Park Sponsors

* After reading the Column Left (“Do We Need Big Biz to Bankroll Parks?” Sept. 8) against getting large corporations to help sponsor the national parks, I was thoroughly convinced it was actually a great idea.

Even though the dollars spent sponsoring the parks and those spent marketing the sponsorship are indeed tax-deductible, I doubt there would be any less money paid in taxes. These companies have enormous marketing budgets but the total amount is usually budgeted before it is figured out how it is to be spent. They would simply shift promotional dollars already spent in other areas to this new area. A few less ads during the Super Bowl would not be a bad thing. This seems like a win-win situation all the way around.

Donella Meadows does make a good point about getting reasonable concession fees from companies doing business in the parks. Athletic stadiums and theme parks manage to get substantial revenue from concessions granted to outside businesses so I would think the parks could also. If they kept the money for the parks as she suggests, I am sure they would be much more aggressive in negotiating fees.

MARC SPITALERI

Huntington Beach