After reading my last blog about how manufacturers, suppliers and dealers seem to be squeezing each other out of profits, a New England campground operator contacted me to say he could sympathize with companies caught in the vice. But, he suggested, it wasn't anything compared to the squeeze campground operators feel not only from RV users, but from manufacturers, dealers and suppliers as well.

Manufacturers, he said, do not take into consideration whether the ever-larger rigs they produce can be accommodated in existing campsites. To accommodate slides, trees must be taken down -- something RVers like to have when spending time outdoors. To accommodate the wide variety of locations in which manufacturers position dump valves, campgrounds often need to install two sewer pipes in each site -- one at the back, one at the side – and doubling costs.

Suppliers also contribute to the headaches endured by campground operators. For example, New York law prohibits back flushing black water tanks. In fact, the state health department routinely inspects campgrounds to ensure that septic lines are not hooked up to enable back flushing of tanks. If it's discovered, the camp owner is cited and fined. Today, RVs are constructed with back flushing capability built into the units.

Dealers, too, play a role for their unwillingness to send technicians to the campground to fix minor problems without irritating campers by forcing them to pull-up stakes and drive to the nearest repair facility, which means the campground may not get the customer back when the repair is done.

When it comes to consumers, RV users place demands on campground owners that make it very hard for them to profitably run a facility. Consumers want free wireless Internet access, which requires towers to be constructed around the campground which must also shell out high monthly fees for T1 or cable connections. The RVers also want pull-through sites that require campgrounds to consolidate two sites into one, thus trimming revenue.

Here are just a few of the other issues with which campground owners must contend in the course of running what amounts to a five-month business in much of the country:

• $10,000 in credit card charges per year
• $16,000 in property taxes to fund schools
• $7,000 in county taxes
• $80,000 for septic tank upgrades and repairs every few years
• Skyrocketing liability insurance, especially for pools, playgrounds and ponds
• Restocking costs for fish ponds
• Constructing and staffing of teen centers
• A variety of planned youth activities, and staff to supervise them
• Installing 50-amp service, and paying much more for utility costs
• Construction and maintenance of mini-golf courses, tennis courts, volleyball courts, hot tubs and pools

All this is in addition to the costs common to all businesses, such as utilities, salaries, training and marketing. Campground owners must also make 100 percent of their income from May to September (maybe into October) with no hope of generating even minimal income during the off season.

Consumers claim they value a quality camping experiences as well as safety and security while staying at campgrounds. Yet, they object to paying much more than $35 per night for a campsite. Campgrounds that do charge more risk sending RVers to nearby Wal-mart parking lots and casinos that offer free overnight RV parking.

It's no secret that the RV industry has lost many campgrounds to hotel and condominium developers who dangle huge sums of money in front of campground owners in hopes of enticing them to sell out. It's also no secret that it takes two years minimum to get all the government approvals required to even begin construction of a new campground, and that's if neighbors and environmentalists don't challenge the plans.

I have long advocated that campgrounds are the oft-forgotten, but essential fourth leg of the campground industry that includes suppliers, manufacturers and dealers. Can our industry afford to lose more campgrounds because those who own them are forced into upgrading facilities by other industry segments without the ability to make a respectable return on their investment by consumers who object to paying for a quality camping experience?