That was a poorly handled mess if ever there was one. And I can certainly understand lingering feelings over it.SteveGabbard wrote:If the "local population" does not realize the impact by now they aren't going to. Some may not have been impacted by the tourism enough to notice it. Some may still have a bad taste in their mouth from when the River was protected to begin with.
BOC is one of 12 canoe concessions on the river. The average gross is $169,000 with a few as low as $38,000. Now I don't know how many permanent and seasonal employees those twelve concessions have, or how many vehicles they operate all told or the gas, parts, tires and repairs it takes to keep them running, but I would imagine the dollar amount to be substantial.
And the owners and employees and visitors all buy groceries in the watershed. Many of the visitors rent motel and cabins. I know I went there one winter just to rent a cabin from Mike over Christmas for me and my wife. We bought groceries for the week in town and filled up both gas tanks. I'm pretty sure that people in the watershed who have no connection with these busineses benefit as taxes from outside their community come in via the draw of the river and associated services. I would guess that Mr. Ranger Sir spends the majority of his Federal salary locally as do all of the lesser park employees full time and seasonal.
