Traveler's View | Things I'd Like To See In 2025

By

Kurt Repanshek

Published Date

January 5, 2025

Here's hoping that all national parks travelers manage to find more time on the trail in '25!/Kurt Repanshek file

Here we are, five days into 2025. A fresh year is before us, waiting with promise. What will it deliver?

Here are some thoughts about what I hope it will deliver:

That the National Park Service does the right thing regarding the feral horses at Cumberland Island National Seashore.
That lodging rates are reined in so more Americans can enjoy the wonder of gazing at Mount Rainier from the Paradise Inn, marvel from their bedroom window at Old Faithful erupting under a full moon, or end the day after exploring the Giant Forest with a room at the Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park.
That somehow, just somehow, recreation.gov can be finetuned to give more park travelers a chance to book a national park campsite, land a permit to climb Mount Whitney, or raft a river, and ... provide some sanity to the fees.
That Congress order one or two fewer B-2 Spirit bombers, price tag $2.1 billion apiece, and reinvest the money in the National Park Service annually.
That the Park Service works to improve campgrounds, with an eye towards a bit more privacy, restrooms with hot and cold running water, and maybe a campstore to get those items you forgot at home. Hold off on greater Wi-Fi, though.
That the Park Service reverse its decision to allow just one signature on annual park passes.
That the Park Service improve its transparency.
That the next Park Service director be "media friendly" so the public can better understand how the parks are being managed.
That somehow, some way, the Bluffs Lodge along the Blue Ridge Parkway can be reopened.
That Congress will not resume battles over the Endangered Species Act or try to water down the National Environmental Policy Act.
That the idea of a Great Plains National Park is revived and moved forward.
That Grand Teton National Park can find a way to move back onto the front burner efforts to improve the visitor experience at Colter Bay Village.

That'd be a good start, don't you think?

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