Under a new Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plan, more people will be allowed in fragile areas of the Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness in Arizona, specifically the Wave and Coyote Buttes North. This area of spectacular slot canyons, geological wonders, and rare species like desert bighorn sheep was one of the first areas BLM recognized for its wilderness values when it established the Paria Canyon Primitive Area in 1969. 

Starting in February 2021, BLM more than tripled daily visitor use, from 20 to 64 people, and could allow 96 people per day in the future. BLM is considering drilling into rock to place trail markers and installing an emergency satellite phone at the trailhead, no doubt anticipating more problems from more visitors. Additionally, BLM is proposing to increase parking at other trailheads, which could lead to overuse in other fragile areas of the Wilderness that do not currently have the name recognition of the Wave, and which still offer a relatively primitive experience. 

BLM, in its final Environmental Assessment (EA), acknowledges the trend of inexperienced wilderness visitors—lacking basic backcountry ethics, skills, and navigation—focused on “attractions” such as the Wave, and less on wilderness qualities such as solitude, and an undeveloped natural experience. BLM’s recent decision has nothing to do with protecting Wilderness, but serves to inappropriately accommodate increasingly excessive visitor use at the expense of wilderness values. 

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