Re[2]: Half serious/ Half ;-) RE: [at-l] AT Trail System

[wdlists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Walter Daniels)]

>
> True.  But thru-hikers get the PR and get people interested
> in the trail. Even if most of them only dream of thru-hiking
> or try it and abort, people get more interested in reading
> about thru-hikers than about those who constantly hike
> sections.  And that interest, in the minds of government
> officials, translates into money for the trail.
>
> Government officials don't necessarily listen to the
> squeakiest wheel, especially if it annoys them, but they
> notice the flashiest wheel.  And thru-hiking is flashier than
> section hiking.
>
> William, The Turtle
While the above is likely true of Congress, it is not true of NPS in general
or the AT specific parts of it. They thoroughly understand that they are
there to serve the numbers and don't care if they are thru-hikers or day
hikers. They submit their budgets up the line and because of the large
volunteer commitment that reduces cost, they usually fair well compared to
costly to run parks.

Funding the land acquisition program however is largely driven at the
Congressional level not the NPS budget level, since it comes out of LWCA
funds. Here flashy probably has some pay off. But it is equally likely that
the payoff comes from some local Congress person getting to brag about the
pork s/he brought home for the district. However some districts will not see
it as desirable because of the lose of tax revenue from the now NPS owned
land. More enlightened ones will see the tourist value of the increased
money spent by hikers passing through. On the flip side hikers tend to be a
very frugal lot so it is tough to extract their money. I don't know how all
of this averages out.