Romney, rest of Utah delegation sign letter opposing reservation system for Zion National Park

U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney and the rest of Utah's congressional delegation have all signed on to a letter urging the National Park Service against using a reservation system for Zion National Park.

Addressed to the U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary David L. Bernhardt, it expresses concern over the National Park Service's decision to move forward with a capacity study that could result in a mandated reservation system for Zion National Park.

Park officials have been searching for ways to mitigate the impacts of overcrowding at Zion. The number of people visiting the park has jumped from an estimated 2.8 million visitors in 2010 to more than 4.3 million in 2018.

Among the proposed solutions is a reservation system that would require people to sign up before they could get in, especially during the peak-season times when traffic entering the park's main canyon backs up into the neighboring town of Springdale.

More: Zion National Park ranks 3rd in U.S. for number of visitors

The letter states that the state's members of Congress wanted to "reiterate our strong opposition to any reservation system and instead request that (the National Park Service) give ample consideration to locally-driven alternative solutions that preserve visitor access and enjoyment."

The letter, dated Feb. 10, 2020, is signed by Romney and Sen. Mike Lee, along with all four of the state's members of the House of Representatives: Rob Bishop, Chris Stewart, John Curtis and Ben McAdams.

As the fourth most visited national park in the country, Zion National Park is a "pillar" of the local tourism economy, the letter states. If the National Park Service's study concludes that a reservation system is necessary, "it would likely result in reduced visitation and negative economic impacts."

The letter then mentions several other proposed solutions, such as improved public outreach, state and local investment in trails, and shuttle system changes to manage peak visitation.

"We urge the Department to carefully evaluate these proposals rather than pursuing burdensome visitor limitations and reservation systems," according to the letter.

Overcrowding's impact

Zion National Park officials first proposed a reservation system as a solution to overcrowding in 2017, The Spectrum previously reported.

The park ranked as the fourth busiest in the U.S. in 2018 with an estimated 4.3 million visitors. Only Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, with 11.3 million visitors, the Grand Canyon National Park, at 6.3 million, and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, at 4.6 million, drew more.

In 2019, it saw its busiest-ever summer with an average of over half-a-million visitors per month.

More: 100 years of Zion National Park: What you probably didn’t know about Utah’s oldest park

Hosting so many visitors comes at the cost of worn down roads and trails, increased trampling of vegetation and soil erosion, exacerbated issues with trash removal and facility maintenance, backed up traffic into the park's main entrance and overcrowding on shuttle services, according to the preliminary studies released in 2017 that recommended a reservation system be considered.

Additionally, at that time, more than 30 miles of unofficial, visitor-created "trails" had been recorded in the main canyon alone.

Economic impact

Tourism to southwest Utah’s national parks and monuments brought more than $1 billion to the local economy in 2018, according to a National Park Service report.

Zion's 4.3 million visitors spent an estimated $246 million while in southern Utah in 2018, according to the report, supporting some 4,130 jobs and pumping an estimated $327 million total in total economic output.

Kaitlyn Bancroft reports on faith, health, education, crime and under-served communities for The Spectrum & Daily News, a USA TODAY Network newsroom in St. George, Utah. You can reach her at KBancroft@thespectrum.com, or follow her on Twitter @katbancroft.