You are here

Home » Glacier National Park's Move To Recreation.Gov For Permits Heavily Criticized

Glacier National Park's Move To Recreation.Gov For Permits Heavily Criticized

Share
By Kurt Repanshek - February 27th, 2023

Public comment on Glacier National Park's move to Recreation.gov for backcountry permits largely opposed the move/NPS file, Jacob W. Frank

Public reaction to Glacier National Park's decision to move its backcountry permit system to Recreation.gov brought praise and criticism, highlighted some of the flaws with the reservation system, and underscored the National Park Service's struggle with managing the rush to the outdoors.

"I do not agree with the idea of moving the backcountry reservation system wholly to Recreation.gov. There is growing frustration with that website, as it is becoming increasingly more difficult to book anything," read one comment made during the public comment period on the proposal. "It will be heavily botted, which Rec.gov has not been able to quell. The park is in denial if they think this isn't already happening."

At the same time, another comment read stated that, "I am all in favor of changing the system. The old system put too much work on wilderness office staff when they should be concentrating on helping the public with other things. I have used a completely online system at other national parks and it is MUCH better."

The move to Recreation.gov to book backcountry trips begins in mid-March. Glacier staff say the move was necessitated because they could no longer provide the required maintenance for the currently used Pay.gov system.

It comes at a time when Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., the government contractor that operates the site, is being sued for alleging filling the reservation system with add-on fees the plaintiffs believe are designed solely to earn profits for the contractor. As the Traveler noted in a story about the lawsuit, until just recently, many national parks handled their own backcountry reservations and accepted the fees themselves. But in recent years parks have been pushed into the Recreation.gov system. Among the parks that recently transitioned to Recreation.gov for reservations were Yellowstone National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, Hot Springs National Park, and Rocky Mountain National Park.

National Park Service officials in Washington, D.C., have not responded to Traveler questions about the reservations issues. Those issues go beyond the question of whether Booz Allen has piled "junk fees" onto the fees for processing, changing, and cancelling reservations to include whether "bots" have manipulated the system as well as whether the system rewards those with the fastest internet service. Some of those issues were reflected in the comments to Glacier's switch to Recreation.gov for backcountry permits.

  • I am concerned that the Reservation.gov reservation process will be more chaotic, and perhaps susceptible to bots. On the opening day, I would anticipate a crush of hikers trying to enter their proposed itineraries, only to have them rejected as campsites fill up. Then we'd all have to scramble to find alternate itineraries, which may not be possible due to time and distances required.
  • Glacier National Park should NOT move the reservation system for Wilderness Camping Permits to recreation.gov due to the inherent disadvantage it imposes on non-technologically savvy individuals. It is imperative that the reservation system be designed to promote equal access for all. Currently, the reservation process on recreation.gov is susceptible to exploitation by individuals who understand coding technology, thereby granting them an unfair advantage in acquiring road access and camping permit reservations, to the exclusion of all other individuals. If you don't know - now you know, the overreliance on recreation.gov has resulted in a situation where the reservation system is fatally flawed, as third-party bots can scoop up everything within a second of those sites becoming available. As a result, it is nearly impossible to book a campsite during the height of the season, which leaves the less technologically advantaged individuals behind and effectively denies them access to public lands that are meant to be enjoyed by all. This undermines the fundamental principle of non-discrimination at the core of NPS policies.
  • I am opposed to this plan. Backcountry travel and camping is one of the free remaining ways to enjoy a park without going through Recreation.gov which is not user friendly. It further erodes opportunities for people without access to high speed internet and six months advance planning, and adds a service fee to the camping fee. Most important, users of the Backcountry permit offices gain valuable face-to-face instruction and up to date information about trail conditions or closures and bear safety. Doing away with use of cash and first fome first serve camping already has had a negative effect on visitors of lower financial means.
  • Unless recreation.gov can treat all the March 15 applications equally, with a lottery, the system will be unfair to people and counties with slow internet connections. Recreation.gov's system for USFS campgrounds that get booked up in the first 3 seconds of each calendar day are like that. They are creepy.
  • It's not exactly clear, but it looks like the new system would not be lottery based but would instead be first come first served. If this is the set-up, it would make it nearly impossible to obtain reservations as everyone would be loading onto Recreation.gov at the same time and only a few people would have a chance to secure the permits who have the time and the resources to use recreation.gov at the time/date required to have a chance. I'm worried this would create inequitable results.
  • First: If you don't have access to the very best, highest speed internet you will NEVER get a campsite. Much of rural Montana doesn't have that kind of access so basically you are cutting out lower income people who can't afford the super high speed internet or don't have high speed internet available where they live. Have any of you people gone to the recreation.gov website and attempted to get a reservation for a high demand campsite, cabin or ticket entry? Like Glacier Parks Going to the Sun Road ticket. I challenge everyone making this decision to give it a try and see if you have any luck at all.

Another concern with the move is that the new system caps groups under one permit at four campers. Some of those who commented pointed out that that cap would adversely impact families of five or more.

