Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Arches Timed Entry topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident urges Grand County to back National Park Service timed-entry system for Arches, criticizes commissioners' transparency
Summary
Mary Moran, a Grand County resident, told commissioners Feb. 17 she supports the National Park Service timed-entry reservation system for Arches, argued reservations are simple and low-cost, and criticized some commissioners for a lack of transparency and a dismissive tone that discourages public participation.
Mary Moran addressed the Grand County Commission during the 'Citizens to be heard' period at 6:00 p.m. on Feb. 17, urging the county to support the National Park Service's timed-entry reservation system for Arches National Park and criticizing the tone of some commissioners.
Moran said she could not understand objections to the timed-entry system, arguing reservations are "simpler than making a hotel reservation" and noting, as spoken in the meeting, that "you only pay 2 dollars for the reservation." She said that the presence of a reservation fee and staffed operations benefit park resources — restrooms, exhibits and maintenance — and that reduced entrance fees and skeleton staffing (for example during the federal government shutdown) harmed park operations and funding.
Moran also urged the county to support the National Park Service's efforts, saying park staff live in Grand County and that the county should be supporting rather than opposing NPS policy. She praised an official named Trish for transparency and said some commissioners (she named 'Bill and Brian' in her remarks) campaigned on transparency and fiscal responsibility but had not met residents' expectations. Moran said dismissive or bullying comments by some commissioners discourage public attendance at meetings.
No commission response to Moran's remarks is recorded in the transcript. The meeting adjourned at 6:06 p.m.
