the key is to visit in the late spring or fall. I was just there last week, the park is mostly open except for the north entrance and a couple sections of roads
I live in Canada, close to a world-famous national park. There is a limited amount of people allowed to hike the park each year and you have to book ahead, sometimes a year or more, to make sure the level of traffic is sustainable for the park. There are solutions to these problems, people just have to understand that they can't have whatever they want all the time.
I know Americans who legitimately believe profit is more important than people and that community care is anti American. Same fucker believes cars are a right. Honestly? Most of us Americans aren't worth the air we breathe
I live by a popular beach, and the summer tourist here ruin beaches constantly. The amount of cigarette butts on the beach alone is enough to make you sick. Ziploc bags, candy wrappers, beer cans.... all over the beach and in the water. If you love something enough to save money all year for a 5 day visit, why destroy it?
@@ddpwe5269 Nah, people of all ages does it. It does have with values to do, but I believe it has more to do with egocentrism or laziness, and maybe even with political ideology. If you dont think climate change is real, why care about tossing trash in the nature?
I remember going into a cave tour once and the guide explaining that they had chosen to "sacrifice" one of the stalagmites as a "hey you can touch this one" because they just could not get people to stop touching them even when they were told they'd be kicked off the tour for doing so. So better have one be ruined than all of them. Really a formative moment for young me wrt to just how selfish people can be about doing what they want, impact on others and the environment be damned.
My husband and I were there and a woman was walking near some trees, she shouted up to us "there are baby bears here". We screamed at her to get away from them. Darwin awards are being given out like sticks of gum.
I went to Yellowstone in the early 2000s as a child. My parents made sure my sister and I were aware of, and followed, the rules (read: if kids can do it, anyone can. 😑). It was unforgettable experience in nature that I'll never forget. The respect I had to keep in mind at all times for the springs, the natural areas, the wildlife made the visit MORE meaningful - not less. Some people just don't get it.
Well grown adults CAN follow rules....its not that there incapable o following the rules but when u wanna go viral or get ur perfect shot on film ppl disregard the rules for their social media.
In Italy we had to close permanently some beaches to the public because of some disrespectful tourists that were steeling the sand as a souvenir. It is a rare kind of pink sand made of corals, it got almost completely depleted.
My daughter and I left Yellowstone the day before the floods happened. The deluge had already begun. I remember park rangers having to yell at old and young people alike when they were literally following each other along the edge of a cliff to see a few black bears. It was revelatory.
The conservation guy is absolutely right. " This may be your vacation, but we still have to live here" I do live about 88 miles away in Bozeman MT. I think its awesome that people want to come out here and enjoy Yellowstone and the surrounding areas. But just remember to be respectful, and not just in the park, but when you in town as well. I went to MSU where I meet my wife, I have 2 young kids, and this is where I will raise them.
Yep. I wholeheartedly agree. Been visiting Yellowstone all my life but it's gotten so bad with ignorant, entitled tourists that it's almost not worth it any longer. Don't know whats happened to people, but I almost wish a few more tourists would get gored by Bison or eaten by bears, then maybe they'd finally realize how stupid they're being. I feel sorry for the animals.
Easy fix. Set up cameras where the most tourists flock and give heavy fines to everyone who misbehaves. The fines will pay for the cost of surveillance.
@@Morhua1 That park is massive (3,472 square miles)! I don't think that would work. People just need to adjust and learn to respect nature. These are dangerous wild animals and natural features that can't be replaced. It's dangerous. If people can't respect that and act accordingly they should find a nice amusement park with a nice safe Safari ride.
@@HerAeolianHarp nah, most tourists are already stupid especially ones coming from America. I know this because a lot of American tourists who visit my country the Philippines do a lot of stupid shhhttt. social media just added a bit more to the numbers and is more akin to like a country changing flags but the people themselves are still the entitled little shhtts that they are.
In Indian national parks and tiger reserves, tourists cannot get off of government operated safari vehicles, which are the only vehicles allowed inside. Seems like we got that right.
