National parks and public lands have been crushed over the past five years between an increase in visitation and a more than $25 billion maintenance backlog. On Tuesday, Gov. Spencer Cox called on the federal government to do something about it.
Cox signed his name next to that of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, on a bipartisan letter in support of a wide range of outdoor recreation legislation. The letter was sent by the Western Governors’ Association to Senate leaders. Lujan Grisham is the chair of the WGA, which according to its website represents the 22 westernmost states and territories, and Cox is the vice chair.
The letter encouraged the Senate to approve increases in funding for workers, worker housing, visitor facilities, infrastructure and management planning. It asked legislators to push federal agencies to use technology to reduce overcrowding by spreading visitors to less congested areas. It also called upon lawmakers to work across agencies and with state and local governments to make the borders between various forms of public lands more permeable.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Gov. Spencer Cox talks about public lands during a news conference at the Capitol, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024.
“The West’s world-class outdoor recreation destinations draw increasing numbers of visitors each year,” the governors’ letter said in part. “However, those areas need support, infrastructure, and tools to manage increasing levels of recreation while maintaining these resources for the enjoyment of all, and for future generations.”
Cox’s call for help comes not long after he criticized the federal government for not putting enough resources into its maintenance of public lands. Indeed, the letter comes just a couple weeks after Utah officials, including Cox, filed a lawsuit asserting the state should have priority over the federal government when it comes to managing public lands within the state’s boundaries. In particular, the lawsuit takes aim at land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, which accounts for 34% of the state.
All together, the federal government owns and manages almost two-thirds of Utah’s land.
“It is obvious to all of us,” Cox said in a press conference announcing the lawsuit, “that the federal government has increasingly failed to keep our lands accessible and properly managed.”
Several of those issues are at play in two companion pieces of legislation currently being considered by the Senate: America’s Outdoor Recreation Act and the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act. The EXPLORE Act was passed by the House of Representatives in April and the America’s Outdoor Recreation Act was introduced in the Senate in 2023.
Last year, the National Parks experienced more than 325 million visits. That’s the fourth most since the National Parks Service began tracking visitation in 1904, when visitation was at 120,690. In Utah, Arches saw 1.48 million visits in 2023 and Zion saw 4.6 million. As use of the parks has grown, so has the cost of operating them. A 2020 Congressional study found NPS had a $14.37 billion deferred maintenance backlog.
But the NPS is just one agency. The Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service also oversee public land management for the federal government in the Western States. Combined, the four agencies have a deferred maintenance backlog that will cost an estimated $25.87 billion to remedy.
To address that, the WGA asked Congress to finance the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund beyond 2025. That fund, established in 2020 as part of the Great American Outdoors Act, committed up to $1.9 billion per year toward deferred maintenance on national public lands for a five-year period. It is mostly paid for by fees and royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling operations in federal waters. Additional funds, the WGA suggested, could be found by exploring more public-private partnerships.
Further complicating matters, each of those four federal agencies has its own rules, priorities and directives when it comes to recreation and conservation. To cut down on the confusion and consternation those varying regulations can cause, the Western Governors Association, per its letter, called for “coordination across federal land management agencies to provide users with a faster and more accessible experience.” In particular, the group is asking for the permitting process for outfitters and guides to be streamlined.
Above all, though the WGA stressed that Congress keep in mind that changes in the management of federal lands have a trickle-down effect — for better or for worse — on nearby communities.
“Management decisions made within federal boundaries shape regional economic development and tourism, and particularly gateway communities, whose economies are highly reliant on tourism,” the group’s letter said. “Western Governors appreciate the provisions [in the legislation before the Senate] that direct agencies to coordinate with gateway communities to identify needs and economic effects on gateway communities.”