Great Smoky Mountains National Park is hiking prices for parking tags on Wednesday in order to cover the costs of maintaining this beautiful national wonder.
The “Park It Forward” initiative means that visitors will have to pay $40 for an annual parking tag, $5 for daily and $15 for weekly parking, according to a release from the National Park Service. The tags don’t guarantee a parking spot, and it’s unclear whether major tourist attractions in the park will require additional payment.
“We owe a huge thanks to our park neighbors, communities, partners, and visitors for their support and feedback for this important and historic program,” the park’s Superintendent Cassius Cash said in a statement from the NPS. “Park it Forward will undoubtedly help protect the park resources and enhance visitors’ experiences in a substantial way now and into the future.”
It might not sound like a huge amount of money to pay for the pleasure of enjoying one of America’s greatest national treasures. But why isn’t the NPS receiving enough funding to cover its costs from the seemingly bottomless pit of taxes that Americans are expected to pay the government every time we spend money or make it?
National Park Service: “Hot springs have injured or killed more people in Yellowstone than any other natural feature.” https://t.co/sVuDwV0hdZ
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 19, 2022
It’s not like the government is short on our cash. The Biden Administration has had no trouble sending billions of our dollars to Ukraine to involve us in a war that has nothing to do with us. But the same funding can’t go toward protecting the nation that voted them into office? Why not? (RELATED: Another Renowned Archaeologist Was Just Fired For No Reason. Why Does This Keep Happening?)
It’s fairly disgusting to think that Americans will now be charged even more to enjoy the reason that our ancestors settled here. How far we have fallen as a civilization that we choose to protect everything else over ourselves. Sad.
Calls to Great Smoky Mountains National Park went unanswered because their answering service is legitimately the worst I’ve ever had to work with … probably because they can’t afford to get a better one.