I get the impression that to the rangers, a "constructed campsite" consists of a rock ring, a rock wind-break, and/or logs moved into a user-friendly position for seating. Having seen hundreds of those "constructed campsites," I have never been offended by them, but was often happy to use them.
I agree with you that rangers and trail-crews have more important things to do than kick over rock rings and move logs around so that it gives the (false) impression of a pristine area. Instead, the rangers ought to be searching out and removed those little piles of animal-chewed toilet paper that we see near those "constructed campsites," but maybe that could be considered beyond the "call of duty" (no pun intended)for the rangers. Yes, a lot more time ought to be spent educating hikers, but it is difficult to actually police hikers; a few hikers are going to make a mess anyway.
Wilderness quotas should only be used in heavily used areas like Mt. Whitney or the Bishop Pass trail. I don't have scientific stats on this, but from personal observation in the Eastern Sierra, the quota system has not reduced the number of backpackers in most other areas.
A case in point from last week: I stood in line at 8 AM on Monday to get on the list for a permit for 2 nights at Morgan Lakes, which is over Morgan Pass from Little Lakes Valley, then had to return at the magic hour of 11 AM, waited again for a while until the counter people figured out how to use the new software, finally got my permit printed, and was on my way. At Morgan Lakes, I was the only person camping in the entire area for two nights, and saw one party of day-hikers on Tuesday. The number of day-hikers I saw on the trail in Little Lakes Valley far exceeded the number of backpackers. The whole permit process was a waste of time for myself and the counter staff - who could have been been spending their time doing something more useful.
