News: Zion Dispersed Camping Ban, Boundary Waters Mining, Yellowstone Jail Time, Grand Canyon Water Crisis

Parkography

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4.8 • 911 Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2026

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode: the BLM’s plan to ban dispersed camping on nearly 14,000 acres near Zion National Park—shifting use to designated areas and two proposed campgrounds, a resolution that could overturn a 20-year ban on copper-nickel mining near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters watershed, a Texas man sentenced to five days in jail for stepping off boardwalks onto Yellowstone’s thermal features, a settlement to keep the pride flag flying at Stonewall National Monument, tightened South Rim water restrictions at Grand Canyon due to pipeline breaks, Big Bend’s Chisos Basin closure being put on hold, and Yosemite’s historic Ahwahnee dining room moving to a required prix-fixe menu starting at $95. 00:00 Public Lands News Roundup00:29 Zion Dispersed Camping Ban02:37 Boundary Waters Mining Fight04:29 Yellowstone Boardwalk Jail05:34 Stonewall Pride Flag Returns07:08 Grand Canyon Water Restrictions08:14 Big Bend Closure Delayed09:04 Yosemite Dining Goes Prix Fixe10:52 Wrap Up and Subscribe

Transcript

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0:00.0	This week, free dispersed camping near Zion National Park could be shut down.
0:04.6	A major mining ban could be overturned near the Boundary Waters canoe area wilderness.
0:09.9	And a Yellowstone visitor is headed to jail after stepping off the boardwalk.
0:14.7	More water shortages at the Grand Canyon, a big change coming to Yosemite's iconic dining room and more.
0:21.5	I'm Jason Epperson.
0:22.4	This is parkography and it's time for the latest in National Park and Public Lands News.
0:28.4	Welcome back, everybody.
0:29.9	First up, if you've ever tried to camp near Zion National Park without a reservation,
0:33.5	you probably already know the reality dispersed camping is often the only option. And now
0:39.2	that option could largely disappear. The Bureau of Land Management is moving forward with a plan
0:44.7	that would ban dispersed camping across nearly 14,000 acres of public land near Zion, including
0:51.0	some of the most popular free camping areas along Utah State Route 9,
0:55.9	the main gateway into the park.
0:57.7	These are places many campers rely on, Hurricane Cliffs, Gooseberry Mesa, and Smithsonian
1:02.8	Butte.
1:03.6	For years, campers have been able to pull off, find a legal spot, and stay for free as
1:08.1	long as they followed the basic rules.
1:10.3	Under the new proposal, BLM wants to concentrate overnight use into designated areas
1:15.3	and new developed campgrounds.
1:17.6	Two new campgrounds are proposed with a combined 230 sites, about 30 designated dispersed
1:23.2	sites would remain.
1:24.9	The BLM says the current situation isn't sustainable with Zion seeing millions of
	...

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