[at-l] Smoky back country fees

[Tom McGinnis]

Well, there's "Gypsy" of romantic nature, and then there's the perjorative "gypsy" of the Roma -- the diaspora of thieves, charlatans, and ne'er-do-wells who threaten every community they encounter with running off with the respectable men-folk, ruining the respectable womenfolk, stealing everyone blind, and generally making a nuisance of themselves. (Well, okay, "according to legend.")

Just from the one sentence, it does not sound like a particularly kind use of "gypsy" -- but more like an irresponsible, somethin'fer'nothin' tramp.

"Don't Tread On Me."
Time for some serious Tea Party stuff. (No, not the social agenda, just the Constitutional-originalists need apply.)


--- On Mon, 2/13/12, Martha Federle <mgypsy97 at aol.com> wrote:

I love being called Gypsy and always have.

-----Original Message-----

Here’s a NP Traveler article about the “elephant in the room” issue of fees for backcountry use in the Smokies. For those who don’t know: the creation of GSMNP is unique among the national parks, a large amount of the purchase price for the land was generated by numerous public donations, including pennies from schoolchildren, with the supplemental $5 M amount coming from John D. Rockefeller in memory of his wife, Laura Spellman Rockefeller. As compensation to TN and NC it was promised that there would never be an entrance fee for the public. That promise may be coming to an end.

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2012/02/great-smoky-mountains-national-park-looking-backcountry-user-fee-improve-services-protect-resources9454

The article is long and detailed and includes a couple of comments regarding thru-hikers in the discussion and comments:

“Another issue is how to deal with Appalachian Trail thru-hikers, a gypsy-like group of backpackers accustomed to traveling at their own pace, with a willingness to speed up, slow down, or layover when the desire and need strikes. How they would reserve campsites for specific dates could be problematic, the superintendent acknowledged.”
And 
“Well, there is that rush of people (thru-hikers) when they start out in Georgia and they start hitting us, usually in April, and how do we manage those numbers and how do we identify them?" said the superintendent.

I think I like being called “gypsy-like”!
Arthur D. Gaudet