Overconsumption of America the Beautiful: How Congress Missed an Opportunity to Fix a Growing Environmental Nightmare

Note by: Samuel Larrabee

In this Note, Samuel Larrabee examines the escalating environmental and recreational crisis of overcrowding in America's national parks. With annual visitation surging past 92 million, tourists are disproportionately crowding into a handful of popular destinations, causing severe trail erosion and gridlock traffic. Larrabee argues that Congress missed a critical opportunity to address this crisis with the EXPLORE Act of 2025, which primarily focuses on expanding outdoor access rather than conservation. To manage overcrowding directly, he proposes delegating explicit interpretive authority to individual park managers—a strategy he argues remains legally viable even after Loper Bright v. Raimondo. This Note also explores indirect solutions, highlighting Utah's legal battles to challenge perpetual federal land ownership and transfer public lands to state control. Ultimately, Larrabee contends that more efficient state management would generate revenues to support local gateway communities and fund targeted campaigns to redirect tourists away from oversaturated parks.