"The National Park Service has disbanded an industry-dominated outdoor recreation advisory panel that wanted to expand private services at campgrounds across the country.

David Vela, who took over as acting director of the agency Oct. 1, said the panel was terminated on Nov. 1. The committee, created by former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, had met only twice in person, when it organized in July 2018 and again in September of this year.

Vela offered no specific reason for the decision, which the Park Service said was made by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. It came after the group drew fire for its recent recommendation to modernize park campgrounds with more private concessions, bringing in such things as food trucks, mobile camp stores and better Wi-Fi. The group suggested first experimenting with pilot programs."

Rob Hotakainen reports for Greenwire November 14, 2019. [2]