Episode 41: Is Free Camping Too Much of a Good Thing?

If you are a boondocker like me, whether you are a weekend warrior or full time vanlifer, you know that it is increasingly hard to find good free camping sites on our public lands. Like many of you, I am outraged (or at least disappointed) that we have to pay entrance and usage fees for our public lands, which we are already paying for with our taxes. Let’s open the debate in the comments section below.
The PA DCNR has recently changed its policy and now you have to pay for dispersed camping in the state forests, something which was previously a free service. In this episode, we discuss why it is harder and harder to find free camping and I suggest that you write to the forest service and express your concerns at the following address:
Rachel Carson State Office
Building, 6th Floor
P.O. Box 8552
Harrisburg, PA 17105-8552
Phone: [phone]
[e-mail]
Here's what I wrote in my email to my state representative/senator:
I am writing about a concern that I have in a recent change in policy with the PA DCNR forestry division. As an avid outdoorsman, it used to be that you could email the ranger station in the forest district for which you wanted to get a free camping permit at one of their dispersed camping sites in the state forests. Now, beginning Nov. 3, 2022, the PA DCNR will be shifting to an online reservation service and charging $10/night to camp plus a $6.50 registration fee. Their letter explains that this is due to increased demand. Clearly, they do not want to have to continue to individually process these permits and are shifting to an automated online system. My complaint is that I do not think that the user should have to bear the burden of this cost. Just as we all pay school taxes, regardless of whether we have children or not, we should all be able to camp for free in the state forests because our tax dollars should already be covering this expense. By charging for these dispersed campsites, which were previously free, the state is inadvertently discriminating against people who cannot afford to pay for them, locking them out of the enjoyment of our public resources. There are other ways to pay for the automated registration system, such as charging the oil and gas or lumber industry more to use the state forests or by the state to better fund the forest service in the first place so that we, the public, could continue to use these public lands free of charge. I am asking that you look into this matter and see if there is some legislation or influence that can be used to reverse this policy of the PA DCNR.
PLEASE WRITE TO PROTEST THIS POLICY CHANGE AND TO KEEP CAMPING IN THE PA STATE FORESTS FREE