Should the National Park Service allow a professional bike race to pedal through Zion National Park, up the steep, twisting Zion-Mount Carmel Highway and out the east entrance of the park?/Kurt Repanshek
National Park Service officials are evaluating a request to allow a professional bike race to launch its first stage with a steep climb out of Zion National Park in southwestern Utah.
It's months off, and details haven't been finalized, but organizers of the annual Tour of Utah bicycle race hope to start the week-long race through the park's red-rock canyon.
Professional bike racing and national parks long have been controversial -- years ago Yosemite National Park officials declined a request to run a race through Yosemite Valley, and more recently the Park Service declined a request for a pro bike race to weave through Colorado National Monument -- but the appeal of peletons streaming through the grandeur of a national park keeps race organizers coming back again and again to seek permission.
In the case of the 2016 Tour of Utah, organizers hope to start at Zion Canyon Village just outside the park's Springdale entrance, head through the park and the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel, out of the park, and then north on U.S. 89 to Cedar City.
"We're not quite sure how we're getting [to Cedar] yet," Jenn Andrs, the Tour's executive director, said Thursday when the 2016 tour was announced. "We've worked closely with the national parks in the past, and we do have a good relationship there, so we're hopeful."
The tour has been somewhat controversial with its national park connections in the past. In 2013, the tour's decision to pedal along Utah 12 through Bryce Canyon National Park and Utah 143 through Cedar Breaks National Monument -- drew complaints from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. The group's concern was that if the Park Service stood quietly back when it came to the Tour of Utah simply because the race will follow state-branded highways, would the agency permit a similar bike race down U.S. 191, which passes through a section of Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, one through Great Smoky Mountains National Park via U.S. 441, aka the Newfound Gap Road, or around Acadia National Park via State Route 3?
At the time, the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks (then known as the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees), sided with PEER and wished out loud that, "it would have been helpful for the National Park Service to work with the race organizers to issue a clear public message regarding the Tour of Utah and why it is being permitted on roads in the two park units."
Intermountain Regional Director Sue Masica said Thursday evening from her Denver office that the Park Service was reviewing the request, but hadn't made a decision for or against the race rolling through Zion.
"What we’ve tried to have is a structured process by which parks go through and evaluate the potential impacts and look at what’s proposed. Each race is different, each park is different, and we try to work through the regulatory and policy framework as to whether those events would be appropriate for the issuance of a special use permit for the event to proceed," she said.
Zion Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh, in an email, said, "We have been working with them to clarify the planning requirements associated with this event, specifically those involving public safety and traffic management concerns, which require resolution before the process could move forward."
In March 2011, during a public debate over whether the Quiznos Pro Challenge could run a leg through Colorado National Monument, Park Service Director Jon Jarvis said such an event was "neither necessary nor appropriate" for a unit of the National Park System.
“Closing the park to accommodate the needs of a commercial bike race goes against our management policies, would adversely impact park resources, and would deny access to the park to other visitors,” said the director at the time. “Federal law and NPS policy restrict commercial activities in national parks to those that are ‘necessary and appropriate’ to park purposes. This bike race is neither necessary nor appropriate in the park."
Comments
I think the Tour of Utah is appropriate for Zion. Im sure they will be in and out of there in no time. Many of the communities down here love the attention the Tour of Utah brings to there towns. Its not like the Ironman or Ragnar, where thousands of athletes are streatched out for miles and hours. I'm excited to see that Escalante is a host town and plan to go see it there. I went to the race celebration in Escalante a couple of years ago and it was a hoot. Many of the communities down here aren't getting the financial windfall that Springdale and SG are experiencing with the bump in tourism. I certainly understand the concerns of the NPS, but some communities and businees owners appreciate and need the media attention. I think a 30-60 minute delay in Zion is reasonable given the greater good the event brings to surrounding communities.
Mark, I think you might be underestimating the time of delay. I'd figure more like three or four hours, at least, when you factor in set-up, support wagons, TV film crews, take down, and cleanup.
You'd also have to close both the south and east entrances to the park to visitor traffic in mid-August, little more than a week before the National Park Service Centennial on August 25.
Even if you could sort those things out, how would you deal with spectators? Would they be allowed along the road? How many would want to walk up that highway? Porta-potties?
