Phone number: 360-854-7302
Date: February 28, 2012
North Cascades National Park Complex = Visitors, Money, and Jobs for Local Economy
A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 746,644 visitors in 2010 spent an estimated $23,548,000 in North Cascades National Park Complex and surrounding communities. That spending supported up to 295 jobs in the region.
"Business owners and other community members that provide important services to visitors understand the economic value of national parks," park superintendent Chip Jenkins said. "North Cascades National Park and Ross Lake and Lake Chelan national recreation areas make significant contributions to the local economy."
Across the U.S., local visitor spending added a total of $31 billion to the national economy and supported more than 258,000 jobs, an increase of $689 million and 11,500 jobs over 2009. Most of the spending/jobs are related to lodging, food, and beverage service (52 percent) followed by other retail (29 percent), entertainment/amusements (10 percent), gas and local transportation (7 percent) and groceries (2 percent).
The figures are based on $12 billion of direct spending by 281 million visitors in 394 national parks and nearby communities and are included in an annual, peer-reviewed, visitor spending analysis conducted by Dr. Daniel Stynes of Michigan State University for the National Park Service.
To download the report visit
http://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/products.cfm#MGM and click on Economic Benefits to Local Communities from National Park Visitation and Payroll, 2010.
The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.
For more information on how the NPS is working in the state of Washington,
go to http://www.nps.gov/washington
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Charles Beall
Chief of Interpretation and Education
North Cascades National Park Complex
810 State Route 20
Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284
360-854-7302
charles_beall@nps.gov
http://www.nps.gov/noca
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