Indeed. However, Indian wildlife is notoriously more dangerous to humans than most places in North America. We've only got about 5 mammal species, all endangered who could kill a human and they all very much prefer to stay away from humans. Grizzly and brown bears, polar bears, mountain lions and wolves are predators that occasionally attack humans. (Buffalo can hurt you, but only if you taunt them.) Dangerous encounters are rare compared to India. The one exception is polar bears in the Arctic. They WILL hunt you down if they smell you a mile away. But the Arctic is very low population. Our other deadly animals are a handful of snake species, alligators, two spider species and two scorpion species. With the exception of alligators, those are animals that only kill humans when biting or stinging in self-defense. Alligators very occasionally eat small children in Florida or adult's limb. Actually maybe our wildlife is just as dangerous as India but your population density makes the confrontations with angry elephants, tigers and cobras look so much worse!
Yes. I would agree that the model India follows ensures the most protection. However, the concept of National Parks was born upon the idea of people experiencing natural places. I fear that this experience has collided too greatly with the mentality of "mine" not "our's" and that nature is infinite, when indeed it is not.
Every potential tourist going into the park should attend (in person) a 1 hour educational course before they receive a permit to enter. The course fee would be used to maintain the Park and increase the volume of classes. If a tourist is found to have violated any Park rules, they would be suspended from entering the Park for a minimum of 5 years.
not just suspended, since most of the people will visit it only once. They should be charged a hefty sum of money which will be a certain percentage of your yearly income, so as to teach these fools a lesson.
My family could not afford to live in the area due to property tax. A lot of wealthy folks have made decisions about the land that my ancestors hunted and fished on. Sad to see on film what I knew it would become. The bison used to graze behind our barn in the mornings. 35 ft from where I slept. smh
When you're a tourist, you're a guest. Be a respectful guest, it's not that hard to abide according to the rules of the residents. Otherwise, you will soon become unwelcome.
@@julm7744 That's funny when every one of the examples in this short doc were white people. Looks like you feel insecure and feel the need to blame people you hate. Racist people truly are stupid.
@@DearHumanity It's not applicable only to U.S. tourists. There are tourists from all over the world and they all have the same issues. You should travel more.
unfortunately "loving our parks to death" is a real problem across the U.S. A huge issue is the disregard for wildlife, and thinking they are an amusement attraction and not a wild animal.
It really does need a break. I feel like it should be closed to tourists for parts of the year and if they already close it periodically they need to do it more
Don't close it just fund it properly and ensure anyone who violates the rules is prosecuted. Video yourself taunting wildlife? Crime punishable for a year in prison. Step off the designated path? Crime punishable by 6 months in prison.
@@blnunya6689 These aren’t mandatory minimum sentences they would be maximum sentences. I get your confusion though thinking about the tactics used by real authoritarians, the Republican Party.
I hate to admit this but when I was 10 or so I threw I big rock in a yellowstone spring and got my ass chewed out pretty bad by a park employee and got it pretty bad from my parents. I felt terrible and didn't realize what damage that could do. Wish I could take that one back. Don't know why it's so hard to resist throwing things in deep holes.
Kids are often thoughtless and reckless by nature. That being said, I'm glad you were reprimanded by both the park official and especially your parents. That consequential action of a child stayed with you and turned you into a thoughtful, penitent adult. It's refreshing to see, especially these days. God bless!!
We saw a truck in front of us litter and my brother slammed on his brakes, got out of his truck and went and picked up the chips bag from the jerk in front of us. I was so proud of my brother for doing that. Keep these gems clean!!!
I hiked 50 miles through the backcountry over 4 days. We saw 1 other group of people the whole time, and a park rangers. Once you get 100 feet off the trail you get the park to yourself. Admittedly I lived in teton for 2 years, and tourons are the worst. Just saying it's not like the park is ruined
How about a reservation system that limits the number of visitors in a day? And a brief orientation about how to behave. It seems there are many city folk who have no clue about the importance of protecting fragile ecosystems or respecting wild animals.