And then, of course, there are the folks who already have reservations at Zion Lodge for that period. What would their reaction be if they motored up to the park the morning of August 16 and were told they had to wait for several hours for a bike race to pass through?
These are questions the NPS hopefully will find good answers to.
Kurt,
Two years ago, when they went through Escalante, between the first Utah High Patrol vehicle and the last, it was all of about 20 minutes, and that includes one poor guy that was almost 10 minutes behind the peloton. The whole town came out. We all had matching Tour of Utah t-shrts. Even the Mayor brought out all of his old tracktors to line the road. It was a great event and one of the few events that brings together our community. We even had a beer garden and cooked brats the night before.
The TV cameras were on motorcycles. All of the set up is by the movie theatre in Springdale and not in the park according to the press release. Unless you have actually seen a race like the Tour of California, Tour of Utah, etc. you don't realize how quickly they go by. And with Zion being at the start of the race when the race is its most compacted (ie...no sorry rider off the group), it should be quick.
Have you seen one of these races? If not, it would be very difficult to form an educated opinion. I guaranteee you that you are way off base on the 3-4 hours. From what information did you form that opinion?
Again, I'm a resident of Garfield County and if Zion has to have a 30 minute delay to beam my neighboorhood and business to all of those worldwide viewers, I think it is well worth it. We count on tourism dollars these days. We arent getting the $300 room nights that Springdale is getting. We need the marketing and the Tour of Utah is a great avenue. I am biased in that I used to race bikes many years and pounds ago and love to see the top racers in the world on my roads and small town. If you haven't seen one of these events, I do think you need to actually see one before you jump to conclusions. These races are 4-5 hours from point A to point B and don't impact one locale for more than 15-30 minutes.
We have had the Pro Challange Tour come through Breckenridge for the last several years so I can speak from some experience. Delays tend to be relatively short maybe an hour or two for most of the course as there is no "set up" or "shut down". Starts and finishes do have longer delays. However Zion, with its shuttle system seems like it could handle it well. After a few hours of delay in the morning, the shuttles could start to run within minutes of the race's start. The East entrance would have to remain closed for a little longer as they wait from the bike to clear. Once they are through it could open immediately.
As to people along the route, my expereince is that except for starts, finishes and summits, the spectators along the way are relatively sparse.
Dozens of towns small and large have found the disruptions very worthwhile, perhaps the NPS could find it worthwhile too.
I hear you Mark, but Springdale and Zion National Park are not Escalante. And visitation levels at the park are going through the roof, and can only be expected to grow next year with the NPS Centennial.
This summer Zion experienced pretty significant delays, both in getting through the park entrance at Springdale and getting on shuttles to explore the canyon. Putting a bike race in front of all those visitors is no small matter.
Your day being interrupted for an estimated period of time is fine for the greater good of me being able to ride my bike.
A statement like that definitely positions the speaker on one end of a discussion, and I'm not certain that it is a position that will give full value to the park's concerns.
Rick,
Who said that? I simply said I'm a bike race fan and think the short delay in the park was worth it for all of the communities in southern Utah. I don't think anyone said they would inconvenience the park and its visitors simply so they could ride their bike. Although I do recall years ago, they did close the road and tunnel in Zion for a community walk through the park. This impact seems small compared to that.
You can't compare Breckenridge to Zion as Breck was a Time Trial last year. Time Trials are long interupptions to communities. Again, I think as a location with no required set up (in the park) it is going to take 15-30 minutes at any one location and less than an hour from gate to gate. I agreee with ebuck, the crowds are at the finish lines. Other than the few hundred people in Escalante and I heard a couple of thousand in Torrey, the spectators are scarse along the route. Its midweek and the races start in the morning.
I for one, hopes this does happen. I'm sure the NPS will do its due diligence and require a plan that protects the park and visitors. I just hope they look beyond the gates and Springdale and see that yes, the gateway communities in Utah are doing great, but others such as Panguitch, Escalante, Kanab, etc, also rely on those tourism dollars and we aren't seeing the cash registers ring like Springdale.
But then, nobody made that statement. Ah, but that doesn't matter, it makes a good strawman for you to attack.