The Patriot Post® · Surprise! NPS Mismanages Concessions at Grand Canyon

Count on the Federal Government to mismanage an economic and tourism hotspot like the Grand Canyon. The free market ends where the border to the Grand Canyon Park begins. For the last 100 years or so, one company has managed the hotels, restaurants, campgrounds and laundromats in the park. But in 1998, the NPS decided it wanted a bit more competition with the handful of companies that could run the concessions, so they mandated the contracts go out to bid every 10 years. But now, nobody wants to bid because, in that regulation, NPS said the next leaseholder needs to pay the government’s debt to the company presently running the concessions. And that debt stands at $157 million. Why, you ask? Yeah, we don’t know either. It’s federal debt and federal management. Some programs are going to have to be cut, and it might as well be the programs that educate the public on the science and history of the canyon because, as we said before, it’s federal management. More…