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Yosemite overwhelmed by traffic, crowds as park ends reservation system
Even before the summer travel rush began this Memorial Day weekend, Yosemite National Park was seeing enormous crowds—more than 836,000 visits so far in 2026, according to National Park Service data, about 100,000 more than this time last year.
During the pandemic, Yosemite started using some form of reservation system to manage crowds. Yosemite had one of its busiest seasons in 2025, with about 2.9 million visits through August, up 7% from the same period in 2024. Despite the high visitation rates, the National Park Service announced in February that Yosemite would not require timed-entry reservations in 2026, saying a review of 2025 traffic and parking data showed that a season-wide reservation requirement was not the most effective approach.
Last weekend, wait times to get into the park exceeded 90 minutes, and in some cases visitors were told to turn around. Once inside, visitors experienced completely full parking lots and overcrowding at popular sites within the park. Andranik Arakelyan, a visitor who previously opposed reservation systems acknowledged their value, saying, “There’s just not enough capacity, like infrastructure and the employees to handle all of this traffic.”
“Without any limits on the amount of vehicles, the amount of people, it becomes overwhelmed,” said John Buckley, Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center executive director. “The best accessibility is when there’s managed park conditions so that the number of vehicles is balanced with the amount of parking and the capacity of the roads,” said Buckley.
Quick hits Yosemite overwhelmed by traffic and crowds as park ends reservation systemABC7 News | San Francisco Chronicle
Wyoming lawmaker aims to block future roadless areas despite overwhelming support for roadless protections Billionaire buys Idaho state trust land to keep it undeveloped Residents of Mountain West towns warned they could run out of water after a terrible winter turns to a summer of drought Could changes at the U.S. Forest Service impact wildfire response in Oregon? Wyoming BLM in a bind between DOGE firings’ impacts and energy development push Essay: Treat water like family, not profit Podcast: The most underrated sites at America’s national parks Quote of the dayThe Forest Service’s own assessment found that building roads in these areas would actually increase the risk of fire, and another analysis shows that 85% of wildfires are human-caused.”
—Representative Andrea Salinas of Oregon, WyoFile
Picture ThisWaves shimmer beneath the cliffs of Channel Islands National Park, where golden wildflowers bloom brightly above the Pacific.
Have a peaceful Sunday!
Photo by Tim Hauf
Featured image: Source: Yosemitenps
The post Yosemite overwhelmed by traffic, crowds as park ends reservation system appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.
New legislation would freeze staff cuts at land management agencies
U.S. Representatives Joe Neguse of Colorado and Jared Huffman of California introduced a bill to halt potential layoffs at public land management agencies through fiscal year 2030.
The Public Lands Workforce Stability Act would reinstate a moratorium on layoffs that expired earlier this year for the Interior department and the U.S. Forest Service.
Neguse and Huffman note that the Trump administration’s firings, buyouts, and early retirements have created staffing shortfalls on public lands. The Interior department has lost 25 percent of its workforce since the start of 2025, and the Forest Service has lost about 16 percent.
“At a time when our public lands and nearby communities are struggling with water, climate, and wildfire crises, we cannot afford to lose any more expertise,” Huffman, ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement.
How a private billionaires’ club took over the Crazy Mountains
In the latest episode of The Landscape podcast, Floodlight News reporter Evan Simon joins Aaron and Kate to break down a controversial Forest Service land swap in Montana’s Crazy Mountains that quietly gave the owners of the Yellowstone Club—a private club for billionaires—near-exclusive access to what should be public land, and how Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s involvement in the club raises ethical concerns.
Quick hits Trump officials say they can build 250-foot arch without Congress’s approval Former NPS officials push back on Big Bend border plans Lawmakers swore the Boundary Waters vote wasn’t about greenlighting a mine. Their actions say otherwise Underground coal fire in Colorado prompts emergency wildfire prevention project Lawmakers look to freeze staff cuts at land management agencies Federal agencies share ideas for boosting veterans’ access to outdoor recreation on public lands National parks are struggling, summer crowds are coming Conservation groups, Forest Service add new public land near Yellowstone National Park Quote of the dayThis is your land. Your wilderness. Your water. And they’re handing it to a Chilean mining company that paid a former cabinet secretary $380,000 to make sure they could take your copper and ship it to China.”
—Jim Pattiz, filmmaker and conservationist, on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, More Than Just Parks
Picture This @nationalparkserviceWhen you reappear in people’s lives after inexplicably disappearing for several months…
Spring and early summer are periods of increased bear activity in many parks. Bears may be moving through habitat, asking about your car’s extended warranty, searching for food or protecting cubs. Visitors can reduce the chance of a dangerous encounter by staying alert, hiking in groups, making noise in low-visibility areas, not talking about your car warranty, storing food and trash properly and never approaching bears.
Visitors should check current park alerts before their trip and follow park-specific bear safety guidance. Bear species, terrain, food storage rules and bear spray recommendations can vary across parks.
Learn more ways to stay safe around bears at: NPS.gov
(Featured image: A Bureau of Land Management employee in the Johnson Valley OHV Area, California. Photo by Jesse Pluim, BLM; Flickr)
The post New legislation would freeze staff cuts at land management agencies appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.
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