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Date:         Fri, 27 Jul 2012 14:44:48 -0500
Reply-To:     Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: [F] Overnight mooring charges are per foot of boat. How about
              camoing charges in relation to size?
Comments: To: Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@yahoo.ca>
In-Reply-To:  <1343416523.92826.YahooMailNeo@web163405.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252

I think this is an excellent suggestion, but as I spend about a month a year in my camper, and my work involves me with the people who make these decisions, I doubt that it is going to happen. Their mentality is toward what they think "most" people want. The pay for lots of surveys and studies and are probably in a position to know.

Be lucky there is any camping! I was in—get this—a Georgia State Park last week and no camping of any kind was allowed there!

I have established dozens of small (most are tiny, actually, and for paddlers but some are bigger) campgrounds around my state as the result of my stewardship with the Alabama Scenic River Trail. And where a couple of tents can be put up, a westy can usually be accommodated. But not always. The operators are not charging by the foot these days, but "for the experience." My Senior Pass helps a lot—over 62, ten bucks will cut your camping costs in half for the rest of your life—but it doesn't help most people who want to take their families out. I can think of places on the gulf coast where camping in a westy or tent at a state park is more expensive than nearby lodging.

When they see a small camper or a tent coming, they know they are making money. They are not going to turn back now.

As for impacting the situation, I suggest you write a letter. What the camping customer wants always figures in to some decision somewhere up or down the line.

Jim

On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 2:15 PM, Poppie Jagersand <poppie.jagersand@yahoo.ca > wrote:

> Boats pay overnight marina mooring charges per foot. Moderate boat = > moderate fee; large boat = large fee. > > How come we don't have something similar for national park campgrounds (as > well as state, provincial and other public ones)? > > A decade or two ago many of the public campgrounds I stayed in charged > $5-10/night and were very basic. Now many have been rebuilt with large > gravel pads for RV's more facilities etc and charge 20, 30 sometimes up > towards $40. > While $40/night is a drop in the sea for someone in a $100,000 RV, it > might be the full price of the Walmart tent for the family in the spot next > to them. We all have a part in the public lands and there ought to be > options for everyone. > > In some small fraction of campgrounds there are walk-in tent only areas. > In even fewer cases these tent areas are in the nicest part of the > campground (Twojack lake in Banff is an example where the tents get to be > near the lake shore). > It is not that it is that easy to be a tent camper these days. Among 100's > of campgrounds I've been to in the Canadian rockies less than 10% have a > decent tent-only facility. > > Aside from the economic fairness, one simply does not get the same > experience in a tent when walled in by RV's on all sides, and much the same > goes for being in the VW camper walled in by monster-size RV's. > > Has anyone seen constructive attempts to create different size categories? > Talked to officials and have them seem to understand? > > So it would seem possible to have more categories with charges > proportional to footprint. > 1. Tents > 2. Vehicles less than 18" > 3. Vehicles vehicles and combinations above 18" > > Surely some campgrounds have vehicle restrictions, but they tend to be > motivated by physical obstacles for these large vehicles, not the desire to > create fair pricing and an enjoyable stay for everyone. > > Any thoughts? > > Any chance to have impact on this? > > B.t.w. It is not that I harbor a hatred against the RV people. Most of the > ones I meet are perfectly nice. > > Martin (and "Poppie '82 Westie") > >


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