“We want to let Americans make their own decisions in the marketplace.”
WiFistone
If the current administration has its way, your next outdoor camping experience at Yellowstone could include things like WiFi connectivity and Amazon deliveries.
A number of Trump administration advisers have offered their "modernized" vision of national park campgrounds, including WiFi, food trucks, electric bike rentals, flushable toilets, and even Amazon deliveries, the Los Angeles Times reports.
It's a troubling instance of a much larger attempt to privatize a large number of public services by the White House, including the U.S. Postal Service and even public education.
Heritage on the Line
The advisors' proposal was summarized in a public letter to the Interior Department.
"Our recommendations would allow people to opt for additional costs if they want, for example, Amazon deliveries at a particular campsite," Derrick Crandall, vice-chairman of an outdoor recreation advisory committee, told the Los Angeles Times. “We want to let Americans make their own decisions in the marketplace."
But critics argue that it could threaten the sanctity of national parks and give too much control to private industry players.
"America’s outdoor heritage is on the line," Jayson O’Neill, deputy director of the Western Values Project, a nonprofit public lands group, told the LA Times. "The trouble with these recommendations is that they were written by concessionaire industry representatives vying for more control of national parks."
READ MORE: Trump team has a plan for national parks: Amazon, food trucks and no senior discounts [Los Angeles Times]
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