How do your national park views compare to the rest of the herd?

yellowstonenps on flickr.com

If you ever need a little reassurance that you're "like a lot of other folks," here's an opportunity to see how you stack up with the rest of the herd when it comes to attitudes toward your national parks.

A recent survey by everybody's favorite "senior" organization, AARP, revealed some stats that you can use for comparison purposes.

If you're a Baby Boomer, you're pretty likely to have visited some national parks – on average, 14 of them. In fact, boomers are the age group with the largest visitation rate – 75% of B. Boomers have headed into one of the nation's treasures. How does that stack up with other age brackets?

I confess, I'm old enough now that I don't know what these other groups bracket out as, so I had to look it up. You're a Gen-Xer if you were born in the early 60s to the early 80s. And of course, that leaves Millennials, born early 80s to the early 2000s. Visitation for the latter two groups breaks down to 65 and 65 percent, respectively. What's interesting about all of the generational breakdown is the purpose of park visits.

For us old foggies of the Baby Boomer generation, we're happy to "do" parks with scenic drives. All the better for me and my RV, thank you. As you get younger, the Xers are more interested in the parks from the standpoint of taking the whole family. And what surprised us, the Millennials are most likely to hit a national park that has a historical perspective to explore.

In terms of parks visited, the survey probably holds no surprises for us RVing folk. Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone top the list of "most visited."

To see the full story, click here.

National parks had more than 307 million visitors in 2015 -- top 10 parks visited, and more stats

National Park Service Certifies 2015 Visitation at 307 Million
            Reports Annual Top 10 Lists and Other Highlights

WASHINGTON – President Theodore Roosevelt was reelected in 1904, the same year rangers started counting national park visitors. There were more than 120,000 visits to America’s 11 national parks in the first year of counting. This week, the National Park Service (NPS) certified 2015 national park visitation at more than 307 million. It also released its popular Top 10 list of the most visited national park sites.

“The popularity of national parks is well known, but last year’s numbers really are extraordinary,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “As the National Park Service celebrates its 100th year, we’re preparing to welcome more visitors than ever including a new generation of park supporters and advocates who are discovering their own national park adventures.”

Today’s figures were an increase from the unofficial visitation total of 305 million reported by the NPS in January. The difference is attributed to the recently-completed NPS visitation audit.

2015 visitation highlights include:

• 307,247,252 recreation visits, a 4.9 percent increase over 2014 and the previous record of 292.8 million recreation visits.
• 371 of the 410 parks in the National Park System report visitation.
• 57 of the 371 reporting parks set a new record for annual recreation visits. Eleven parks had more than 5 million recreation visits in 2015. 

Notable park milestones in 2015:

• Joshua Tree National Park surpassed 2 million annual recreation visits for the first time.
• Rocky Mountain National Park surpassed 4 million annual recreation visits for the first time.
• Yellowstone National Park surpassed 4 million annual recreation visits for the first time.
• Grand Canyon National Park surpassed 5 million annual recreation visits for the first time.
• Glacier National Park surpassed 100 million total recreation visits (1910 to 2015)
• 2 parks are reporting visitation for the first time
  • Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
  • Waco Mammoth National Monument 

Overnight stays in park campgrounds and backcountry were up over 2014.
Total overnight stays (sum of all categories) were up 6 percent over 2014.
Highlights:

• Concessioner campground overnights were up 12.5 percent.
• NPS campground tent overnights were up 13 percent.
• NPS campground RV overnights were up 10 percent.
• Backcountry overnights were up 7 percent.

Top 10 Visitation
All Parks of the National Park System:

1. Blue Ridge Parkway - 15,054,603
2. Golden Gate National Recreation Area - 14,888,537
3. Great Smoky Mountains National Park - 10,712,674
4. Lincoln Memorial - 7,941,771
5. Lake Mead National Recreation Area - 7,298,465
6. George Washington Memorial Parkway - 7,286,463
7. Gateway National Recreation Area - 6,392,565
8. Natchez Trace Parkway - 5,785,812
9. Vietnam Veterans Memorial - 5,597,077
10. Grand Canyon National Park - 5,520,736 

National Parks:

1. Great Smoky Mountains National Park - 10,712,674
2. Grand Canyon National Park - 5,520,736
3. Rocky Mountain National Park - 4,155,916
4. Yosemite National Park - 4,150,217
5. Yellowstone National Park - 4,097,710
6. Zion National Park - 3,648,846
7. Olympic National Park - 3,263,761
8. Grand Teton National Park - 3,149,921
9. Acadia National Park - 2,811,184
10. Glacier National Park - 2,366,056

Who owns the names of national park treasures?

The question, "What's in a name," has evidently turned to "What's a name worth," when the venue is Yosemite National Park.

The Ahwahnee -- NPS photo

Federal attorneys have filed a response to a lawsuit against the National Park Service, filed by DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite Inc. (DNC), a company that at one time held contracts for concession services at the California park. But when the company was outbid for contract renewal, things got ugly. It turns out that without warning the Park Service, DNC had filed for trademarks on famous names in the park. For example, DNC says it owns the name "The Ahwahnee," which is the name of a hotel in the park. DNC didn't build the hotel, but says it wants money for the name and the now-trademarked names of other park venues.

How much? They claim that the Park Service should shell out $44 million for park names – while federal attorneys say the intellectual property might be worth a little over a million and a half dollars. Spelling it out in black and white, the federal response says, "DNCY’s parent company has apparently embarked on a business model whereby it collects trademarks to the names of iconic property owned by the United States."

It looks like a protracted fight is set up. But in a time when public lands are in dispute, vis-à-vis, the takeover of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon by a group that demands public lands be turned over to "the people," nothing is surprising.