Dear HCN,
There is something
fundamentally wrong when citizens are required to pay a fee to walk
on land they already own (HCN, 10/13/97). Whatever happened to the
concept of public domain?
The bureaucrats have
taken the easy low road by going after recreational users instead
of doing the right thing and lobbying politicians and taking a
strong stand on behalf of all Americans – not just those with big
bankrolls. By assigning entrance and user fees as a means of
reducing numbers and impact, the bureaucrats have avoided the
politically dangerous ground of setting limits for high-use areas.
They use public access as a “cash cow” to fund yet more
infrastructure.
Environmental groups need to wake
up and fight this effort to turn public lands into another consumer
product for those with ready cash.
Was Ed Abbey
wrong when he wrote that wilderness was essential for a society to
be truly free. Today it’s still wild … but it ain’t
free.
Jack
Dykinga
Tucson,
Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline The public domain should be free.
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