There is a constant, and I believe growing, tension between the
government and the governed as to whether taxes should be used for
or user fees should be charged for myriad services.
The use of National Park land is no exception.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park has a significant amount of
backcountry, including approximately 100 backcountry campsites and
shelters maintained by the National Park Service. Prior to 2013,
permits for use of the backcountry sites and shelters were
available free of charge. Reservations could be made by telephone
to the National Park's backcountry office or in person at the
National Park's Backcountry Information office.
Beginning at least in 2009 and continuing through 2011, the NPS
received complaints from backcountry campers in the National Park
about difficulties in making backcountry camping reservations.
NPS staff also received complaints about backcountry campers
who were not following Park rules, such as using backcountry
campsites without a permit, bringing dogs into the backcountry, and
trash left at campsites.
In order to address these and other issues, after certain
processes, the NPS mandated a permit fee for use of the backcountry
campsites and shelters in the National Park. The proposal
identified a $4 per-person, per-night fee for backcountry campsites
and shelters "to recover the direct costs for providing a
reservation system with both internet and phone-in reservation
capability, increased public access to trip planning assistance and
permit compliance monitoring".
In 2013, a group call the Southern Forest Watch filed suit in
federal court challenging the fee and other actions on varied
statutory bases.
This week, the federal court in Tennessee granted summary judgment on all claims in
favor of the federal government and its officials.
We view the following as the most telling portion of the
Court's opinion supporting the decision in the
government's/fee's favor:
Southern Forest Watch intends to appeal, telling the Knoxville News-Sentinel that they "expos[ed] a corrupt system" in the course of the lawsuit.
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