The problem with reservation systems is that they are often posted 6 months in advance and are quickly scooped up by suburban minivan type families who can plan vacations with a long lead time and parks become inaccessible to those who can’t plan that far in advance. I think maybe a hybrid system of reservations and timed/limited first come first serve entry would be a better alternative.
At some point you have to limit entrance. If 1 million people could enter the park daily they will. Tourism boosts economies. But unchecked Tourism ruins literally everything.
As a kid I always wanted to visit Yellowstone. Realizing what modern tourism does to an area has kept me from ever visiting Yellowstone as an adult. The kid in me knows that place I wanted to visit no longer exists.
Please do yourself a favor and go to Yellowstone…which belongs to you if you are an American citizen. Highly recommend that you go in the “shoulder” months: April, May, Sept & October. The first time I went was in late April and there was still snow, flurries during the day and no crowds. It was magical….
@@briscoedarling3237 I am an American and I know that place doesn’t belong to me anymore than the street in front of my house does. If it was mine, I’d kick us all out of there permanently.
I'm located in Florida by world famous springs and the high volume of tourists who don't care about environmental conservation is mind boggling. The erosion and destruction of the springs is happening so fast but the parks refuse to limit capacity.
Its blissful ignorance. The Republican Jesus will keep them safe. Because life is unfair and the future is grim, they need to be Republicans and ignore facts. And I am purposefully picking the Republicans out as a point to not to cause division, which is a scare word when division being okay is dependent on the situation, but as the major party who prides itself on the most ignorance out of the two parties. Its up to the people to wake up to common sense. What is unfortunate is we have idiots in hierarchy who seem to lack in care. They have an Alpha male complex. How sub-Beta is it to let this all happen? They are submissive to money.
It’s tragic. I’ve always felt that the entire area along the Suwannee where the springs are concentrated should’ve been made a National Park long ago. It’s one of the most unique and amazing natural places in the country, and it’s sad I can only imagine what it must have been like in an untouched state.
There are areas in Yellowstone that are out of the way and get low usage. Alternatively, if you hike far enough down many trails, you leave everyone behind.
Am 39 yrs old from California and went to Yellowstone in the sixth grade (1995) remember seeing old faithful for the first time, it was a beautiful thing.
Sometime this year someone's dog ran off a thermal walkway and then they jumped in to "save" the dog....didn't turn out well for both. I do not understand how people can not respect these areas.
when i went to yellowstone in the early 2000s i remember a park workers telling about this exact thing happening in one of those pools. i can't remember if the bodies were recovered
Thank you for doing this site & exposing these morons!!! We are from WY & this behavior has exasperated & made me furious that people have such disregard for our gorgeous park!!! We need to preserve & enjoy this beautiful park & be a great advocate & respect for the nature & majestic animals!!! Bless you 👍🙏❣️
Thanks for the super relevant video! We should really be more careful about what type of tourism we do and also about its impact on nature and wildlife. We recently registered the work of an NGO that is raising awareness of wildlife tourism, especially orangutans in Thailand. The orangutans are turned into entertainers, and tourists don't see what's happening behind the scenes with these animals.
When I was younger I whent to Yellow Stone an saw one lady chuck an container full of someone's ashes into one of the pools.... and it just floated round for a lot longer then she expected. The lady ran off an what was left of the box had to be fished out. Tourist, they are such a riot. 😒
Why can't they just sell a limited number of tickets every day to walk out to the geyser? It's a big park and doing that for the whole thing is probably not realistic but the geyser looks like it would be easy to control how many people come and go.
@@degummybear No's for you. 'easy to control' says it all, there are an infinite ways to address the problem, goes straight for control what people see.
As someone who lived in Montana for years, and visited Yellowstone countless times. I believe that tourists tend to have complete disregard for Yellowstone's wildlife, and natural features. However, I find this as a trend among other national parks as well. Maybe we should have park rangers make sure people are being good at places like this.
