As a local observer of the Owen's Valley economy, I can tell you that most of the tourist money spent in Lone Pine is coming from people travelling through Lone Pine on the way to other places - like Mammoth Mountain, LA, or Reno, but not from Whitney trail backpackers. A reduction in quotas might have a mild effect on local business, but not much.

As you can see from the Lone Pine Chamber of Commerce website http://www.lonepinechamber.org/ there are a lot of other things to do in the area besides the Whitney hike.

But I like your idea of an environmental fee; perhaps added on to the current permit fee. How much, I wonder? It would have to cover the cost of installation and annual upkeep of the toilets.

How about limiting Whitney hiking permits to one per season per person? That might upset the Whitney addicts, but would give other hikers a chance in the lottery.