I don't know, I mean sure, it might be self-serving for me to want to discourage other people from going to Yosemite, but realistically isn't the point of the national parks to preserve them for people to enjoy? I don't think it's a great mission to say "we only want die-hard fans of the outdoors to be willing to go through the reservation process." Part of the point is outreach to people who aren't normally connected to or interested in the outdoors.

> But in practice what we have is not really working for anyone (at Yosemite and the other mega parks)

I'm not sure that's true. Tons and tons of people go there. It's not like it's so crowded that no one goes there any more (like the classic joke).