Tourists ruined Yellowstone a long long time ago...like when they decided to put a highway through the park so people could just sit in their cars and drive around looking for buffalo. On the other hand, if there weren't millions of people interested in visiting our national parks every year, they would be under threat of losing their protections. So tourists simultaneously ruin the park experience, but also help ensure we have the parks for future generations.
We are full time RVers (in our 30s, so working/escaping a rental crisis now for for years.) We dry camp (boondock) outside Yellowstone's North and West Entrances every year for a few months and nothing was in stark contrast to the park of old from when I was a child than when every disenfranchised would be global tourist had to look inward due to Covid. They rented or bought an RV and carpet bombed Yellowstone, Yosemite, everything with an instagram worthy feature. The park is trampled to death at peak season in combination with a complete disregard that what they are experiencing/walking on is not a fabricated amusement park ride but a hyper sensitive natural wonder of the world. Ironic how Nationalism drives my fellow RVers to tour their "great country" but inspires so few of them to tread lightly, reduce consumption, recycle, protect habitat, etc.
I was just there mid September 2022. While I was on the boardwalk on the way to the Grand Prismatic Spring, a woman asked her companions if they could just cut across the ground to get to the spring quicker. Mind you, there is a sign when you first enter that tells you to stay on the boardwalk because much of the area is thin ground over boiling water. Fortunately, her companions responded with an emphatic, “No!”
That t-shirt completely summarized the experience I've seen online in the past year with Yellowstone - "Looks cute but will do you dirty". Thanks for doing this piece and thanks to everyone trying to preserve the parks.
You guys know that even showing people’s destructive behavior it’s gonna keep happening. Theres gotta be severe consequences to stop this madness plain and simple.
They need more rangers. Plain and simple. They don't mind letting in all these disrespectful a-holes so they can make a profit,but they choose to go cheap by refusing to hire more park rangers,to scrutinize the destructive behavior of these tourists
@@8arrows They probably aren't payed fairly either, especially since they are dealing with these mouth breathing num -nutz type of people! That alone should require "danger" pay! LMAO
@@HLBNZ my dream job has always been working for the U.S. forest service. But I don’t have the required credentials. It is not just Yellowstone either. It’s every park. Even local city parks. I watched 2 different guys on 2 different occasions walk their dogs to the mulched out area of our city playgrounds. To deliberately let their animal relieve themselves where they know kids play. Despite having acres and acres of park area to do it on. I fucking yelled them both!
Gee, back in the 1800 they didn't fight wildfires. They just burned theirself out. Kept the forest thinned. Build roads along the edge of a creek. It will over time get washed out. I hear they want to make Yellowstone bigger. Why? Parts of the park has never seen any man walk on it.
Would it really be so hard to have designated "federal park wardens" similar to how there are game wardens who have legal authority to issue federal fines against people who are seen doing literally anything like we saw in the first few minutes of this video? Even just 1 guy with a pair of binoculars watching from far away waiting for infractions to happen and then issuing hefty fines to those individuals could be enough to help reduce this kind of bs and keep tourists safer.
How would you enforce them? The park must limit the number of visitors. Sell permits to visit in advance, limited time span per permit, obligatory tourist ID stickers with barcodes to wear on-person linked to the touron’s credit card and car’s license plate for IMMEDIATE HEFTY fine. Start a touron “credit report” that would affect one’ ability to purchase further permits to national and other parks.
@@ArtU4All Literally handing out federal fines that they have to attend court to appeal if they attempt to challenge it, exactly like a traffic fine or what game wardens do when they find people hunting out of season.
@@heth6 Traffic tickets are easy - the person is in the vehicle that is registered. Pedestrian tourons? - not so easy, unless each of them has a purchased registration/ID that each person must wear VISIBLE on them, linked to a credit card - same principle as hotels. Try to check in a hotel without a CC guarantee.