  • My concern with the new system is the cap an 4 people per reservation. I have 3 kids making us a family of 5. Seems silly to need 2 reservations for my family. We will be staying in the same tent/tents and not need to use the 2nd site. I think exceptions need to be made for this type/family situation.
  • On the surface shifting to rec.gov for these wilderness camping permits sounds reasonable. There is one area; however, I feel is completely amiss. That is the reduction from 8 to 4 campers per permit. I feel this severely limits people making plans to visit the backcountry of Glacier. What happens when your group is 5, or 6, or even 8, which is often how we locals have used these permits. You have just forced me to limit my group to four.

But there were some who applauded the move to Recreation.gov.

  • My comment would be that this is a welcomed moved. Recreation.gov is used for so many other park's advanced reservations and it is easy to use. The pay.gov application [previously used by the park] felt outdated and not as user friendly as the interface you find with recreation.gov. 
  • This sounds like a wonderful change and hopefully easier on the Backcountry office. I very much enjoy using recreation.gov. Yellowstone National Park switched to recreation.gov, they have a lottery system in which you can apply from March 1st to 20th, then if you are selected you are given a day and time in which you can pick your back country campsite if it is available, if it isn't available you move to your next choice etc...
  • I've used Recreation.gov for reserving wilderness permits in the past and it's worked pretty well for the most part. One thing I would like to see in this proposal is more details about how the reservation slots will be made available, specifically whether or not the slots for the entire season will be made available all at once. One limitation of Recreation.gov's reservation system is that it does have live updates on the campsite selection page; this makes it hard to tell if your desired itinerary is available until after you've submitted it, and by that time you've already lost out on your Public Comments – Migration of Wilderness Permit Reservation System to Recreation.gov Glacier National Park 28 other itineraries for other dates. 
  • YES - Please move the Glacier reservation system to Recreation.Gov. It is much easier for all parties involved and you can have much more automation/control over how people are permitted into Glacier. I will be applying for a permit for my second year in a row, after having to book a different trip through rec.gov last year. 

Overall, though the bulk of the comments received by Glacier officials had a dim view of the move.

"Recreation.gov is one of the worst things to happen to the parks. We need far less of it, not more. I'm all for an advance reservation system, but not if it has anything to do with that deliberately clunky and terrible website," said one camper.

"Changing to recreation.gov would be so much worse of a system for a place as special and unique as glacier. The prior lottery system was thoughtful, fair, and preserved the area better than a free for all online approach would ever be," wrote another.

"This is a terrible idea. The lottery system, although in itself flawed, is far better than people using clickbots to snatch up coveted permits. This will be a disaster and people will be worse off for it," wrote aother.

A comment from the National Parks Conservation Association questioned whether the public comment period was being done by rote.

"The moving of the backcountry permit system from the lottery at pay.gov to online reservations at recreation.gov leaves us with many questions, especially given the timeline of this NEPA process. It feels as though the decision to move has already been made, so this public involvement is just box-checking," read the comment. "A real public process, that is planning to take concerns and questions raised into account, would not occur with a 15-day comment period that ends a month before the proposed change is going to happen. If GLAC were serious about this, either the comment period should have been done in summer/fall of 2022, or this open period should be for the changes to take place for the summer 2024 season."

You can find the 51 pages of comments by clicking on this link to download a PDF document of the comments.

Support National Parks Traveler

National Parks Traveler is a small, editorially independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit media organization. The Traveler is not part of the federal government nor a corporate subsidiary. Your support helps ensure the Traveler's news and feature coverage of national parks and protected areas endures. 

EIN: 26-2378789

Support Journalism about National Parks!

National Parks Traveler is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

A copy of National Parks Traveler's financial statements may be obtained by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: National Parks Traveler, P.O. Box 980452, Park City, Utah 84098. National Parks Traveler was formed in the state of Utah for the purpose of informing and educating about national parks and protected areas.

Residents of the following states may obtain a copy of our financial and additional information as stated below:

  • Florida: A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION FOR NATIONAL PARKS TRAVELER, (REGISTRATION NO. CH 51659), MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING 800-435-7352 OR VISITING THEIR WEBSITE WWW.FRESHFROMFLORIDA.COM. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.
  • Georgia: A full and fair description of the programs and financial statement summary of National Parks Traveler is available upon request at the office and phone number indicated above.
  • Maryland: Documents and information submitted under the Maryland Solicitations Act are also available, for the cost of postage and copies, from the Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis, MD 21401 (410-974-5534).
  • North Carolina: Financial information about this organization and a copy of its license are available from the State Solicitation Licensing Branch at 888-830-4989 or 919-807-2214. The license is not an endorsement by the State.
  • Pennsylvania: The official registration and financial information of National Parks Traveler may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling 800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.
  • Virginia: Financial statements are available from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, 102 Governor Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219.
  • Washington: National Parks Traveler is registered with Washington State’s Charities Program as required by law and additional information is available by calling 800-332-4483 or visiting www.sos.wa.gov/charities, or on file at Charities Division, Office of the Secretary of State, State of Washington, Olympia, WA 98504.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.