Study Outlines GTNP Economic Impacts

A new National Park Service report for 2011 shows that nearly 2.6 million visitors to Grand Teton National Park spent over $436-million in the gateway communities surrounding the park. That spending, in turn, supported 6,397 jobs inthe northwestern Wyoming communities of Jackson, Teton Village, and Dubois, as well as the nearby Idaho communities of Driggs and Victor. Park Spokesperson Jackie Skaggs points out that the jobs include employment both inside and outside the park – and that just relates to Grand Teton National Park.  Skaggs says there are similar statistics that relate to Yellowstone National Park and the rest of the 398 park units nationwide.  The information on Grand Teton National Park is part of a peer-reviewed spending analysis of national park visitors across the country conducted by Michigan State University for the National Park Service.  63% of the visitor spending supports jobs in lodging, food, and beverage service, followed by 17% in recreation and entertainment, 11% in other retail, 7% in transportation and fuel and 2% in wholesale and manufacturing. In fact, Skaggs says, Grand Teton ranked third among the 398 units in the National Park Service in the economic impact on its surrounding communities.