated as for profit enterprise zones not public land for the public good. Access and use of the forest should be free. We pay taxes. For more information please see the web site wildwilderness.org and westernslopenofee.org
Posted by: William Benson | July 6, 2007 9:02 AM
