Federal Shutdown Affects More Parks Than Our National Parks

    SAN CARLOS, CA, October 05, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Press coverage of the federal shutdown has primarily been focused on the impact to our National Parks, however visitations to parks and sites within the National Parks system only account for about one quarter of total visitors to the broader federal parks and recreation lands, which make up approximately 270 million out of a total 1 billion annual visitors.

"The United States' federal lands reach well beyond the our Nation Parks Service and includes all properties managed by the Department of the Interior including National Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation, US Forest Service and US Army Corps of Engineers," states Tom Landers CEO of Traipse Media. "On an average day, about 2.8 million people visit our national parks, monuments, historic sites, forests, recreation areas, preserves, harbors, lakes, and wildernesses. The supporting infrastructure of these venues, including outfitters, local services providers and their employees are also impacted."

To illustrate the true impact on park and recreation site closures, exploreParks has produced an interactive map with over 1,800 areas that have been impacted by the shutdown. This does not include tens of thousands of locations such as campgrounds, museums, visitor centers, and concessionaires impacted, or important information on road and other infrastructure closures. While this is an opportunity for outdoor enthusiast and displaced travelers to explore state and county parks as an alternative, our federal lands are the primary provider of many activities such as hunting and fishing that may not be available on in the state and county parks.

The economic impact is significant not just at the national level, but for local economies as well. "Communities just outside the parks are seeing hotel rooms fill with displaced tourists on the one hand and cancellations on the other. They expect to lose money if the parks remain closed much longer. The Cody Country Chamber of Commerce expects to lose at least $4 million per day if the shutdown lasts for more than a few days", said Scott Balyo, executive director of the chamber.

According to a study published by the Outdoor Industry Association, The Outdoor Recreation Economy, "the National Park Service estimates $32 million would be lost per day if budget cuts shut down the parks." There is no arguing that the shutdown impacts the lives of millions and that the economic ramifications grow while the shutdown persists.

Annual Visitation by Agency

- US Army Corp of Engineers - 368 million
- National Parks - 271 million
- US National Forests - 160 million
- Bureau of Reclamation - 90 million
- US Fish & Wildlife - 72 million
- Bureau of Land Management 56 million

* numbers of visitors according Department of Interior website, US Forest Service 2012 National Summary Report and US Army Corp of Engineer website

About exploreParks

exploreParks is a wholly owned entity of Traipse Media Corporation. exploreParks maps and content is provided by Traipse Media's Content Management and Digital Mapping Solution, which enable parks and land managers the ability to manage this online information in real-time including descriptions, hours, fees, closures, alerts and more. Traipse Media Corporation is a leading innovator of SaaS content management, digital mapping and mobile solutions for park and recreation land managers to better engage with outdoor enthusiast. Founded in 2011 and headquartered in San Carlos, California, the company specializes in developing enterprise cloud and mobile solutions for federal, state and local government, outdoor recreational companies and consumers.

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