@@ArtU4All Anyone who is in the official Yellowstone National Park space has to pay a fee to visit I believe. Regardless, all that official would have to do is approach them and inform them of their infraction and demand to see their Identification just as police officer or game warden would, and they'd be in their right to detain them if they refuse.
@@heth6 I did not know that. But look what happens in the stores with grab and go robberies. Nobody is doing anything about it. Why would the “wardens” without guns in the parks confront someone potentially with a gun. Needs to be ready-display-ID: scan and charge. If no visible ID - you are trespassing and subject to some additional law enforcement. I think the idiots need to be afraid of the rule enforcement MORE than getting excited over the stupid dangerous thrills they are throwing themselves in. Right now the parks are all warm-and-fuzzy welcome-be-careful about the visitors. Nope, you are welcome only if you respectfully obey the stated rules.
Unfortunately, this is a problem at basically every national Park in the country. People barely have any respect for themselves, so why would anybody think they would respect nature. Very sad, but not surprising...
If you don't visit in the summer when school is out crowds aren't much of an issue. I've visited twice in May and started the days early. I didn't have much of an issue with crowds until bears were spotted. Traffic would then get backed up and nearly cause accidents.
Older national parks were pretty much made as playgrounds for adults (Yellowstone and Yosemite especially). I’m glad newer parks place emphasis on conservation rather than all the touristy amenities
I visited in 2020 and couldn't agree more. it was like Disneyland but in nature. so many morbidly obese, RV-driving, mayonnaise-based organisms. Can't believe they made it all the way out there. literally any other NP is not like Yellowstone, in a good way.
The vast majority of people never make it off the road. You can still find peace and quiet like nowhere else in Yellowstone, but if you’re just going to tourist traps like Old Faithful this is what you get.
I could have told you tourist were ruining Yellowstone 40 years ago. It doesn't help when you have a 4 lane highway with off ramps when you near something like Old Faithful
Me who had been there: I'm sorry I've been there in 2012 in the fall. There are other visitors but certainly nowhere as busy as the video shows (probably because I didn't go during summer?) Anyway, it breaks my heart when I see people who don't give a damn about the places they visit.
No, everything has changed since around that time. Things began to change around 2015ish in all of these wild landscapes. Newer generations became old enough to travel maybe? No idea, but I vividly remember all the park tourism/behavior dramatically changed around this time.
they ruined mt hood. i lived in the national forest. on the mt. in oregon. i lived the most epic life ever. filmed over 1000 adventure videos on mt hood. i moved back to hick town midwest to get away from the place i loved. as the tourists were coming in droves. more than any years in recent history. during covid it was the worst. record years. every lake. every river. every trail. campground. it was like you were in new york city. in the mountains. i had to leave. i gave up every thing i loved because of the demon tourists.
I went this summer and honestly, there were so many dumb tourists. We saw people touching the thermal features, getting out of their cars to get close to bison, and throwing trash everywhere. I couldn't enjoy it because it made me so angry.
People should STOP feeling so entitled to do whatever they want! And having an attitude of "what are you going to do about it" .... it all goes back to respect.
I was there couple months ago. It’s not that crowded irl. These news outlets only show you the exaggerated footage and leave out the mild footage to sensationalize their content
I think there should be a schedule an appointment to visit ....limiting the numbers. Or close the park all together for a year to rebuild. Maybe allow private guided tours.
The problem is how these places are so over advertised through out the world by movies documentary’s and books, you got people from all over the world trying to come here just to go to these places when they got wonders in there home countries as well.
I went there for the day and honestly wanted out fast, the amount of rude and stupid tourists just ruin the whole thing and experience. Please follow the rules and respect the park and wild life.
You should see some of the trails during the peak seasons. There's trash everywhere! Some people litter like there's no tomorrow. There's also a shortage of good bathrooms, leading many to urinate on the ground!
When you go to a natural park your supposed to leave it the same way you found it. It is not yours to take from, it is for all to enjoy and to preserve nature.
