[at-l] AMC Camping Fees

[rickboudrie@hotmail.com (rick boudrie)]

Let me say first that I am an AMC supporter.  That said, I am frustrated 
with the AMC as it pertains to the backcountry campsites.

I agree that these sites are important.  For education, for resource 
management, for all that.  They also give some people the courage to camp in 
the woods that might otherwise not do so.  I love the caretaker system.  I 
even like the huts.

But I do have a problem with the LACK of importance the AMC gives to these 
tent sites.  Is $50,000 subsidy a lot of money?  Sure it is.  But in the 
context of thier total budget, not much at all.  Check than link to thier 
Form 990.  These sites are important to the whole area, not just to the 
people staying at them.

The club is building a new $6.5 Million visitor center/hotel in Crawford 
Notch.  Will this impact on the already over stressed sites at Nauman and 
Ethan Pond and beyond?  Of course.  Is the AMC doing anything with those 
sites in anticipation of these new stresses?  Heck No.

I don't personally have a problem with $8 at a tent site, but what of young 
families that have a couple kids?  That $32 almost as much as some of the 
motels in the area.  Is it fair?  I don't know.   My big issue is that by 
raising the prices for a tent platform and by doing nothing about 
overcrowding, the club is driving people away from these campsites.   With 
the clubs resources, we should be doing just the oposite.  The over-flow, 
beg to stay spots,at these sites are a joke. Seeing families plead for that 
accomodation is sickening.   I don't much want to share my off-trail spots 
anymore than I have to, so I would hope that the AMC might get its act 
together.  Unfortunately if they keep looking at these sites as a drain on 
their resources, or simply a Forest Service issue, rather than as a 
potential gems for everyone I doubt they ever will.

Rick B





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