Trump prices National Parks out of reach of most Americans with fee hikes, funding cuts.

Remember when Scott Walker stripped our state parks of taxpayer funding and raise entrance fees, and then raised them again, putting our parks out of reach of only the most undeserving poor and middle-class Wisconsinites? This is from a previous post, with a few little updates:

GOP’s own Budget Crisis allows Walker to cut funding from State Parks…all just part of the “we can’t afford it” plan. In a state (country) known for its parks, lakes, hunting and other recreational activities, tourism would seem like the last place to make dramatic cuts. But that’s what Scott Walker (Trump) has in mind. WSJ-Jan. 2015:

This must be a Republican thing. The Trump administration is also taking aim at hard-working Americans, you know, the vacationing riffraff hoping to enjoy the own God blessed country!

AP: Democratic senators on Thursday criticized a National Park Service plan to impose steep increases in entrance fees at 17 of its most popular parks, including the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone and Zion … visitors would be charged $70 per vehicle during the peak summer season, up from $25 or $30 per vehicle now. Officials say the higher fees are needed to address an $11 billion backlog of maintenance and infrastructure projects that have been put off for years.

Claims that the increased fees are needed to reduce the maintenance backlog are “undercut by the administration’s budget proposal to cut” park service operations by $200 million, including a $93 million cut to facility operations and maintenance.

As you can see above, when Scott Walker cut park funding, the state had to “fix” a $5 million shortfall with an increase. Imagine continued increases, and what that will mean for our “grandkids’ grandkids?” Parks for the wealthy, commercial naming rights, or land selloffs.

Zinke said the plan was part of his “vision to look at the future of our parks and take action in order to ensure that our grandkids’ grandkids will have the same if not better experience than we have today.”

A former liberal radio talk host who likes to ask the “follow-up question” at Democurmudgeon.blogspot.com