The US Built a Center to Ensure Fair Access to Public Land. Then Everything Went Wrong

We know that Booz Allen Hamilton is making more money than he first thought. In the deal, the company said it would make $87 million in the first five years, and $182 million over 10 years if the deal is extended, which has been done.

According to their invoices, Booz Allen Hamilton paid more than $140 million over the first four years of the contract. The Forest Service did not return our FOIA request for the latest numbers, but a Canadian business analyst, Blair Enns, estimates they could make $620 million by the time their contract expires in September 2028.

Increased traffic is one reason for this. But the pattern has changed again since 2016. That year there were at least 3 million bookings through the site; in 2023 there were about 9 million. BAH says there are now 5,800 places and more than 128,000 places and events to be reserved. More and more places have switched to using the Rec.gov system, and things that were free, or non-existent, are now managed by Rec.gov, which comes with a price. These include things like free Christmas tree-cutting passes for 4th graders (now with a $2.50 fee!) and season tickets to the zoo, introduced in 2021, which are free but have a $2 fee. Booz Allen Hamilton receives a percentage of every license application, even if you don’t win a license.

This may be news to you, as it is not clearly stated on the website. As Betsy Walsh, a former caretaker of the place, told me, she often spoke to people who were surprised. “People want to support parks, so they’re fine with a fee,” said Walsh, who worked at several parks before being fired at Thomas Edison National Historical Park during the 2025 DOGE. But you’re not supporting parks, you’re supporting a private company.

It doesn’t appear. And in the last few years, several groups have gone to court saying it’s illegal, either.

In 2022, a Nevada hiker named Thomas Kotab sued the Bureau of Land Management, arguing in his complaint that the $2 fee to visit the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area violated the FLREA, which states that public participation is required in setting the fee and that it must be known how much money is living on the property. The BLM decided to dismiss the case, but the district court ruled in Kotab’s favor on the public participation issue. The salary, however, was not changed.

The following year, seven plaintiffs filed a class action suit, Robyn Wilson et al. v. Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, saying that the company is “forcing American consumers to pay Ticketmaster’s Unlimited Fees for access to National Parks and other state recreation facilities.” BAH filed a motion to dismiss, saying the plaintiffs had misunderstood the contract. “In fact,” his statement said, “some agencies pay a reservation fee to Recreation.gov users to help pay for government fees for using Recreation.gov, including the USDA’s payment to Booz Allen. Their attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.”