I realize I’m lib posting here but I’m a single issue public land zealot so please oblige me. And before you go bashing the NPS for losing its way under Biden, trust me, I know. But Socha was a terrible pick. His concessionaire company trademarked iconic names central to American conservation heritage (eg Ahwahnee and they even claimed “Yosemite National Park”) so when they lost their contract to another concessionaire they sued us, the taxpayer, for $50 m and ultimately settled for $12 m.
So he pushed a business model where his concessionaire company claims ownership over historic, significant cultural artifacts (Ahwahnee was built in the 1920s, his company took over concessions in the 1990s). This was absolutely a shakedown and it completely conflicts with the mission of the National Park Service. It’s treating his contract to serve pizzas like a casino and the taxpayer pays put at the end of the night.
The Ahwahnee is absolutely essential to the story of American conservation heritage. The first Director of the NPS Stephen Mather had the Ahwahnee built to bring more visitors to NPS properties to attract more popular support for American parks. It’s a perfect example of a uniquely American style of architecture: National Parks Rustic. This is also known as Parkitecture and it’s mimicked all over the world.
These animals also tried to trademark Camp Curry/Curry Village, the camp that Jellystone and other popular depictions of outdoor life in America are based on, it’s been in operation for 125 years! It’s the beating heart of American democratic access to the most beautiful places on earth.
These two places embody why people come from all over the country to see American National Parks. We have high quality, budget friendly or high end, nature based accommodations specifically set up to make people love the parks. It’s your heritage and your story to pass to your children and the fact that this man’s claim to fame is trademarking this stuff and suing US taxpayers for a ransom is appalling. Do we have to strip mine everything?
Can we get a public land person in this role please before I commit myself to the loony bin?