Recreation.gov is kind of like Ticketmaster for campsites — a government website that controls access to the most popular recreational sites on federal public land. Many critics say it’s not fair.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Parts of the American wilderness are getting a little less wild these days. A growing number of backcountry sites now require a permit for camping. Colorado Public Radio's Andrew Kenney reports from an alpine spot that was being loved to death.
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ANDREW KENNEY, BYLINE: Last Labor Day weekend, I trekked up the steep valley carved by Conundrum Creek, past the towering aspens, up and out of the evergreen forests, until we saw the wooden sign - hot springs ahead, at 11,000 feet above sea level.
Man, it's kind of wild that so many people in the state are capable of doing this.
So many people, in fact, that the place became notoriously overcrowded, especially on holiday weekends like this. But in the last few years, it's been the focus of a U.S. Forest Service experiment. To camp up here, you'll need to book a spot through recreation.gov.
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KENNEY: Ooh.
I wanted to know how it was going, so I stepped into the stone-walled pool to ask some questions.
AARON SCHULTZ: I am very glad that I'm not here with 300 of my closest friends, with toilet paper and human feces everywhere. Like, this is beautiful. It's an incredible view.
KENNEY: That was Aaron Schultz...
COURTNEY WARD: This is the cleanest spot I've been to in a while, I think.
KENNEY: ...Courtney Ward...
JUSTIN CHAPMAN: Exactly the experience I want when coming outside.
KENNEY: ...And Justin Chapman. They had all grabbed one of 20 coveted camping permits almost three months earlier. Here's Anya Struna.
ANYA STRUNA: Getting the actual permit, I woke up at, like, 7 a.m., logged in, got online and, like, fought for my life to get one (laughter).
KENNEY: That process can be frustrating. You'll often hear complaints about how fast permits evaporate. Sometimes, people grab big blocks of permits but then don't bother to use them.
PATRICIA CAMERON: But it's just also, like, who has that time?
KENNEY: Patricia Cameron leads Blackpackers, a Colorado nonprofit that aims for economic equity in outdoor recreation. She thinks permit systems are often necessary, but they can also be unfair.
CAMERON: It's not realistic, necessarily, to think people can be online at an exact certain time. I don't think that is equitable 'cause it looks different for everybody.
KENNEY: The Forest Service is thinking about this, too. White River National Forest ranger Kevin Warner says that internet-based systems and $10-a-head fees can, unfortunately, be exclusionary.
KEVIN WARNER: We try to do everything we can, especially in our wilderness areas, to manage that use before going to a system that restricts use.
KENNEY: They are trying other tactics to keep the national forest accessible, like bilingual signage and a low-cost gear library. The idea is...
WARNER: Making people of all walks of life feel welcome.
KENNEY: The permit system doesn't actually reduce the number of visitors here but spreads them out across the summer so the land can heal.
OLIVIA BOJAN: It's getting harder to find places to go last-minute, definitely.
KENNEY: Olivia Bojan was hiking over the pass because she had to camp in the next valley over.
CHRIS CLAUSS: I guess it's just a necessary evil.
KENNEY: Chris Clauss had a permit but wasn't happy about it.
CLAUSS: I like the lawless freedom and the kind of - I moved out here to get away from regulations and restrictions and be in a place where I could just go for a fricking hike.
KENNEY: But he did email me later to say he liked the result.
That Saturday night, on one of the busiest weekends of the year, my buddy Jesse and I ended up having these alpine hot springs all to ourselves.
JESSE: The water's almost still. Hard to argue with this.
KENNEY: Yeah.
Floating in the dark, watching the stars, with all the proper permits.
For NPR News, I'm Andrew Kenney in Denver.
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