Zion National Park officials are trying to figure out a strategy for dealing with overwhelming crowds of visitors/NPS

The evening of October 28, I spent a couple of hours in Salt Lake City attending a public meeting regarding Zion National Park’s Visitor Use Management Plan, or VUM. It was the first time I’ve been part of something like this. It was intensely interesting, a really educational experience, and a good look at the careful process that park managers must navigate as they try to manage our national parks for us.

I think I was most impressed by the fact that everyone who attended was able to contribute to the discussion. I had expected a room filled with chairs, a large audience, a couple of microphones with long lines of people waiting to comment, and in the end some frustrated folks who had been cut off before having a chance to speak.

Not that way at all.

Instead, there were about 12 or 15 people either in NPS uniforms (one a maintenance uniform) or wearing civies with NPS nametags. About 70 people like me were there – people seriously concerned about the future of one of our favorite places. There were no lines of chairs and no microphones. Several tripods held display boards, each containing some information or seeking comments about possible solutions to challenges the park now faces. Beside each of these stations were two or three NPS persons waiting to collect our ideas. We were asked to read the material and then respond. Nothing was off the table. Ideas from the public were quickly added to blank sheets of large paper by the NPS folks. It was a busy room filled with respectfully quiet voices.

I can’t even begin to cover all the comments I heard or saw scribbled on the big pages of white paper. Nor will I try to list names or quote any individuals. But here, as best I can recall them, are some of the things I heard and experienced there.

● As Traveler readers already know, visitation at Zion is skyrocketing without any signs of letting up. Along with increased visits come avalanches of trash; incredible demand upon infrastructure (think toilets, litter, and garbage); trail and off-trail erosion; traffic jams everywhere; some actual fights between frustrated visitors waiting up to an hour or more for space on a shuttle when someone cut the line in front of them; human waste floating in the Virgin River in the Narrows; townspeople in Springdale can’t find a place to park at their own homes. (Some visitors actually park on lawns or in driveways around Springdale and throw tantrums when their cars are towed away.) Recently, we’ve heard of the “helipoo” operation to remove tons of waste from toilets near Angels Landing. Vandalism has become rampant. Then there’s the fact that search and rescue, medical emergencies and accidents have shot upward. The list is endless. The park and its staff are overwhelmed and there is no prospect that anything will somehow get better.

One problem associated with the crowds is graffiti in the Zion Narrows/NPS

● Residents and business owners in communities around the park are generally very supportive of some kind of limitation of visitors to Zion. But that support seems to diminish with distance. While it’s nearly universal in Springdale and Rockville just outside the park boundary, percentages drop in Hurricane (20 miles away) and St. George (35 miles).

● No carrying capacity has been established, but at this time, the target seems to be a 10 to 15 percent reduction in current visitation.

● Zion’s shuttle bus fleet is something like 16 years old. Vehicles are in need of replacement. That will cost several million dollars.

● There seems to be general agreement that a kind of plan to somehow limit entry to the park or to portions of the park is needed. The Big Question is: How will that be accomplished in a fair manner for everyone who wants to visit Zion?

● It’s not clear how much impact the NPS Centennial may have had on increased visitation. Nor does anyone know just how much has been driven by state and local advertising such as the Utah Office of Tourism’s “Utah’s Mighty 5” effort. NPS persons at the meeting had met earlier in the day with staff in the state Office of Tourism, and efforts are already under way to start something called “Utah’s Magnificent 8.” This will attempt to direct attention to Utah’s five NPS national monuments and Golden Spike National Historic Site; Glen Canyon National Recreation Area; and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which is run by the BLM. It will also showcase Utah’s state park system.

● The enormous number of foreign visitors tosses a very complicated additional factor into the mix.

● The first person I heard making comments said he owned a tour bus company. He fully understands the bind the park is in, but pointed out that tour bus companies could become important partners with the park. One tour bus carries 30 or more visitors, and thus replaces 10 to 20 private vehicles. He stressed that tour companies must know well in advance if they may or may not gain entry to the park because they are contractually obligated to their passengers to provide experiences advertised. He noted that many of his clients are from other countries and that contracts with those people are subject to laws of their home countries. In some cases, those laws mean that any cancellation of even a portion of the itinerary may require a full refund of the total cost of the person’s vacation package. He also expressed complaints that, in some parks at least, there seems to be preference given to the park’s concessionaires. Then, too, there is the sheer number of different tour company operators out there.

