All I'm getting out of this article is that they want to make the permitting process easier and do some outreach. Activities that require permits are done that way to prevent damage from overuse and to preserve some semblance of a wilderness experience.
The real story is buried deep in the article:
Budgets for recreation, heritage and wilderness are down 15 percent in recent years. Dollars for roads are down 46 percent; funds for facilities are down 68 percent and money for deferred maintenance — such as new boat ramps and campground toilets — is down 95 percent. In the past five years, the agency has lost 30 percent of its staff.
Think about this:
The annual budget for Death Valley National Park, which is larger than Rhode Island, is less than $9 million. The Air Force just grounded the F35 for peeling insulation in the cooling lines for the fuel tanks. The F35 is a $400 billion program. That's Billion with a "B". Pennies for our national parks and forests. Unlimited bloat for defense contractors.
