Another long-running controversy within the national park system
is how to manage the private concessions, e.g., hotels, restaurants, and
outfitters, which provide essential conveniences to visitors but can also
themselves invite considerable adverse impacts on the natural beauty and
quiet of the park units. The commercialization of the parks, in general,
creates a new set of pressures on the system that encourage human use.
The National Park Concessions Policy Act of 1965 "represented Congress's effort
to enunciate a coherent, preservation-based policy with regard to the provision
of park amenities," a policy that would both encourage concessions in often remote
and difficult-to-operate areas but ensure that economic enterprises in the parks
were controlled and consistent with the preservation mission. This Act proved
to be "a very effective tool in encouraging concessionaire investment," resulting
in a nearly $800 million industry as of 1998. Yet, the parks themselves historically
have received as little as 1-2% of this revenue stream. And, the industry sometimes
overwhelms the preservation mission: "Many parks have been inundated with concessions
including lodging, restaurants, shopping, campgrounds, and recreational outfitters of all types."
Many of these problems were addressed in 1998 when Congress passed the National Parks
Omnibus Management Act. The Act "virtually ended all of the preferential rights
concessionaires" had previously enjoyed and authorized parks to retain more of the
revenue stream. The problems are not completely solved, however, presenting another
major challenge for parks in the future, especially as federal budgets become tighter.