Yellowstone National Park had a record breaking number of visitors last year. The park counted over 4 million visitors in 2015, placing new strains on the park’s capacity. With the unprecedented crowd also came long lines, a dearth of parking options and other visitor frustrations.
A spokesperson for the park, Sandra Snell-Dobert, says swelling numbers tested staff.
“Yellowstone National Park staff really want to do their best to serve the public. If we don’t have time to do that, we just feel like we aren’t serving the public as well as we would like.”
Snell-Dobert says more park service funding from Congress slated for 2016 could help ease this pressure. That money will likely increase staffing and parking upgrades that could improve traffic flows.
Snell-Dobert encouraged visitors to vacation outside of the park’s summer peak season to further relieve capacity issues.