October 9 Response to NPS Request for Information on Visitor Services

October 9, 2025

Jason Gibson
Acting Associate Director for Interpretation, Education, and Volunteers
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior

RE: Response to Request for Information on Visitor Services

Dear Acting Director Gibson, 

On behalf of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, we appreciate the opportunity to provide comments to the National Park Service (NPS) regarding its Request for Information on visitor services, issued pursuant to Executive Order 14314. Marin County is home to some of the most visited federal parklands in the country, and the County and its residents have a long history of partnership with the NPS to steward these extraordinary natural and cultural resources.

Marin County federal parklands and visitorship

Marin is home to three major national parks:

• Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA, also extends to San Francisco and San Mateo counties)
• Point Reyes National Seashore
• Muir Woods National Monument

Together, these parks saw more than 20 million visitors in 2024, and GGNRA was the most visited national park in the nation, with 17.2 million visitors that year. We are also proud that unlike many national park sites elsewhere – with the exception of Muir Woods – all of Marin’s federal parklands are free to access, including parking. Visitors represent a wide range of backgrounds and incomes, reflecting both Marin County’s and NPS’s shared commitment to public land access for all.

Importance of well-maintained facilities and visitor services

Marin strongly supports more investments to improve NPS visitor facilities and services to enhance public access, education, and safety. The entirety of rural West Marin, where these parks are located, has a population of just 16,000 year-round residents. The local infrastructure – roads, wastewater systems, and emergency services – was never designed to accommodate the millions of visitors who now visit the region each year.

On busy summer weekends, visitation routinely overwhelms local capacity: small villages face gridlock, private businesses bear the burden of restroom use beyond their septic capacity, and emergency responders (often local volunteer firefighters) are stretched to their limits. Addressing these realities is essential to ensuring visitor safety and protecting West Marin’s communities.

Some of the highest needs at NPS sites:

• Restrooms and waste facilities: Install additional vault toilets and modern waste disposal bins at key trailheads and destinations. Inadequate public restroom infrastructure currently leads visitors to overuse the facilities in small local businesses, causing them costly septic system repairs. Local trash can also pile up when visitors don’t find adequate public bins.
• Transportation and parking: Expand public transportation and shuttle services, and add parking options at high-demand destinations such as Muir Woods, Stinson Beach, and Point Reyes. This is especially a concern at Muir Woods National Monument when individuals walking on narrow highways with cars as they walk to a park entrance from a far-away roadside parking spot. However, the issue is present at all federal parklands given West Marin’s geography with steep cliff faces and narrow, tree lined roads.  
• Employee housing: Develop on-park housing for NPS staff to mitigate impacts on Marin’s already limited and expensive housing market. With much of the region’s land preserved as park or agricultural open space, and SF Bay Area tourism keeping rental prices high – West Marin already faces a severe housing shortage for the workforce that supports and sustains the visitor-based economy in the area.
• Accessibility improvements: Expand ADA-compliant access for restrooms, trails, and interpretive areas. Our national parklands are a public resource for everyone in our communities, and it is important that individuals with disabilities are able to enjoy and access the orders equitably.
• Interpretive and emergency hubs: Construct visitor and interpretive centers that double as emergency response hubs, particularly in remote areas such as Tomales Point and Limantour, where limited cell coverage and long response times create challenges for visitor safety.
• Multilingual signage and education: Provide multilingual interpretive materials and consistent “Leave No Trace” messaging to promote responsible recreation among Marin’s diverse and often international visitors. it is essential that all visitors are reminded of how to caretake for our natural lands in a manner that preserves the parklands for generations to come.

These improvements would significantly enhance the quality and safety of the visitor experience, while minimizing ecological damage and protecting the rural character of West Marin communities.

Local emergency medical and fire services on federal lands

While the NPS manages park facilities and infrastructure, it does not operate emergency response services in Marin County. Those responsibilities fall to the Marin County Fire Department (MCFD), one of six CAL FIRE “Contract Counties”, and four local volunteer fire districts: Stinson Beach, Muir Beach, Inverness, and Bolinas.

Together, these agencies respond to nearly 1,000 emergency calls annually, the majority involving park visitors. Many of these incidents occur in rugged terrain or along congested coastal routes, where access is difficult and response times can exceed 30 minutes.

This essential emergency response network relies on small property tax bases and community donations, with no direct federal funding for operations on NPS lands. To sustain visitor safety, NPS should partner with counties and local districts to ensure reliable funding for emergency medical services, equipment, and staffing commensurate with federal visitation levels.

Conclusion

We commend the National Park Service for seeking public input on improving visitor services nationwide. Marin’s experience of extraordinary visitation and free access layered upon limited rural infrastructure illustrates the urgent need for strategic investments in visitor facilities, transportation, and emergency response partnerships.

We urge NPS to consider the infrastructure, public safety, and accessibility needs of gateway communities like Marin in developing future visitor service initiatives. We also support public-private partnerships and interagency collaboration to maintain visitor infrastructure and mitigate impacts on neighboring communities.

Finally, we deeply value the longstanding partnership between Marin County and the NPS Superintendents overseeing GGNRA, Point Reyes National Seashore, and Muir Woods. Maintaining and strengthening this collaboration – and at every staff level – is essential to meeting shared goals: from visitor experience and education to wildfire prevention and fuel reduction, habitat restoration, and emergency response.

Thank you for your consideration of these comments and for your continued stewardship of America’s national parks. We look forward to working together to protect and enhance Marin’s federal parklands for generations to come.

Sincerely, 

Mary Sackett, President
Marin County Board of Supervisors

CC:      Marin County Board of Supervisors
Congressman Jared Huffman
Senator Alex Padilla
Senator Adam Schiff