Can Zion's natural resources, such as the Virgin River in the Narrows, hold up to the crowds?/NPS

● Another man was owner of a small “adventure” outfitting guide service. He guides canyoneering trips for individuals and backcountry adventures for families. His comments echoed those of the bus operator. This elicited a response from a man and woman standing nearby who said they really object to the “so-called adventure guides because it leads people to think of our parks as something like Disneyland.” The outfitter replied that his service actually helps protect parks from that because they emphasize proper use and protection of park resources. “Our trips are as much education as they are adventure.” He then handed his card to the couple, and they agreed to get in contact later to learn more. I found myself with a wide grin on my face. Imagine, Americans actually disagreeing in a civil manner! Wowser!

● I expressed my personal concern that NPS interpretation seems to be doing little to educate visitors about the conflict existing in the 1916 Enabling Act – the pull between conserving and enjoyment. We’re not teaching visitors how important it is that they do all they can to help. The NPS person there replied that she knows that, but as it now stands in Zion, there simply aren’t enough interpreters to provide much more than basic information to hundreds of visitors per hour. A woman standing nearby recalled a time when there were frequent public service ads on TV designed to educate Americans about littering and other environmental challenges. “Somehow, we seem to have lost that,” she observed. “And now, too many of the people I see when I visit parks think they are in Disneyland.”

● Two people nearby picked up on that and expressed dripping disgust for the Imax national park movie by MacGillivray Freeman, narrated by Robert Redford. “That garbage didn’t help,” one of them remarked.

● I was surprised at some statistics provided by NPS personnel. First was that larger parks which already had visitation in excess of a million are the ones experiencing great increases. A number of parks with less than a million annual visits are actually losing numbers. Only about 55 percent of Zion’s visitors use the shuttles. This number may be even lower this year because of frustration with long lines.

● Several others joined in the opinion I had expressed: “Whatever you do, don’t build any more parking spaces, visitor centers, or lodging inside the park.” The response to that was: “We are trying not to do that.” The word trying caught my attention, so I asked about political pressures and received only a shoulder shrug and one of those facial expressions that say you just touched on something that we can’t talk about.

● There seems to be general agreement that some kind of reservation system will be required. Generally, proposals fall into two categories: Limit entry to the entire park, or limit access only to certain portions. Reservations are already needed for some canyons such as the Subway. Should reservations be required for the Narrows, Angel’s Landing, Canyon Overlook and some others? Should reservations be necessary just to drive through the park’s entrance stations? Reservations are already required for most of Watchman campground. Should all first-come camping be eliminated?

● I asked about a reservation system used in Crater Lake National Park for boat tours. Half the daily tickets may be reserved in advance. Half are available for walk-up entry 24 hours ahead of time at electronic kiosks in the park. That is being considered for Zion’s trails.

● If reservations are required for anything, how will they be parceled out? There was talk of a “Reservations Pie” that divides visitation into categories such as Commercial Tours; Day Use Only; Families; International Visitors Traveling On Their Own; Local Residents; and several others. Should people with confirmed lodging reservations in Springdale, Hurricane, Kanab, or even St. George be guaranteed entry to the park? Lodging owners are pushing hard for that.

● Should large RVs simply be banned from traveling through Zion’s longer tunnel? The tunnel is a historic site. As such it can’t be enlarged. Even if it could, it would be an incredible logistical and engineering challenge, to say nothing of funding it. As it is now, it is a major cause of congestion because it must be limited to one-way traffic any time a large RV or tour bus shows up. Instead of a ban, could large vehicles be held until several are present to travel through at the same time? Could some kind of schedule be used that would allow only RV or bus traffic during certain hours of the day? If so, how would that be scheduled and the public notified?

● Long lines at entrance stations extend far into Springdale and cause enormous frustration. Could some kind of prepaid entrance tag be used to expedite entry?

● There are efforts under way right now for the Southern Utah Transportation Authority to set up a bus route from St. George and Hurricane to Zion with frequent regularly scheduled runs. This would allow visitors to leave their cars or RVs in those towns and ride the bus to Springdale.

● One person asked about extending shuttles out along the East Entrance Road. That produced a one-word reply from an NPS uniform: “Money.”

I could go on, so this is probably a good place to stop. I left the meeting satisfied that there is a lot of sincere thought and hard work going into trying to meet challenges brought to Zion by hoards of visitors and hundreds of potentially conflicting interests. But this meeting had been attended pretty much by members of the choir. When it finally comes down to making tough decisions, other less-friendly interests are sure to spring forward. For every suggested solution, there are a dozen countering arguments or ideas. It was also apparent that solutions will need to be found far beyond Zion’s boundaries. Some, like money, will have to come from Congress or some very creative use of existing funding authorities. And will Congress resist temptation to try to provide handouts for lobbyists and their financial friends?

For readers who are interested in learning more or offering comments of your own, there’s an easy to use website you can go to at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/zionvumplan.

Only one thing is certain right now – it sure ain’t gonna be easy.