|
||||
  
 
 |
Forest Service making it hard on campers to take in Cache summer events By
Penny Byrne
It's not a pretty sight when various groups with similar goals create policies that actually set them at cross purposes -- but that's exactly what's happening in Cache Valley. Every government agency, private foundation and educational institution would like to see more visitors to the valley. Thats why they've worked together to create, support and promote wonderful summertime attractions. The list is long and impressive: the Utah Festival Opera, the Lyric Theatre Repertory season, the Festival of the American West and Pageant, the Martin Harris Pageant, the Famous Preston Night Rodeo, the Cache County Fair and Great West Rodeo -- plus nearby possibilities such as the Pickleville Playhouse at Bear Lake and Peach Days in Brigham City. A visitor to Cache Valley, with careful scheduling, could take in a separate event each night for two weeks! All the while dining, shopping, buying gasoline and soft drinks and souvenirs, much to the joy of merchants and citizens alike. So who's thrown a fly into the lucrative ointment? The U.S Forest Service. Perhaps it's not intentional, but the Forest Service, through its concessionaire Scenic Canyons, has made it difficult for one group of tourists to take advantage of what Cache Valley has to offer. Those tourists are the growing group of campers and RV owners who do their vacationing using public campgrounds. The largest public campground in Logan Canyon is the Guinavah-Malibu complex, about five miles up the canyon. With more than 60 sites, flush toilets and running water, it's a delightful stop for vacationing families on a budget who rely on the nation's public campgrounds for accommodations. However, the campground's entry gates are closed at 10 p.m. No one, not even registered campers, can enter the grounds after that hour. So, if you want to take the kids to see the Pageant at the Festival of the American West (which STARTS at 9 p.m.), or if the Preston rodeo is your thing, or if you want melodrama at Pickleville, you can't camp at the best campground in the canyon. Of course, you could go to your event, return at 11:30 and hike back to your campsite in the dark, carrying your now-sleepy, whiny 8-year-old, leaving your car parked either along the highway or in the unsecured Wind Caves parking lot. A great way to create fond memories of lovely Cache Valley. Why close the gate? Surely the original reason was a loud party or two, for which too many cars full of too many people ran in and out of the campground all night. However, there are rules about camp site occupancy which can be enforced, and the money spent on providing someone to live on site and open and close gates could be spent on simply patrolling the grounds and removing anyone who violated occupancy or quiet-hours rules. Forest Service campgrounds are a great resource for Cache Valley. They should be administered in a way that reinforces the other resources, especially when that can be so easily accomplished.
|
Archived Months:
January
1999 January
2000 |
||