News: National Parks Provide $31 Billion and 258,000 Jobs To Local Economies

The National Park Service has a released a report showing that in 2010, US National Parks added $31 billion to local economies and supported about 258,000 jobs nationwide.

National, State and even local parks all provide direct economic benefits to the communities that they are in.  Two examples are visitors to the park spending money in local communities and businesses developing in communities to support park operations and visitors.

For more information:

• National Park Tourism Benefits Local Economies (The Epoch Times)
• Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation and Payroll, 2010 (NPS)
• Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation and Payroll, 2009 (NPS)
• National Park Service Touts Economic Might Of Parks: $31 Billion and 258,000 Jobs In 2010 (National Parks Traveler)
• Economic Reports from the National Park Service
• Annotated Bibliography for The Economic Benefits of Land Conservation (Land Trust Alliance) - Includes links to Federal, State and Local reports of Economic Benefits

So the next time you hear someone tell you that parks don't provide any benefits to local communities, point out all the economic benefits that these parks bring to their home communities and regions and challenge the common misperception that parks do not provide/hurt local economies.