The days of camping for free in Hawaii’s state parks are about to end, and nobody should have a problem with that. It takes money to maintain the parks and preserve the wilderness in that way the public expects. Campers
The days of camping for free in Hawaii’s state parks are about to end, and nobody should have a problem with that.
It takes money to maintain the parks and preserve the wilderness in that way the public expects. Campers should share in that expense in exchange for the experience of pitching a tent amid nature’s bounty.
The fees that take effect Monday at 11 campsites statewide, including Polihale State Park and Koke’e State Park on Kaua’i, are relatively miniscule: $5 for a family campsite (up to 10 people). The only beef with any possible merit about fees might come from campers on the Na Pali Coast, where the overnight fee will be $10 per person. It could have been more.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources, when considering the higher demand on campsites in that mecca, thought about charging $20 per camper. Half that, it was decided, was a reasonable amount to help support campgrounds.
Hawai’i is like most of the rest of the nation in charging camping fees. It was one of the few remaining states with free camping, but that had to change. Parks’ share of Hawaii’s state budget has shrunk 30 percent in the past five years. State residents and visitors haven’t slowed down in their use of the parks, however, and the $300,000 a year that camping fees are expected to generate will help park maintenance and improvements keep up.
The fees aren’t the end of something good. They’re the continuation of something even better: Natural resources that can be better retained for the future.
