This is a reproduction of the mailing sent out August 11, 2005 by the ZNP Backcountry Planning Team. Some typos may have crept in. If you would like your own hard copy, call the park: 435-772-7827

Dear Friend Of Zion National Park:

The National Park Service (NPS) is preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of a Backcountry Management Plan for Zion National Park.

You are invited to become part of the planning effort by assisting us in identifying issues to be addressed and later by reviewing and providing comments on the draft document. At this time, we are soliciting information to include in the plan and issues that should be considered. For your convenience, a comment form is attached to this scoping notice.

You are also invited to participate in open house sessions where park staff will be available to provide information and answer questions about backcountry management planning. Open house locations and dates are identified below.

Backcountry Management Planning for Zion National Park

The Zion National Park General Management Plan (GMP) was completed in 2001. The GMP outlines goals and objectives and desired future conditions for management of Park lands. The plan also identified management zones that prescribe a unique combination of physical, biological, social, and managerial conditions. The management zones include: frontcountry high development, frontcountry low development, transitions, primitive, pristine and research natural area zones, as well as a small portion of the transition zone.

The majority of the backcountry in Zion National Park has been recommended to Congress for wilderness designation under the 1964 Wilderness Act. The backcountry plan will include all areas within the recommended wilderness. Management of over 95 percent of the park will be addressed through this planning process.

Zion National Park is using a process known as VERP (Visitor Experience and Resource Protection) to determine the amount of visitation that can be allowed in a particular area of the park without detrimentally affecting cultural and natural resources or backcountry visitor experiences. Information from this process will be incorporated into the backcountry plan.

GMP Management Zones Included in the Backcountry Plan Primitive Zone: Visitors have opportunities to experience the park's wildlands. The landscape is largely undisturbed, with natural processes predominating. Development is limited to narrow unpaved trails. Campsites may be designated. Pristine Zone: Visitors have the feeling of being entirely alone in the park's remote and isolated wildlands. Visitors have a chance to experience a natural landscape. Routes and paths may be defined and maintained to prevent resource damage. Research Natural Area (RNA) Zone: RNAs are areas designated for ecological research and education and/or to maintain biological diversity. They are generally in areas with little human disturbance. RNAs are closed to recreational use. Transition Zone: Only areas of this zone that fall within the recommended wilderness are included in this plan, such as portions of the Observation Point Trail and the Lower Narrows. This zone emphasizes day-use opportunities. Visitors have the opportunity to view many of the park's prime resources via well-developed trails.

Backcountry Management Goals and Objectives

Visitors traveling through the backcountry of Zion should have the opportunity for a variety of personal outdoor experiences, ranging from solitary to social. Visitors should be able to experience the backcountry with as little influence from the modem world as possible. The visitor experience should relate intimately to the splendor of the wilderness resources of Zion. With this in mind, the goals and objectives for the management of backcountry and wilderness resources and values in Zion are as follows:

Goals

- Protect and conserve the park's natural and cultural resources and values, and the integrity of the wilderness character for present and future generations.
- Provide for the maximum freedom of public use and enjoyment of the park's backcountry in a manner that is consistent with park purposes, wilderness management and the protection of park resources and values.
- Provide for public understanding and support of wilderness values.

Objectives

- Serve as guidance for field and management staff in application of wilderness.management techniques and integration of wilderness management objectives into other associated aspects of park management.
- Provide a broad range of opportunities to facilitate backcountry use while protecting the park's natural, cultural, and wilderness resources.
- Apply policies consistently, thereby enhancing backcountry users' experiences and ensuring compliance with applicable regulations.
- Develop and implement a public information and education program to promote Leave No Trace skills and wilderness ethics in order to reduce behaviors that are harmful to natural and cultural resources and backcountry experiences.
- Instill and apply the Minimum Requirement Concept into park management actions and practices.
- Base management decisions on sound, scientific information. Incorporate new data and information, as necessary, into a dynamic wilderness management program.
- Identify and conserve the outstanding remarkable values of the park backcountry.

