Park visitation down throughout system

The Voice of America (VOA) reports that visitation rates in the US National Park system are off again, down five percent from last year's rate. This makes for at least two years of declines in visitors: In 2010 park counts were down about seven and a half percent from 2009.

The VOA says the situation has left park officials scratching around under their Smokey Bear hats. Usually with a downturn in the economy, the parks see an uptick in visitation. After all, it's less expensive to visit the parks than to travel elsewhere. But the VOA suggests that the economic downturn is exactly the cause of the fall-off in visitation. It says the high price of fuel used by RVs, "notorious gas guzzlers" is to blame.

While no hard statistics are at hand, park personnel comment on a decrease in the number of visitors from Europe. Since the value of the Euro has fallen with that of the US dollar, the radio network hypothesizes that foreign tourists are spending their currency closer to home.

Bryce Canyon National Park: R&T DeMaris photo.