The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

We just spent our vacation at Keller Ferry Campground, and what I saw when I arrived was a travesty.

The grass was burned to a crisp. The camp site was full of debris. The fire ring had garbage in it. The outlets in the restrooms were not working. The men’s room sink did not work the entire time we were there. What appeared to be two teenagers were trying to keep up with the yard work without the proper equipment. The lawn went without mowing in our section for the entire two weeks.

Some in our party managed to acquire some sprinklers and started watering around their site and managed to get it almost green by the time the two weeks were over. The pit toilet in the north end of the park went without cleaning for five or six days before it was cleaned.The parking lot security light did not come on at all during our stay. While the young man who was working kept busy working around the marina store, we moved sprinklers in an attempt cover as much ground as possible.

The camp hosts, the only time we saw them was to change the reservation tags. The quiet time went unenforced. One night, loud music was heard clearly all the way from a rental houseboat in the Marina until way after midnight.

Prices doubled to $20 to camp, with less than half the service. No longer may seniors use their well deserved Golden Age Pass. Dakota Columbia’s taking over our (taxpayers’) park is a JOKE! If I could reverse the concession of Keller Ferry I would kick them out in two seconds.

I intend to write everyone I can think of to overturn the concession of our formerly favorite campground. This is probably futile, but I will try.  The National Park Service and Superintendent Dan Foster have let the American taxpayer down. I question whether all the park’s campgrounds are slated to be turned over to incompetent companies to run into the ground for personal profit at taxpayer expense. The Lake Roosevelt Area is advertised as the gem of Northeast Washington; well, one of the most beautiful facets of that gem has been ruined.

We have camped at Keller for almost 30 years and so we know what the park should look like.

So angry I want to kick someone hard and then kick them again,

Donald Gill