Overstaying
their
welcome?
A
hot springs near a town of 200 in southwestern New Mexico was a
popular picnicking and swimming area for locals before a horde of
unwelcome guests arrived. Now, campers, vans and tents colonize the
area near Glenwood for weeks at a time and many of the town’s
residents call it an invasion. “It could be a fabulous asset to
this area but we’re ashamed,” Valera Holliman, president of the
Glenwood chamber of commerce, told the Albuquerque Journal. Because
a campground near the hot springs is in the Gila National Forest,
anyone can legally stay there for up to 30 days. Glenwood residents
complain that many campers resort to panhandling and theft to
support themselves and to pay fines. Forest Service staffers say
visitors also trash campsites by leaving behind litter and human
feces. The hot springs and Little Dry Creek Campground weren’t
generally known until some recent guidebooks recommended them.
These days the chamber of commerce refuses to mention the area in
its tourism brochures, and locals take down highway signs that
promote the spot. Good news lately: The number of visitors to the
hot springs and campground has dropped in recent
months.
* Karen
McDonald
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Overstaying their welcome?.
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