I went there with my family in 2019 and a child's hat blew off and went into the thermal area. The kid (about 3 years old) stepped off of the boardwalk and walked on what you see in the first scene- and he was about 10-15 feet in. He was lucky he didn't fall through- everyone literally was absolutely shocked and thankfully people told the parents that they are irresponsible.
Adding to this, that same day we saw a heavily pregnant woman who was 50 meters away from a bison facing her just to take a photo/video. Meanwhile, the rangers had all of us 400 meters away from it because we were trapped between two. Woman decided to risk her life and her unborn kid's life just for a photo....two weeks later a little girl was thrown into the air in the same area.. crazy
I went to Yellowstone for the first time in July and I saw more people than wildlife, a lot of stupid people. No matter what the rangers say people still go and make their own rules, they’ll stop in the middle of the road just to see an animal or would get out and stand in the way just for the sake of a picture or selfie. I almost crashed into a few while riding my bicycle. The park administration should definitely try to find a way for controlling the amount of tourists inside the park and for the ones that don’t follow the rules and end up destroying this iconic historic place
@@pabloramos420 Thanks, I did. Didn’t get to see all of Yellowstone but the few places I saw were astonishing and saw some wildlife as well, on my last day there was a bison laying down 10 feet from my tent.
I'm glad I visited Yellowstone when I was a kid. When it was still busy but people weren't quite as dumb. People didn't have cellphones then so it was more about just seeing the park. Not taking snaps and stuff.
Except back in the late 60's (I was there then as a kid), the PARK was letting people FEED THE BEARS on the road. Watched the crazy people do it. At least that has changed.
I grew up in a tourist city, pismo beach CA. I get it about tourists ruining things with litter and bad behavior. These two ladies though, just seem like they're snitches on a high horse.
Experiencing Yellowstone in the 70's was simply extraordinary. So fortunate ... the quintessential family road trip out west, '72 ... in a big AMC Ambassador Wagon, gorgeous blue... three kids/mom and dad. Yellowstone was just stunning. We also took in Disneyland, Yosemite, Reno, Painted Desert, Petrified Forest. Epic
Man. I was born in a really shitty time for the world. I would give anything to transport myself to the 70s or 60s and see how the world was, go see the places that haven't been ravaged by excessive tourism.
@@rokyhawk6753 There's still vast areas of phenomenally beautiful, unmolested territory all over the US. - Glacier National Park... over a million acres in Montana. - Navarre Seashore (between Pensacola and Destin) Florida, as far as the eye can see in either direction, the finest crystal white sand, all open yet totally protected... magical. If you were born in a different time, where would you visit in the US, in what era?
@@FOH3663 I live in upper Idaho so I'm very lucky to be in driving distance from Glacier National Park, which I hope to visit very soon. And the era I'd like to visit is probably the early 1800s. But only if I could just teleport to each of the National Parks and just see it all uninhabited and unaltered. Would be a sight.
@@rokyhawk6753 Early 1800s ... yeah wow, could you imagine? I wanted to be a cowboy as a kid... ever since I heard Rogan's episode on the Comanche Indians, Quanah Parker... I've been fascinated by that transition of the last of the Wild West, transforming into civility. But I could say hundreds of examples.
What the Park Service and the Department of Interior will not do to protect Yellowstone National Park, Mother Nature will. It's not the job of the park service to sustain businesses and economies. As stated in its original authorizing legislation, the National Park Service mission is to “preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.” I have two words for Yellowstone: "timed entry!" It's what we do in Rocky Mountain National Park, and it's working to preserve the environment and protect the wildlife -- the Park Service mission for today and into the future. At first I was upset about timed entry, because I live right next to Rocky Mountain National Park and wanted to go in anytime I wanted. Soon I was in total support. The visitor experience is so much better now, and the wildlife and fragile ecosystems are protected. Exactly, "the land is the priority."
Could have just stopped it at "Tourists are ruining...", the world over, tourism is a massive industry that comes at an equally massive cost. Wherever you are, and wherever you go, treat your host country well and with respect, and chances are you'll receive that back, tenfold.
