The shutdown of the federal authorities, which started Wednesday, might have a extra seen presence in Montana because of the outsized impression the Nationwide Park system has on Montana’s economic system.
Based on a report launched Monday by the Nationwide Park Service, the state is a top-15 benefactor of nationwide parks when it comes to customer spending, jobs, labor earnings, worth added to the state and total financial output.
Final yr, guests spent roughly $838 million in Montana communities close to the national parks and historic sites, anchored by Glacier Nationwide Park and Yellowstone Nationwide Park.
Nationwide Park Service websites contributed to about 9,293 jobs in Montana, about $408 million in labor earnings, added $675 million in worth to the state’s economic system, and contributed about $1.2 billion in financial output, in accordance with the report.
In 2024, about 8.9 million visits had been logged amongst Glacier Nationwide Park, Yellowstone Nationwide Park, Massive Gap Nationwide Battlefield, Grant-Kohrs Ranch Nationwide Historic Web site, Bighorn Canyon Nationwide Recreation Space, and Little Bighorn Battlefield Nationwide Monument. The overwhelming majority of these visits had been to Glacier (3.2 million guests) and Yellowstone (4.7 million guests).
Glacier Nationwide Park supported about 5,188 jobs and generated about $217 million in labor earnings and $656 million in financial outputs for surrounding cities, cities and counties.
“The communities round Glacier are our companions in offering guests with info that helps them benefit from the park safely and responsibly — in order that we could all proceed to expertise the marvel of this wild and scenic panorama for generations to come back. The park contributes again to Western Montana by means of customer spending that helps jobs and creates income. We’re grateful to work with neighborhood companions on a sustainable future for our parks and communities,” mentioned Glacier Nationwide Park Superintendent Dave Roemer in an announcement on Monday.
Yellowstone Nationwide Park, which contributes to native economies in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, noticed guests spend about $709 million in close by communities final yr, supporting about 6,500 jobs domestically and $322 million in labor earnings. The Park Service mentioned these guests generated about $903 million in whole financial output for close by communities.
In October, Yellowstone Nationwide Park receives round 6% of its annual guests, which interprets to roughly $42 million in spending in gateway communities, a quantity that might take a success in 2025 if the federal shutdown continues for a number of weeks.
However the different Nationwide Park Service websites in Montana additionally introduced in virtually half 1,000,000 guests final yr as effectively, together with a whole lot of jobs and hundreds of thousands in financial output.
Little Bighorn Battlefield Nationwide Monument noticed 111,000 guests final yr who spent about $9 million within the area, supporting 91 jobs and producing $10.5 million in financial output, in accordance with the report. The Bighorn Canyon Nationwide Recreation Space, additionally in southeast Montana, noticed 219,000 guests who spent an estimated $11.5 million within the area and supported 121 jobs.
In western Montana, the Massive Gap Nationwide Battlefield and Grant-Kohrs Ranch Nationwide Historic Web site introduced in a mixed 72,000 guests who spent about $4.5 million within the area and supported about 47 jobs, in accordance with the Nationwide Park Service.
Nationally, NPS guests spent an estimated $29 billion in native gateway communities, primarily by means of lodging ($11 billion) and eating places ($5.7 billion).