Why does Zion need a Backcountry Management Plan?

The purpose of the backcountry management plan is to provide guidelines for the NPS to manage these areas now and into the future. The plan should identify a variety of opportunities for visitors to experience the backcountry in Zion while protecting park natural and cultural resources, and wilderness values. The plan will also further refine decisions outlined in the 2001 GMP. Backcountry planning in Zion is needed because:

- The need was identified through the GMP process by both the public and the NPS. The GMP identifies the following topics to be considered as part of the backcountry planning process: appropriate uses and use levels by hikers and saddle stock; minimum requirement documentation guidelines that apply to all administrative decisions within the recommended wilderness; general resource issues including visitor and resource impacts, reservation systems, human waste, signs, resource monitoring, and fire management; use levels and locations; resource issues associated with canyoneering and climbing; strategies for managing water use in and from the park's recommended wilderness; and whether or not commercial guiding should be allowed in some areas of recommended wilderness.

- NPS policy requires a backcountry management plan. NPS Management Policies (2001) require that all recommended wilderness be managed in the same manner as congressionally designated wilderness, in order to retain those wilderness values until such time Congress acts to designate wilderness or release the lands to other park uses. In addition, the NPS Planning Guidelines (DO-2) requires the completion of a backcountry management plan.

- Overnight and day-use has steadily and dramatically increased since the mid-1980s. With significantly increasing use and the potential for resource impacts it is important to review and revise the park's management prescriptions and regulations with respect to overnight and day-use, and the permitting process.

- New technology continues to play a role in how backcountry areas are used by the public and managed by the NPS. These changes require agencies to consider new ways to protect natural and cultural resources and enhance backcountry visitor experience. Appropriate uses need to be articulated and best management practices provided.

Have preliminary issues and alternatives been identified?

At this stage of the planning process, we are identifying issues that should be addressed in the backcountry management plan. Preliminary alternative plans have not yet been formulated. Several preliminary issues have been identified by Zion National Park staff and are outlined below.

- Backcountry permits are currently required for all overnight trips. They are also required for day-use in the following areas: any of the park's technical slot canyons, through hikes in the Zion Narrows, and any trip into any portion of the Left Fork of North Creek (The Subway). Interim use limits, based on zoning, have been in place for the park's canyoneering routes . since2003. Canyons within the Primitive Zone(Subway, Orderville, Pine Creek, and Keyhole) are limited to 50 people per day. Canyons within the Pristine Zone (Mystery, Spry, and others) are limited to 12people per day. Are these interim use limits appropriate?

- The group size limit through the majority of the park's backcountry is currently 12 people. The GMP requires that this group size limit be re-examined through the backcountry planning process. Should the group size limit be modified?

- Commercial guiding is currently not permitted in any of the park's recommended wilderness. The GMP does not allow commercial guiding in the Pristine Zone. Should commercial guiding be allowed in the Primitive Zone? How will commercial guiding affect visitors backcountry experiences?

- The backcountry is managed under NPS policies as well as the Wilderness Act. What additional measures should be taken to further protect the natural and cultural resources, and wilderness values? Or is current backcountry management too strict regarding the protection of these resources and values?

What's next?

The interdisciplinary planning team will review all of the public comments received. Relevant issues and alternatives from public comments will be incorporated into the Draft Plan/EA. The Draft Backcountry Management Plan/EA should be available for public review and comment next fall.

If you wish to remain on the mailing list and receive future information about this Plan/EA, please check the box on the comment form, print your name and mailing address, and return to the park address listed above.

Thank you for your interest in Zion National Park and your participation in the development of the Backcountry Management Plan and associated Environmental Assessment. If you have questions regarding this process, please contact Ray O'Neil, Park Ranger, Zion National Park, (435) 772-7827.