Congress votes to keep Glen Canyon open to unlimited motor vehicles
S.J.Res. 30 — A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the National Park Service relating to "Glen Canyon National Recreation Area; Motor Vehicles". · Filed by John Curtis (R-UT) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Mar 3, 2025 · Reported out
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What it does
This is a Congressional Review Act resolution that disapproves a National Park Service rule restricting motor vehicle use at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. If passed, the rule—which was published January 13, 2025—will be nullified and cannot be re-issued in substantially the same form without new congressional authorization.
Why we flagged it
This is a procedural CRA resolution under 5 U.S.C. § 801 et seq., which allows Congress to disapprove agency rules within 60 legislative days of submission. It performs exactly one function: nullify the NPS motor vehicle rule at Glen Canyon.
What the text implies
- Disapproval prevents the NPS from issuing a substantially similar rule without explicit congressional authorization, effectively locking in the status quo of unrestricted motor vehicle access unless Congress acts.
- The resolution does not address whether the original NPS rule was legally sound or scientifically justified—CRA disapproval is a blunt procedural tool that erases the rule regardless of its merits.
- If passed, this sets a precedent for using CRA to overturn resource-management decisions at other national parks and recreation areas, potentially shifting environmental policy-making from agencies to Congress.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Unrestricted motor vehicle access preserves recreational opportunity for some citizens but may increase noise, air pollution, and ecological damage at a protected area, harming other citizens' access to undisturbed natural recreation and wildlife habitat. The trade-off between motorized and non-motorized recreation access is genuine and contested.
Who stands to gain
- recreational vehicle and ATV manufacturers
- off-road vehicle rental and tour operators
- fuel retailers serving recreational vehicle users
Named in the bill
National Park Service, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, U.S. Senate, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Sen. Curtis (R-UT), Sen. Lee (R-UT)
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Mar 3, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Mar 3, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
- Mar 4, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources discharged, by petition, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 802(c)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Sep 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $410,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 16 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
John Curtis, the sponsor, reported $431,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Specialty Equipment Market Association — $365,000 on 1 filing
- Motorcycle Industry Council — $45,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,327 characters) on Jul 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Sep 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress votes to keep Glen Canyon open to unlimited motor vehicles” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/sjres30 Report an error
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