This is why it is so much harder to book a trip to Yosemite than to Europe

You can book an airplane ticket using everything from the JetBlue Web site to Travelocity to Hipmunk. So does it make sense that in 2014, booking a camping spot at Yosemite National Park requires waiting in line on a single US government Web site -- an awkward, clunky site that groans under the weight of demand from outdoor enthusiasts on the 15th of each month?

There is a growing chorus of critics calling for the government to allow the private sector to step in and develop other sites for booking space for your RV at Acadia National Park in Maine, a snowmobiling trip in Yellowstone or just checking on the amenities. Instead, the government may be taking a step backwards, they say, with a proposed 10-year contract to run Recreation.gov that would allow a government contractor to decide whether it wants to sell reservation data for the national parks to third parties -- think Kayak, or Hotels.com. The contract being floated could also ban the contractor from sharing the data for free.