PORTLAND PHOENIX • August 4, 2021
Maine is under siege and nowhere is that more obvious than Acadia National Park, where park authorities were forced this summer to institute a $6 reservation fee to drive up Cadillac Mountain because 450 carloads were routinely competing for the 150 mountaintop parking spaces. Charging more for access is one obvious solution to the problem of tourist pollution. Acadia National Park currently charges a $30-per-vehicle entrance fee. The prevailing wisdom is that national parks should be affordable to everyone, but that’s pure nonsense. There are no poor people lining up to summit Cadillac. Once gas, food, lodging, and fees are totaled, it costs an average of $3,300 for a couple to spend two weeks at a national park. And that’s cheap compared to something like $6,000 a week at a Disney resort. So if we can discourage park use by charging more for it, I say do it. ~ Edgar Allen Beem