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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Canyonlands National Park is requiring more backpackers to carry out their human waste.
Assistant park superintendent Paul Henderson says people are digging too many "cat holes" and that it can take decades for human waste to break down in the desert.
Rafters on the Colorado River and hikers in the park's remote Maze district are already required to pack out human waste.
Now the rule is being enforced around the park's Needles District where Henderson says vault toilets are being removed because they are too hard to service.
Backpackers can use compressible bags with special enzymes that neutralize and solidify human waste. The bags sell at outfitter's shops for about $3 apiece.
Canyonlands draws about 5,000 backpackers a year, many to the Needles district.
The park is about 200 miles southeast of Salt Lake City.
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