Thought that thins article might be of interest for the issue of how to avoid the impact of people reserving permits and then not using them. California is going to start charging increased fees for cancellations within a week of a reservation at a state park, can ban people who don’t show up without cancelling 3 times in a year, and is instituting a lottery for some parks. Note that of the parks listed as possibilities for the lottery, I think all are car/RV camping (definitely true for the one near our home).


New California law to bring big changes for campsite reservations SF Chronicle article

I've wondered why there's so many empty sites in the middle of July. We do a family trip every year to Hendy Woods SP. We go from 5-7 days and try to get 2 or 3 sites close together (depending on turnout). So we have gotten into the habit of booking early as they come available and usually the weekends are pretty filled up. I think it's 6 months to the day of the BEGINNING of your stay. Which means if you book for a Wednesday then you can actually reserve it for the duration. Even though the weekend following is not bookable yet.
Oops, Did I just let out a secret hack?

I think that "loophole" is pretty common. It sort of has to be that way or you would have to call daily to get each night of your trip. If it becomes a problem then the countermeasure is to not let people reserve a long trip and then cancel the first few days. Or at least not make that a habit.

Obviously that loophole doesn't apply to the BW system of just having a permit for the entry day but some of the other changes could inhibit abuse of the permit system.

I'm glad SOMEONE is addressing this problem of reserved but empty campsites!
Let's hope the the National Park Service and Forest Service pick up on this idea and follow suit.