Ah, Computerized Wilderness

Summer campers, take heart--and get organized. Starting this week, the National Park Service begins apportioning 4,000 of its 7,000 campsites in six of its most popular parks (Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Teton, Everglades, Grand Canyon and Acadia) on a new basis: by appointment only.

American Express's reservations system has hooked up its computer with the six national parks, which attract campers at a rate of 2.5 million each season, and the computer will sort everyone out, providing a guaranteed spot for a fee of $1.50 apiece. Clutching their printouts, campers will be able to drive past the SORRY--NO VACANCIES signs and the lines of disorganized tourists waiting vainly to get at the great, jampacked outdoors. "Eventually," says Acadia National Park Superintendent Keith Miller, "a mobile society has to face the need for certain restrictions on its mobility."

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