Blog Post

By: Jennifer Leaver, M.A.

A few months ago, I had the privilege to attend an event called “Your Park After Dark,” held at Salt Lake’s Clark Planetarium. This event, co-hosted by the National Park Service and the Utah Office of Tourism, included mouth-watering food, sweet local tunes, and a premier screening of the new IMAX 3D film, “National Parks Adventure.” Packed with striking scenery, the film followed a small group of travelers (including world-class mountaineer Conrad Anker) as they ventured from one national park to the next. Not surprisingly, a good portion of the film featured Utah’s national parks, inspiring awe and a sense of solidarity among audience members. In fact, I’m pretty sure each and every one of us in the audience — donned in our 3-D glasses, mouths agape — was mentally planning our next national park adventure during every second of the film’s gorgeous 45 minutes.

On August 25, 2016, the National Park Service (NPS) will turn 100 years old. To celebrate their centennial birthday, the National Park Service launched a “Find Your Park” movement, aimed to inspire Americans to get out and visit a national park. In conjunction with the centennial celebration, the NPS  is promoting events and programs like “National Trails Day” and “Be a BioBlitz Scientist” to encourage children and adults alike to explore the natural wonders of our parks.

What does this centennial celebration mean for Utah’s national parks? After experiencing record park visitation in 2014 (7.2 million) and 2015 (8.4 million), I believe there’s a good chance Utah’s national parks will experience a record number of recreationists again this year. In fact, total Utah national park visitation for the first quarter of 2016 (January-March) was already up 10 percent from the first quarter last year. Increased national park visitation essentially translates into greater visitor spending in Utah’s gateway communities, along with more travel and tourism sector jobs and wages. According to the NPS’s latest figures, 2015 non-local visitation to Utah’s five national parks generated over $615 million in spending and supported over 9,000 Utah jobs with $260 million in income.

With Memorial Day Weekend wrapping up and the summer travel season underway, there is much to see and experience at our national parks and places – especially those in our own “backyard.”

Jennifer Leaver is a research analyst at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.