Musings About The Parks: Are Crowds Damaging The Park Brand?

Congressional hearings often are about as interesting as the proverbial paint drying on walls, but on Tuesday the question of overcrowding in the National Park System will be dissected by a House subcommittee and the discussion could prove illuminating at times.

It's not a new question, but rather a pretty well worn one. Crowds have prompted variations of reservation systems to kick in across the National Park System, either temporarily or permanently, at Acadia, Arches, Glacier, Rocky Mountain, and Yosemite national parks, while other parks have turned to reservations to try to manage crowds in specific areas, such as Angels Landing at Zion National Park, Old Rag at Shenandoah National Park, and Laurel Falls at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Crowds also have been an issue for the ski industry. Attracting more skiers and snowboarders long has been the industry's goal, though recently some resorts are realizing crowds can ruin the experience.

“Business was fantastic — we were having record years — but we thought the brand was really being damaged and the foundation of our business was crumbling," Alan Henceroth, the chief operating officer at Arapaho Basin in Colorado, told the New York Times for a story about ski resorts being too crowded.

Which brings us back to the National Park System. Is the experience you encounter mid-summer at Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Zion, Acadia, and other parks damaged by crowds? Back in February nearly 75 percent of those who responded to a National Parks Traveler poll about crowds in the parks said the parks are too crowded, and 55 percent (186 of roughly 350 responses) said the crowds forced them to vacation elsewhere.

Tuesday's hearing [1 p.m. Eastern, https://youtu.be/v2tK7SbdpT8] of the House Natural Resources Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will feature Zion Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh discussing his park's approach to crowds, particularly at Angels Landing, with a separate panel comprised of Frank Dean, president & CEO of the Yosemite Conservancy, Hannah Downey, policy director, Property and Environment Research Center [PERC], and Will Rice, PhD, assistant professor of Outdoor Recreation and Wildland Management at the University of Montana.

That second panel could provide the most interesting discussion, as PERC in the past has favored higher fees to reduce crowding. Other suggestions over the years have called for mandatory shuttle systems, reservations for general park entrance, changes to the marketing of national parks, and even charging entrance fees for children.

There are some who believe some parks need more parking to accommodate more visitors.

"The infrastructure of Arches National Park was designed in the 1950s. They built the one entrance, one entry road," Michael Liss told CBS News earlier this year. "The parking lots have grown, you know, a little bit over the years, but substantially nothing has changed in 70 years. So, when I look at this, it's like, isn't it time to upgrade the park?"

(It should be noted, however, that Liss previously was behind a push to build a 2,000-car lot across from Arches.)

Whether Tuesday's hearing will lead to any 'Aha!' moments remains to be seen. But at the very least, those parks that are most crowded and struggling both to manage the crowds and protect park resources should establish a daily capacity number and stick to it until solutions are found. That's what the National Park Service Organic Act spelled out when it directed the Park Service to place preservation of the resource above enjoyment by the masses.