Visited Yellowstone in 1978 and then again in 2019. In 78 it was so much more fun. There were no obnoxious crowds jamming the roads and attractions plus you didn't even need a reservation to stay at any of the campgrounds. Yellowstone is now like Disney World and I will never go back at least in the summer.
Finally a wise observation ! Identical situation with North and South poles, an invasion of ships, foot traffic, trash and disturbances to pristine habitats !!
I went this year and noticed how even my dad does not realize that we should give wildlife it’s space and thankfully we respect nature by not throwing trash.
But yet the people who built stores and malls there are not at fault huh ,if you want it to stop and really protect the ecosystem then close the park to EVERYONE ,but then again the big money always talks huh
Yeah, thanks to people like the ones in this video, I wasn't able to see Hanging Lake in Colorado last year. Can't even begin to describe how bummed out I was...
What happened to leave no trace? I was lucky enough to visit Rocky Mountain NP during covid and there wasn't many tourists and it was fantastic. Open spaces and nobody to bother you and quitet
"We need this level of tourism to sustain these businesses" NO WE DON'T?? If a business thrives on top environmental destruction shouldn't be supported
@@NoOne-kr4jc I agree with the sentiment, but I was speaking more towards ecosystem conservation at a personal level, more in line with the issue of park tourism presented in the vid. Like people should be educated that not all wild plants are resilient to being walked on and trails exist for the reason of keeping our wild spaces beautiful for future generations
That's the entire conundrum of the tourism industry, and I hear parallels everywhere. It's particularly bad for national parks and park staff because that type of bad behavior can be extremely damaging, worrying for the safety of people and wildlife - but together with Climate Change the danger is amplified even further. But curious parallels abound. My own hometown is a touristic city with a national park in it, not in the US though. I guess we don't have as many issues because despite the park being world famous and well visited, it's still relatively hard to access, the tourist area is fairly isolated, and a fair amount of infrastructure was built to forcefully limit access to areas tourists are not supposed to be. It also doesn't have as many sensitive geological structures that people would think of getting close to, but I imagine this also has to do with forcefully limiting access... big problem when it's a park as big as Yellowstone, too big an area to cover with fences, and bigger structures that also pose a risk of damaging the area. The problem with ignorant, idiot tourists and "influencers" remains though... and part of the complaints is not unlike stuff I heard from the other side of the world - Japan. The thing I heard the most during the pandemic coming from citizens there goes something like - closing up Japan for foreign tourists has been incredibly damaging to businesses, particularly ones in popular spots, particularly for cities and businesses that had foreign tourists as main source of income. But also, that it's been kinda nice not to have foreign tourists causing all sorts of problems there. Not even just ones causing problems, even those who behave well and follow guidelines, the sheer amount of them going through historical places, temples, paths, even commercial neighborhoods, ends up overloading things. It's just too much. I heard testimonials from staff in shops and temples saying that while they don't like the economic effects with people losing jobs or having to close up shops, the calm, the ease of handling local tourists only, the way tons of systems became less overloaded... that sure is better than what they had before. To the point some people there have been dreading the re-opening of the country for foreign tourists. Having visited the nation almost 15 years back in a time there weren't as many foreign tourists, and then again in 2018 right before the pandemic seeing how overloaded with foreign tourists several places in Japan was... I can understand that. As a tourist, I was only contributing to the problem, but man, the difference was so much that it seemed we were going into a different country altogether. I am all for harsher methods of educating people, harsher fines and treatment, and building restrictive infrastructure to protect national parks whenever possible. People yes, should be free to visit national parks as they are public and financed by taxpayer money, but also people have to remember that we pay for national parks to protect them, not to turn them into amusement parks. There is this conflicting responsibility to give people access to enjoy parks, but also a responsibility to protect them, that is intrinsic to it. National parks and national park staff needs more control and funding from government to keep them going, local economies also shouldn't become too dependent on tourist money. But you know, those are the ideals... reality usually doesn't follow behind.
