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| The line to enter Canyonlands National Park can stretch up to two hours. (Photo by Niki Chan Wylie) |
The hospitality sector is having a hard time hiring nationwide; in towns slammed with tourists, the need is even more dire. One McDonald's in Moab, Utah, is hiring workers starting at $18 an hour.
Another issue: The mess and crowds are triggering complaints from residents and visitors. "Many residents say they are increasingly frustrated, as graffiti and piles of human waste are appearing where people are camping far from toilets, trash cans and any law enforcement. In addition, more visitors are parking illegally, walking along roadways not intended for pedestrians, and spilling off designated trails and damaging fragile soil crust, according to park officials," Pohle reports. "Some tourists say their visits are less enjoyable because they are surrounded by Disneyland-caliber crowds at popular attractions like Delicate Arch" in Utah.
Park staff are finding it difficult to keep parks clean and deal with crowds. "Funding for the national parks hasn’t increased in proportion to visitation. Between 2011 and 2019, the National Park Service lost 16 percent of its staffing capacity while at the same time witnessing a 17% increase in visitation," Pohle reports. "The Biden administration has proposed an increase in funding for U.S. national parks in its budget for next year."
1 comment:
Unfortunately, it's not just the national parks dealing with this trend. Small tourist towns such as Glen Rose, Texas, are seeing an influx of tourists with bad behavior. They are parking illegally along the Paluxy River's "Big Rocks" city park, climbing over barricades when the park was closed recently due to flooding, leaving trash, even setting up grills along the riverbanks. Many of these visitors fill up their ice coolers and gas up in other cities, so they don't necessarily spend money and boost the local economy. Some even sleep in their cars.
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