National Parks have economic impacts in Idaho

Although Idaho does not have a National Park within its boundaries, a new Department of Interior report shows 629.2 thousand park visitors spent an estimated $30.8 million in local gateway regions while visiting National Park Service lands in the state. Idaho does host Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve and the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, which are both National Park Service lands. The expenditures supported a total of 525 jobs, $13.1 million in labor income, $21 million in value-added, and $39.7 million in economic output in the Idaho economy. The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas of the U.S. Geological Survey and Lynne Koontz of the National Park Service. The report shows $18.4 billion of direct spending by 331 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. Nationally, that spending supported 318,000 jobs with a cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy of $34.9 billion. The authors of the report also produced an interactive tool and full report. You can view it here.