Earth Protect Blog

By Bruce Finley

The Denver Post

As more people leave cities seeking outdoor recreation on public land, Rocky Mountain National Park rangers are preparing, months ahead of the peak summer season, for a surge in visitors and associated strains.

Rocky Mountain National Park drew an estimated 4.4 million people in 2021, up by 1.1 million after a COVID-19 slump in 2020, and officials last week were anticipating a continued upward trajectory — in line with a decade-long climb by 50% to a record 4.6 million visitors in 2019.

A timed entry online reservation system similar to those implemented at urban art museums will operate here starting May 27 in an effort to control crowds.

The growing numbers include more people who miscalculate conditions and their abilities hiking in thin air, and park officials also are ramping up search and rescue capabilities. Rangers said they’re preparing, in addition, for more emergency medical calls for help as visitors suffer heart attacks, strokes and altitude sickness. They’re tasked with law enforcement, too — rangers carry guns — responding to vehicle collisions and trying to control speeders.

On top of all that, park rangers and staffers scramble to manage more trash and try to minimize degradation of delicate terrain such as meadow wetlands and high elevation tundra.

“We’re charged with making sure we protect the park for the people, protecting people in the park from people, and protecting people from the park,” chief ranger Jay Shields said. “We’ll see an ever-evolving and increasing search and rescue load, running the gamut from twisted ankles to people taking fatal falls.”

Yet staffing levels have decreased, as at other national parks, while challenges of coping with more people intensify.

For years, Rocky Mountain National Park — covering 415 square miles northwest of Denver with 60 peaks above 12,000 feet elevation — has ranked among the top parks for the number of searches and rescues. These have decreased, park records show, from 165 in 2017 to 120 last year, even as visitation increased.

An average of five visitors a year die in Rocky Mountain National Park, mostly from falls but also suicides.

The number of people flocking to national parks has been rising across the country amid an outdoor recreation boom, encouraged by state-backed tourism promotion and a rec industry that harnesses pristine natural areas as engines for economic growth.

And at Rocky Mountain National Park, a steady increase from 4.1 million visitors in 2015 led to a record 4.6 million in 2019. During 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic forced lockdowns in cities, the park still had 3.3 million visitors.

It has emerged as about the third most visited among the 63 national parks in the United States that Congress created to preserve natural beauty, geological features, diverse ecosystems and recreational opportunities. Overall, parks nationwide saw a 17% increase in visits between 2010 and 2019.

Those encompassing rugged mountain terrain faced some of the biggest increases during that time, including Great Smoky Mountains National Park (33%), Zion National Park (68%), Grand Teton National Park (28%), and the Great Sand Dunes National Park (86%).

The National Park Service is implementing timed-entry and other reservation systems at many parks this year, including Arches National Park, Glacier National Park, Acadia National Park, Muir Woods National Monument, Shenandoah National Park, Haleakala National Park and Zion National Park.

On one hand, more people driving out of cities for outdoor recreation “is amazing, a wonderful thing,” Rocky Mountain National Park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson said. On the other, more people overall means more who underestimate terrain and fast-changing weather. “It can kill you if you’re not prepared.”

Overwhelming summer surges in recent years have compelled more people to seek access during winter. Thousands now enter backcountry areas on winter weekends, including hundreds with snowboards and skis.

To cope with more people, rangers who once focused more on managing elk, moose and bears have been ramping up warnings, advising visitors to bring proper gear on hiking trails, take a cautious approach and minimize their impact.

“We’re trying to encourage folks to make good decisions,” said Mike Lukens, the park’s wilderness and climbing program supervisor. “We have growing winter populations and we’re focusing on avalanche awareness.”

Outdoor recreation groups have been pressing the National Park Service to deploy at least 1,000 more rangers, partly to monitor traffic and manage the online reservation systems regulating access to campsites and park entries.

“The record surges in national park visitation continue to present an already overburdened and underfunded national park staff with enormous, and often demoralizing, challenges on a daily basis,” said Tracy Coppola, a Denver-based program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, which advocates greater care as necessary to reduce degradation.

President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill is expected to pump $1.7 billion into parks for road, bridge and other development. A proposed government funding bill would add $2.9 million for National Park Service operations. Lawmakers are expected to consider that measure before spring. Bruce Finley: 303-954-1700, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or @finleybruce