Bryce Canyon superintendent reports 18% visitor rise, new local-hire authority and plans to ease trail conflicts

Alana Wollbrick, acting superintendent at Bryce Canyon National Park, updated the Garfield County Commission on park operations, staffing changes and steps the National Park Service is taking to reduce user‑group conflicts on trails.

Wollbrick told commissioners the park recorded roughly an 18% increase in visitation in March compared with the prior year and that preliminary revenue is also up. “We were up 18%,” Wollbrick said, noting the lodge facilities and shuttles are operating and that seasonal staff have returned.

The Park Service has a new, one‑year field‑unit local‑hire authority included in the 2026 appropriation, Wollbrick said. Under that authority, field units may directly hire local applicants for jobs up to GS‑9, and certain maintenance positions may be filled up to WG‑15. “It gives DOI field units … the ability to advertise positions to locals,” Wollbrick said; the park has already advertised two positions and plans local outreach through post offices and school job fairs.

Wollbrick said the park received an exception to extend seasonal employee hours from about 1,040 hours to 1,500 hours per season, allowing staff to work longer into shoulder seasons. She said the park is also pursuing permanent positions and working to shorten furlough windows so workers keep seasonal continuity.

On infrastructure, Wollbrick described several projects under way or planned: a Shared East Path project to reach overlooks expected to restart May 1, a future water‑main replacement funded through the Great American Outdoors program (construction likely next year), and a sewer‑lagoon expansion that she said is on track to finish in June. She said the park received a state grant to install a vault toilet at Bryce Point Overlook and is working through legal and compliance steps.

The superintendent said park staff will waive an insurance requirement for one irrigation report and will send park GIS staff to help the Tropic irrigation company with mapping. She also said the park is working with Verizon to expand equipment on an existing cell tower to improve service.

Commissioners and Wollbrick spent substantial time on trail‑use conflicts. The park has evaluated private‑rider and concessionaire operations and completed a pre‑NEPA compliance review that recommended keeping user groups separate in many areas and developing adjacent alternate trails and tie‑up areas to reduce interactions. “We basically find ways to just separate the user groups,” Wollbrick said, describing a streamlined approach short of a full NEPA process. She said the assistant secretary’s office will receive a briefing and that site visits with county staff are planned.

Commissioners asked about safety, disease risk from shared water troughs, and how alternate trail connections might be built; Wollbrick agreed to help arrange site visits and continue coordination with county trail staff. She said the park will keep local leaders informed through ongoing gateway‑community meetings and a May 7 outreach session at the park.

Wollbrick closed by emphasizing the park’s interest in hiring locally and in maintaining access: the local‑hire authority and extended seasonal hours are intended to help retain staff and support visitor services while the Park Service balances public‑access directives and safety for concession operations.

The presentation ran from the commission’s recognition items into lengthy discussion of operations, hiring and trail management; commissioners asked for follow‑up site visits and further briefings from the assistant‑secretary level.