Climate change is altering the flow of the Colorado River through Canyonlands National Park. And that throws a significant degree of uncertainty into how the phenomena is changing the park and its river.

A warming climate has been linked to human activity around the world, and has affected the Colorado River System as well. The impacts are substantial, from reduced water flows, threats to indigenous species and the influx of new invasive species along the river system. National Parks Traveler sent Patrick Cone to investigate the impacts on Canyonlands National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. From Moab to Green River, Utah, and Page to Flagstaff Arizona he talked to Park Service personnel, river runners, residents, business owners and other stakeholders who rely on a healthy Colorado River for their existence

A plan by the Trump administration to reclassify the humpback chub from "endangered" to "threatened" in the Colorado River has drawn concern from a conservation group that maintains the plight of the fish has gotten worse, not improved.

So as to protect critical wildlife habitat for raptors and desert bighorn sheep, a number of climbing routes in Canyonlands and Arches national parks in Utah will close for up to six months each year. This temporary closure affects the following routes: