From the February 28, 2012 edition of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle
by Jason Bacaj
A study released by the National Park Service on Tuesday confirmed what we all suspected: Yellowstone National Park brings in millions of dollars and thousands of jobs into the local economies that edge the 3,472-square-mile park.
The peer-reviewed study, by Michigan State University, found that 3.64 million visitors in 2010 spent more than $334 million in Yellowstone and the area around it, supporting nearly 4,900 jobs.
“We’re not always in a position to really point to some solid figures of that economic impact,” said Al Nash, a spokesman for the park. “(But) when you look at these kinds of figures and realize that every visitor means over $90 to the area economy, it reinforces the significant role that visitors to the park play.” The study covered figures for 2010 because the university analyzes data from nearly 400 national parks, which is “kind of hard to do” in a short time period, Nash said. Local numbers were broken out from $12 billion spent by 281 million visitors to the country’s national parks.
Read the full article on the Bozeman Daily Chronicle site.
