ST. GEORGE — Management and preservation plans for the Zion Scenic Byway Corridor, which passes through pinyon pines, red rocks, sandstone canyons and rural towns, are being updated.

The Zion Canyon Corridor Council has received funding from the Utah Department of Transportation to update the Zion Scenic Byway Corridor Management Plan, initially created in 2011. The route roughly traces the Virgin River’s path from Hurricane to Zion National Park along state Route 9, expanding to Mt. Carmel Junction this year. 

The Utah Department of Transportation recently provided the Zion Canyon Corridor Council with $55,000, which was met with a $5,000 match from some of the towns along the Zion Scenic Byway. 

Emily Friedman, the Zion Canyon Corridor Council coordinator, told St. George News that the grant allows the council to hire a consultant to help gather more public input and update the plan. She said the document should reflect current community needs and federal designation requirements.

“The region had a smaller population, and it was a different world in many ways from what we have today,” Friedman said. “So, I think the initial quarter management plan has a very straightforward take on bringing in visitors and having them enjoy all the different aspects along the border.”

Visitation has nearly doubled in Southern Utah since the plan’s inception, from around 2.7 million in 2010 to exceeding 5 million annual visitors in recent years, according to Zion National Park records.

The management plan update will examine how tourists and residents use the byway, the recreation areas, cultural sites, historical sites and natural resources. As such, they are asking for public feedback. 

She added that the document is “pretty extensive,” covering many items, from safety infrastructure to interpretive materials. She hopes updates will help communities “strike that balance” between skyrocketing tourism and managing their cultural and historical resources.

LaVerkin City Councilwoman Patty Wise, also a council member for the Zion Canyon Corridor, told St. George News that feedback from residents is a critical part of this collaborative process as they seek to determine shared values and how those can play out regionally. 

“So, to that end, the corridor management plan will be a very useful tool,” she said. “I think the timing is critical, and we need to move on it quickly because there’s so much happening in the corridor itself and then out of the corridor that has influence on it.

“So we have to have those conversations again and then also to widen our breadth and scope,” Friedman said.

While the original plan provides a strong foundation, Friedman said the communities along the route are encouraged to customize the management plan to “reflect on what they want for their area.” These locations include Springdale, Rockville, Virgin, LaVerkin, Hurricane and Zion National Park, and they have expanded to include East Zion and Mt. Carmel.

“This new broader management plan will extend the plan into those communities so that they can pursue federal designation as well, which we’re really excited about,” Friedman said.

Utah designated the Zion Corridor a State Scenic Byway in 2008. Friedman said the Zion Canyon Corridor Council later desired the additional National Scenic Byway designation. The Federal Highway Administration has two prerequisites to establishing a National Scenic Byway: the existing state Scenic Byway designation and the quarter management plan.

Friedman added that the plan must include 14 elements to be accepted by the Federal Highway Administration. One requirement is designation as a Utah Scenic Byway, which requires legislative approval. But, after the byway was approved, the National Scenic Byway program at the federal level was inactive for 10 years. Friedman said the federal government wasn’t accepting applications, hindering the committee from implementing its efforts to obtain federal-level status.

Then, between 2019 and 2020, the federal government called for nominations for the National Scenic Byway program. Friedman said they had to submit what they had already despite it being outdated.

“But as soon as that process was complete, we recognized that we needed to do some work on updating the plan, so our goal is to revisit it through the lens of the region today, which looks — I think many folks would acknowledge — dramatically different in a lot of ways,” Friedman said. “So we have to have those conversations again and then also to widen our breadth and scope.”

Friedman said they are also open to input from people who don’t live in the area. 

Various ways for people to provide input on fine-tuning the plan will be offered, which includes community meetings.

Wise said she hopes the plan’s update will raise awareness of the route’s value. 

“People in general, when they live in an area for the better part of their lives — and that’s where their experience has been — (they) don’t see what outsiders see. They don’t see the value of what we have,” Wise said, referring to the cultural resources and natural landscape unique to the area.

“When you don’t know the value of what you have, you tend to overlook things and get sidetracked into other goals … instead of capitalizing on what we do have,” she added.

Zion Canyon Corridor Council consists of municipalities, public land management agencies, state agencies and other interested parties that provide regional planning, which includes:

• Washington County
• Hurricane
• LaVerkin
• Virgin
• Rockville
• Springdale
• Zion National Park
• Bureau of Land Management – St. George Field Office
• Utah Office of Tourism
• Utah Department of Transportation

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