As Monroe continues on the path towards national park status for the River Raisin Battlefield and as the disparate pieces of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge begin to link, it is good to look at the economic impact that these initiatives eventually might have on the region.  The Marquette Mining Journal has a story focused on an MSU study of national parks and their impact on local economies.  The study finds that the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore generates $20 million dollars and roughly 500 jobs for localities within 50 miles of the park.

Excerpt and link:

The “National Park Visitor Spending and Payroll Impacts 2007″ report estimates that the combination of park visitor spending and Park Service payroll supports a total of 449 jobs in the local area.

There were a total of 441,521 visitors to Pictured Rocks in 2007. The local area defined for the purposes of the study was within 50 miles of the park.

“In my mind, parks are priceless,” Pictured Rocks Superintendent Jim Northup said. “As Americans, I hope we value our parks not only for their economic value but more so for what they represent as part of our heritage, for preserving the best of what America has to offer for future generations, and for opportunities to learn, have fun, find inspiration, physical challenge and even spiritual renewal.”

But Northup said particularly in difficult economic times, studies like those completed by Stynes serve as “an important reminder that individual units of the national park system, as well as national forests and national wildlife refuges, have tremendous economic benefit to local communities.”

Full story:

http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/520467.html

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