Thursday, July 9, 2020
Should We Restrict Access to Overcrowded National Parks?
While going through many “Room for Debate” articles, I came across the debate, “Should Overcrowded National Parks Have Restricted Access,” which is debating whether or not national parks should have restricted access if they become overcrowded. Visiting a national park can be a great way to be active, while having an amazing view. However, overcrowding tourism has caused many popular national parks, such as Yellowstone National Park, to have many conflicts between wildlife and humans, and pollution. In “Allow Popular National Parks to Charge for Attendance,” Reed Watson argues that we need to increase the charge to get into these national parks. If national parks were to increase their entrance fee, it would cover costs to maintain them because the National Park Service had reported that they have a $12 billion dollar cost in incomplete maintenance work and that only one-fifth of 1 percent of income taxes actually goes to the parks themselves. To defend his argument against people saying that an increasing entrance fee would exclude the poor, Watson reveals that most park visitors are already wealthy and live near the parks, so rather it being the cost to enter the park, it is actually the travel costs that are to blame for keeping low-income families from visiting, not the entrance fee. While Reed Watson’s viewpoint that we should restrict access to national parks by increasing the entrance fee, Phil Francis’s, author of “Limiting Access to National Parks is Rarely Necessary,” viewpoint was that we shouldn’t have to restrict or close any access to parks; however, we should make changes to lessen the environmental impact that we are leaving. Phil, having been a superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway and an administrative officer at Yosemite, stated that it rarely became overcrowded to the point where visitors couldn’t enjoy the park. By eliminating many walk trails and building new boardwalks, they are able to accommodate a larger number of people, while lessening the damage to the environment. Should there be restrictions when accessing an overcrowded national park? If so, what are some of your ideas of types of restrictions? Should there be a limit of the number of people that are able to visit the park?
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Overcrowded national parks are definitely a problem and a limit to the amount of people in the park should be established. There are many instances where an overcrowded national park will lead to more people going off trail and putting themselves in danger. Not only that, they are more likely to interact with the wildlife, which in the long term negatively affects them. Also, there is more pollution. I suggest that there be a limit to the amount of people in national parks and spots will be reserved via online. I've been on national parks and the roads can be packed to enter so spots reserved would be helpful, not only to decrease numbers but also congested roads. Also, prices should go up, not by a substantial amount, but enough to help the problem of maintenance debt because an overly priced entry fee will only push away tourists. I know it might sound messed up but maybe increase prices during holidays (not by substantial amount) because as mentioned, there is a maintenance debt.Restrictions wise, I don't think they are necessary if the overcrowding problem is fixed, just make sure tourists aren't littering, interacting with wildlife, going off trail, etc.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Daniel Belonio. There definitely should be a limit to the amount of people let into National Parks. I would not want my stay at a national park to be like spending a night in the middle of the Disneyland firework show. People should reserve their spots online and obey all rules and regulations put in place to keep people and wildlife safe. The amount of people who are allowed into these parks should be based on how large the park, how many staff are present, and what type of animals call that area home. Prices to get into these places should go up just enough to pay all of the workers and maintain these parks. Although the higher costs might keep the poor out, it is clear that the amount of money spent on travel will be more than park admission. These national parks should be protected if we want to keep the beauty. At these national parks, I do believe that some areas must be restricted from humans in order to keep nature at its best. All in all, if people use their common sense when visiting a national park, restrictions can be kept minimal and the time spent there can be rewarding.
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