Case Studies - What has been done elsewhere?
Yellowstone National Park, WY:
Source: http://www.volcanoes.usgs.gov
Yellowstone National Park is one of the most popular national parks in the entire national park system, with almost three million visitors annually. This leads to conflicts between the need to provide adequate facilities and recreational opportunities and the preservation of wildlife and natural lands. Recent or proposed construction includes new employee housing throughout the park and the mining of gravel within the park for road-building.
Snowmobile use in the park during winter season has also sparked controversy in recent years. In 2003, the Bush administration announced a decision to allow continued use of snowmobiles led by commercial outfitters in the park. This reverses an earlier Park Service move to gradually phase out their use in favor of quieter and less polluting alternatives by 2003-2004. The use of snowmobiles has been demonstrated to cause clear impacts on air quality, human health, and wildlife in the area. Current park policy allows 720 snowmobiles in the park per day, all of which must be commercially guided. This plan will be implemented through the 2006-2007 season.
Currently, the roads within the park are undergoing construction so as to expand all principle roads to a 30 foot width. As of July 2003, over half of the park’s roads had been repaired to meet this standard. As well, under-utilized parking areas near streams and the Eastern Entrance of the park will be modified to become less intrusive on the surrounding environment
Denali National Park & Preserve, AK:
Source: http://www.americanadventures.com
Denali National Park represents an interesting approach to park management. There is one entrance road to the park which is ninety miles in length, most of which is unpaved and not accessible to private vehicles. Visitors to the park must purchase tickets on the shuttle bus system, which operates the entire length of the ninety-mile park road. In this way, park managers can control the number of individuals in the park at any time, as well as centralize the impacts of tourism along one corridor of use.
There are five established campgrounds in the park, all located at points along the entrance road. Visitors are allowed to camp a total of fourteen days per year in these designated campgrounds. Permits are required for backcountry hiking, all of which must be obtained on site. Day hikers do not have to obtain such permits, and are even encouraged to walk off trail from the shuttle road.
Source: http://www.nps.gov
Established in 1975, Voyageurs National Park is located in northern Minnesota, near the town of International Falls. The park hosts about 235,000 visitors a year, many of which are canoeists, kayakers, and other boaters. With fewer than ten miles of road, visitors are required to leave the cars behind to experience the park. Camping permits are required for all overnight stays in the park, and all 200 developed campsites are only reachable by boat.