Many Pennsylvania residents will no longer be able to camp thanks to closures by DOGE this week. The Elon Musk-operated Department of Government Efficiency has forced the closure of over 425 PA campsites, as slashed budgets make staffing impossible. These closures will include the Seven Points, Susquehannock, and Nancy’s Boat-to-Shore Campgrounds on Raystown Lake. Tompkins Campground on Tioga-Hammond and Cowanesque Lakes will also close indefinitely. It’s a loss for outdoor enthusiasts as much as the Pennsylvania economy, and DOGE is the cause.
PA Camps at Seven Points & Beyond Closed by DOGE
The campsites shuttered by DOGE at Seven Points and beyond are popular with tourists and locals. Hiking is a favorite pastime for many in the area, with other outdoor activities not far behind. Closing hundreds of campsites will cause painful ripples throughout PA’s economy, with small businesses and marginalized people suffering the most. For some people with disabilities, simply going somewhere else might not be an option.
A Reddit post by u/narkj about the PA campsites closed by DOGE drew vocal condemnation of Musk and his team. “This is gonna hurt those areas hard,” said one commenter. “There are businesses in those areas that rely on those campers.” DOGE decimating campsites and tourism at Seven Points and elsewhere will have consequences for PA. Another commenter focused on those who helped bring Trump and Musk into power, saying,
That’s what the republicans in this state wanted right? Less access to outdoor activities? More Fracking? Less tourism income. They got exactly what they voted for. Oh wait, they only wanted to hurt brown people and ‘own the libs'”? well too f*cking bad. [Sic]
The U.S. Army Core of Engineers, which manages Raystown Lake, is one of the agencies targeted for cuts by Musk and DOGE. The cuts will close the affected campsites until further notice. It’s just one more unnecessary hardship brought by the oligarchs in charge. With high rents, low wages, and increasing fascism, targeting public campsites for closure is pretty much the last thing Pennsylvania needs. Unfortunately, until DOGE and Musk get serious opposition, that situation likely won’t improve.
