I don't think there is any doubt that the more tourists you squeeze into a national park, the more money they will spend and the greater the financial benefit to businesses operating there. However, in this and many other cases, more is certainly not better in terms of impacts to wildlife, environment, and peoples enjoyment of natural areas. There Is definitely a sustainability issue that needs to be addressed in terms of how the national parks are managed.
With respect to an earlier comment regarding parks knowing what they were doing when passes were made free for 2017, this was a decision made at a much higher level of government than the national parks office, with minimal consultation. I doubt that free passes to Banff or Jasper would have been in the works if Parks had been asked for their inputs on how best to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday.
Hopefully many would be visitors will become quickly frustrated with the crowds in our wilderness areas and go back to enjoy the peace and quiet of our local cities.
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2013 19' \ 2013 15B, 2020 Toyota 4Runner TRD Offroad
"It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it." - 1907, Maurice Switzer
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