WHAT WE DO

   When logging jobs dwindled in Forks, Washington, the town diversified its economy and focused more closely on its location as a gateway to Olympic National Park, which welcomes 3 million visitors annually. But when the mayor learned that the Park Service planned to close the park visitor center in Forks because of funding shortfalls, community leaders contacted Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA), urging him to help the Park Service fund operating hours for the visitor center through the spring and summer.

"Our businesses rely on people visiting the park," Mayor Nedra Reed told the Peninsula Daily News in May 2004. In fact, research has shown that visitors to Olympic generate $80 million annually for the local economy-revenue jeopardized by visitor-service reductions.

Catalyst for Economic Growth

America's national parks are important generators of revenue to state and local economies. A 2004 survey conducted by the Travel Industry Association of America and Delaware North Companies revealed that among those Americans who visited a national park in the last five years, 75 percent stayed overnight in or within ten miles of the parks on their most recent trip. A conservative economic model developed by Michigan State University for the Park Service reveals that visitors spent $10.6 billion in the communities surrounding national parks in 2001, and supported 267,000 jobs in tourism-related businesses.

The 275,000 annual visitors to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia, for example, generate $12 million annually for the local economy. Additionally, the Park Service, which is among the largest employers in Jefferson County, spends approximately $876,400 a year-much of it locally-for goods and services such as fire, police, water and sewer. The park spends another $6 million annually on capital improvements, most of which, according to the Friends of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, goes to local contractors.

The city council of Seward, Alaska, once opposed the creation of Kenai Fjords National Park, but is now one of the park's biggest champions. In 2001, a study conducted by the University of Alaska, Anchorage's Institute of Social and Economic Research revealed that "most of the economic growth, particularly since 1990, [in Seward, Alaska, was] driven by the visitor industry" and "Kenai Fjords National Park is widely regarded as the primary magnet, along with recreational fishing, for most of this growth. The national park status has also elevated the profile of Seward as a visitor destination across the country and indeed the world." Visitors to Kenai Fjord are estimated to have generated $15.7 million in 2001 for the local economy.

"I admit it, my attitude has changed 180 degrees," former Seward city administrator and current Alaska Sealife Center manager Darryl Schaefermeyer told National Parks magazine in 2004. "The park has been a marvelous success, and most people in Seward today would speak highly of having it here. Kenai Fjords has become the backbone of the economy and a source of pride. And its staff-from the superintendents on down-have been good neighbors, good friends."

Studies conducted by researchers at the University of Montana of the economy of the state's Flathead County, a gateway to Glacier National Park, found that national parks are important economically not just because of tourism, but also as magnets for new residents and amenity entrepreneurs. "Many gateway communities, including Flathead County, have thriving, diverse economies that are not primarily dependent upon tourism and recreation. Yet the natural appeal of these areas is at the heart of their economic success," states NPCA's 2003 report, Gateway to Glacier.

"This report makes the argument that we can maintain our small-town community character, grow a healthy economy, and conserve the natural treasures of our region. I believe these are goals we all share," Susan D. Burch wrote in the introduction to the Gateway to Glacier report. Burch is past chair of the Kalispell, Montana, Chamber of Commerce.

Visitors to Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks and Mojave National Preserve in the California desert spend more than $95 million annually and support nearly 2,450 jobs in local communities. "Tourism has replaced mining as our primary economic engine, and healthy national parks are the key to our regional industry," Brian Brown, proprietor of China Ranch Dates in Shoshone, California, said in NPCA's report, National Treasures as Economic Engines.

In growing numbers, communities such as these are recognizing that their prosperity is tied to national park tourism. As parks wither for lack of funds, so too do the gateway communities and they have begun to protest. To date, more than 400 private businesses, nonprofit groups, chambers of commerce, and other groups have joined NPCA's Americans for National Parks coalition to call attention to the annual funding shortfalls affecting the national parks. The state of Maine and municipalities in California, Montana, and other states have passed resolutions in support of the national parks, encouraging Congress to fund the preservation of these national treasures.

"If the park is healthy, people will come," Amy McNamara, national parks director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition told the Casper Star-Tribune in February 2005. "That's the big message for the gateway communities and their businesses."

Key Recommendation:
Invest for the Sake of Our Communities

Because national parks are so important to local and state economies, Congress and the administration need to continue investing in the parks. It is important that local, state, and federal decision-makers appreciate the delicate balance between the environment and the economy that is essential for continued prosperity around our national parks.

Take Action

• Join the Coalition >> of Americans for National Parks. Lend the name of your organization or business to this national effort to call attention to the needs of the national parks.

Learn More

• For more information about the financial impact of visitation to the national parks, read NPCA's reports: National Treasures as Economic Engines, or Gateway to Glacier.