WATCH: Padilla Presses Interior Department Nominee Over Elimination of Yosemite Reservation System

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, questioned the Department of the Interior (DOI) nominee for Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Kevin Lilly about Yosemite National Park's reservation system, traffic monitoring, and park resources during peak visitation season. Padilla secured a commitment from Lilly that the National Park Service (NPS) will continue to monitor Yosemite wait times throughout peak visitor season and invest in NPS infrastructure and capacity.

Padilla condemned the National Park Service's (NPS) decision in February to eliminate Yosemite National Park's successful reservation system without reason. In response to Lilly's inadequate explanation for suspending the timed-entry system without supporting data, Padilla raised concerns from visitors and businesses experiencing heightened traffic, long wait times, and parking scarcity due to Yosemite's limited traffic management and visitor resources.

"Now in response to long-standing challenges of overcrowding, vehicle congestion, and long lines, Yosemite National Park implemented a reservation system during the past five summers, and it seemed to work like a charm. This both greatly improved visitor experiences and supported visitation to the park by spreading visitation across the peak summer months," said Senator Padilla. "I'll tell you what the experience has been thus far without the reservation system, because it's been some pretty damaging repercussions. In March of 2026, just a couple of months ago, a 45% increase in visitation compared to the same time last year. My constituents are reporting to me, bumper-to-bumper traffic around the valley floor, hiking trails backed up with people and parking lots full in the early mornings, resulting in visitors illegally parking off roads, in meadows. To me, that doesn't sound like metrics of huge success. This is problematic."

Padilla also highlighted the Trump Administration's staffing and budget cuts that could continue to impact Yosemite's visitor experiences. Yosemite is California's most visited national park, with 4.3 million visitors in 2025.

Last year, Padilla introduced the Review and Evaluation of Strategies for Equal Reservations for Visitor Experiences (RESERVE) Federal Land Act, to expand access to public lands, improve the visitor reservation process, and enhance transparency in how fees are collected for federal lands and national parks. Padilla also urged Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to allow Yosemite to implement its preferred reservation system, emphasizing its importance in managing park visitation while preserving Yosemite for future generations.

Video of Padilla's remarks is available here.

Transcript is available below:

PADILLA: I want to follow up on comments and questions that a couple of members have raised. I know Mr. Chairman raised a concern about timed entry to some of our national parks and the balance we strive for between zero controls, reservations or no reservations, etc. I think in the spirit of Senator Daines' recognition of the America the Beautiful Act, what we need to do to not just preserve and protect our national parks, but making sure that they are in the conditions and we have ample opportunities for the public to experience and enjoy. So it's in that spirit, that I raise the following.

Now, in response to long-standing challenges of overcrowding, vehicle congestion, and long lines, Yosemite National Park implemented a reservation system during the past five summers. And it seemed to work like a charm. This both greatly improved visitor experiences and supported visitation to the park by spreading visitation across the peak summer months. In fact in 2024, Mr. Chairman, the reservation system resulted in the fifth highest visitation to Yosemite in the park's history. However, in February, just a few months ago, the Park Service decided to cancel this successful reservation system without providing any scientific justification or evidence of public stakeholder engagement. In a Parks Service press release, Mr. Lilly, you touted this decision. Can you share with me, with this committee, what scientific evaluation and/or stakeholder engagement was conducted to conclude that a reservation system wasn't necessary this year?

KEVIN LILLY: Yes sir, absolutely. With respect to engagement of communities, I have spent a great deal of time dealing with stakeholders, business owners, about the advantages and or disadvantages of a timed entry system. I mentioned that, while it is a philosophical belief of mine, that limiting the American people access to their national parks to me just seems unsettling, but with respect to the data, sir, I'd like to share some information which you, hopefully, will be pleased with. I have been working closely with Yosemite, as I mentioned I was out there with the superintendent when we swore him in, Ray McPadden. Ray has done an extraordinary job in utilizing innovation in ingress and egress to the park, including making one-way roads, including using technology, working toward fast passes. And to that end, we decided that we wanted to do away with timed entry because we felt like this would actually work to the benefit of the parks. That if we could use the type of technology and resources that it might actually benefit both the wait times as well as the tenants, which I'm glad to share these numbers with your office after this hearing. But the numbers have been extraordinary.

PADILLA: Let me ask you to just pause right there, because I have some numbers of my own. You mentioned the numbers and the stats. As I mentioned a minute ago, 2024, with the reservation system, we saw the fifth highest visitation to Yosemite in the park's history. To me, that's an indicator that it's worked. I'll tell you what the experience has been thus far without the reservation system, because it's been some pretty damaging repercussions. In March of 2026, just a couple of months ago, a 45% increase in visitation compared to the same time last year. My constituents are reporting to me, appreciate you reaching out to some of the business community as am I, constituents are reporting to me, bumper-to-bumper traffic around the valley floor. Hiking trails backed up with people. And parking lots full in the early mornings, resulting in visitors illegally parking off roads, in meadows. To me, that doesn't sound like metrics of huge success. This is problematic. The Administration's also dramatically reduced park staff, forcing the park's limited staff to be rerouted to support traffic monitoring and park maintenance. Let me ask a follow-up question, do you support moving Yosemite's limited resources to handle traffic management or visitor services at the expense of science and conservation?

LILLY: So to answer your question, sir, as of Memorial Day, when we, from March to Memorial Day, we were working on implementing the new program. As you know, any new process takes time. We had enormous success. In fact, the wait times that you refer to, no longer. In 2024, the wait lines were as long as three hours. The longest on Saturday was 48 minutes. And so, we have actually greatly reduced the wait times, sir. And we have increased the attendance and also increased the revenue generated by the park in one of the busiest seasons. And in fact, last week during the holiday weekend, we had wait times as short as 12 minutes. So I believe that the data is proving to be successful and I think that we can do the balance that you seek and I seek as well so that we can both provide access to the American people, that we can provide reasonable use of technology to get people into parks quicker, and to make sure that by building more parking lots and things like that to access and to allow our individuals to responsibly enjoy the park. Yosemite is a national treasure, I agree with you one hundred percent.

PADILLA: So let's end on a couple of things. Number one, we will continue to talk, we'll continue to monitor - because we have another big holiday coming up.

LILLY: Yes sir, that's right.

PADILLA: So let's see what the numbers are looking like because the calls from constituents, including businesses, have not changed. They continue and they're expressing the same concern. Number two, I'm heartened by you talking about investing in infrastructure and capacity of the Park Service. But I'm trying to reconcile that with both the staffing cuts and the budget cuts that seem to be coming at the Park Service and specific parks like Yosemite. A couple of weeks ago, we talked about the America the Beautiful Act and a fight that we have to wage to keep dollars, revenue that comes in from visitors to Yosemite to stay in Yosemite for the needs of Yosemite, the dynamic that we see in parks across the country. So we certainly would have a lot to follow up on. Mr. Chairman, just in closing, not a question for Mr. Farzad, but a heads-up to him and questions for the record, I will be asking about the proposed regulation following my Fusion Energy Act of 2024 and consistency and alignment with partners globally, not just industry here in the United States. Thank you.

###