Off-topic:
Originally Posted by
djp98374
She an NPS ranger?
One thing that bothers me is that some locations that are national parks or monuments are not operated by the NPS but instead by BLM(Escalante, Vermillion Cliffs) or the Forest Sevice (St Helens, Oregon Dunes)
She was a NPS ranger at Teton, Sequoia & Cascades, and I was lucky enough to visit her for 2 weeks over the holiday season & a week in the summer each year. All beautiful parks & I got to learn a lot about the park service/behind the scenes. Unfortunately she died 3 years ago due to breast cancer.
This is going to come out wrong but hopefully you know what I mean: "real" nat'l parks are definitely run by NPS. But others which are in forests/recreational areas or are monuments are/can be run by BLM or FS. Vermillion is a nat'l monument. Oregon Dunes is a nat'l recreational area located in a nat'l forest. The BLM & FS allows for 'mixed use', hence you'll see boating and/or ski resorts located in some of them. The NPS does not allow mixed use.
BTW - the NPS & FS/BLM feel about each other like University of Michigan & Ohio State feel about each other
My sister had a lot of 'stoo-pid tourist' stories. I thought she was exaggerating, but I got to see some of them happen for myself & she wasn't kidding!
On-topic:
I think
socrates probably has it right, in addition to the geography issue on some of the larger parks. If one is going to go to a lot of nat'l parks & not camp or stay at lodges, joining Best Western or Holiday Inn programs might be a good idea.
Cheers.