Ohio's small packet
of national park sites, monuments and areas are all valuable
commodities to the state's economy.
In a review and
analysis of visitors attracted to the handful of National Park
Service sites in Ohio, a total of 2.4 million visits were logged in
2013. And these visitors spent $149 million, supporting 2,300 jobs,
says Patricia Trapp, the Park Service's acting director for the
agency's 12-state Midwest Region and which includes Ohio.
Both the number of
visitors and the expenditure figures are lower than in 2012. The
reason, the Park Service's annalists determined, was due in large
measure to the ordered shuttering of most federal government
activities in October 2013.
That is when the federal spending debate
between the Congress and Obama Administration reached a fever pitch,
resulting in a temporary cut-off of tax dollars intended to keep the
government wheels moving.
In all, Ohio hosts
seven National Park Service sites. They include the 25.38-acre
Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial on South Bass
Island, the 4.9-acre James A. Garfield National Historic Site in
Mentor, the 20,339-acre Cuyahoga Valley National Park between Akron
and Cleveland, the First Ladies National Historic Site in Canton, the
1,770-acre Hopewell Culture National Historic Park, the three-acre
William Howard Taft National Historic Site, and the 86-acre Dayton
Aviation National Historic Park (Wright Brothers bicycle shop and
other historical attributes) in Dayton.
Attendance varies
widely with these sites, too. They range from fewer than 15,000
visitors annually for each of the two presidential sites (Garfield and Taft) to
slightly more than 2 million for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Never-the-less all
of Ohio's National Park holdings are important in the telling of the
country's history and culture as well as providing recreational and
educational opportunities, says Trapp.
“Whether it's a
day trip or a long family vacation, visitors comes for a great
experience and in the process they contribute money to the local
economy,” Trapp said.
Trapp also said the
peer-reviewed report notes that national park tourism overall is an
important economic driver, returning $10 for every $1 invested by the
National Park Service.
Also, says Trapp,
the report notes that 274 million visits were made nationally in the
abbreviated 2013 calendar year. Even so, direct spending by these
visitors was $14.6 billion, supporting 237,000 jobs.
“This reality
makes national parks tourism an important factor in Ohio's economy as
well,” Trapp said. also. “It's a result we all can appreciate and
support.”
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
Jeff
is the retired News-Herald reporter who covered the earth sciences,
the area's three county park systems and the outdoors for the newspaper.
During his 30 years with The News-Herald Jeff was the recipient of more
than 100 state, regional and national journalism awards. He also is a
columnist and features writer for the Ohio Outdoor News, which is
published every other week and details the outdoors happenings in the
state.
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