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County official urges mitigation over visitor caps in proposed Zion system; asks for longer Lake Powell concession terms
Summary
County representatives told the Resource Development Committee they favor managing visitor conflicts and investing in infrastructure rather than time-entry reservation systems at Zion National Park and asked that Lake Powell concession contracts be extended to at least 10 years to encourage private investment.
Celeste Malloy, speaking to the Kane County Resource Development Committee, urged federal and state partners to prioritize on-the-ground fixes and user-conflict mitigation rather than relying on time-entry reservation systems at Zion National Park. "If you ask a 100 people if they would rather have a crowded park experience or no park experience, 100 people will say that they'd rather have a crowded park experience," Malloy said, arguing that reduced visitation is not the only path to lower impacts.
Malloy outlined a two-pronged county approach: coordinated visitor-use management for Zion and policy changes at Lake Powell. For Lake Powell, she asked that concessionaires be offered longer contracts — "a minimum of 10 years" — so operators such as Aramark can justify investments in infrastructure, staffing and docks. "If they put significant investment into infrastructure and staffing... it's not just gonna be cut off next year," she said.
On Zion, Malloy asked the committee to press park managers for alternatives to expanding reservation or timed-entry systems, to prioritize repairing damaged trails and to seek a 12-month extension of a planned prohibition on oversized vehicles. Malloy said the ban is scheduled to start in June 2026 but that the infrastructure to support the prohibition (for example, shuttle connections and parking on the East Side) is not in place. "There's this political momentum to not allow oversized vehicles... there's not the infrastructure in place to support that prohibition," she said.
Commissioners and other members of the committee generally supported Malloy's outreach strategy and offered examples of past federal engagement. One member said contacting congressional offices had, in prior cases, accelerated reviews and reversed requirements such as a section 7 consultation for local projects. The committee also noted modest operational wins: Malloy said Cape Royal and Imperial Point were opened at least through Nov. 30, providing limited North Rim access for visitors despite closures elsewhere.
The committee did not adopt a formal motion on the Zion plan during this meeting. Members discussed next steps for advocacy — including working with Utah's delegation and the Constitutional Defense Council — and flagged coordination with the Utah Office of Tourism, the National Park Service and state parks as key to any strategy. The meeting proceeded to other agenda items after the discussion.
Next steps: committee members said they would continue coordination with state and federal partners and raise county priorities in upcoming interagency meetings and with congressional contacts.
