> The great economist Milton Friedman provides a starting for point. In his best-selling book Capitalism and Freedom, Friedman argues that there may be an economic rationale for public provision of neighborhood parks, but there is no such rationale for national parks. In his words, “The entrances to a national park like Yellowstone… are few; most of the people who come stay for a considerable period of time and it is perfectly feasible to set up toll gates and collect admission charges. This is indeed now done, though the charges do not cover the whole costs. If the public wants this kind of an activity enough to pay for it, private enterprises will have every incentive to provide such parks.” As usual, Friedman’s logic is impeccable, but privatizing national parks, especially the crown jewels, is a political non-starter. [1]
It might be a political non starter but sooner or later USA will have to consider selling off the national parks to more private entities. US federal government is needlessly sitting on vaste amount of land and not putting it for good productive use.
Roads in Yosemite remain terrible, poorly maintains, has horrible connectivity and fees are sky high. Not to mention there are hardly any proper resorts and recreational opportunities inside the park itself. Some of the national parks like Pinnacles appears to be government move to hurt some very specific landowners.
[1] https://www.perc.org/2015/07/20/back-to-the-future-of-americ...