Case Study: National Park Service quantifies its economic contribution with IMPLAN

National Park Service shows $10 in visitor spending per $1 with IMPLAN

The National Park Service (NPS) faced the challenge of quantifying the economic impact of its parks to justify federal funding and comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. The NPS needed to move beyond recognizing the cultural benefits of parks and find a way to measure their direct and indirect economic contribution to the nation. To solve this, they turned to IMPLAN for its economic modeling application and data.

Using IMPLAN's economic impact modeling tools alongside its own proprietary models, the NPS developed a repeatable methodology to analyze visitor spending data. This solution allowed the NPS to calculate the economic contribution of visitor spending at the local, state, regional, and national levels. The results proved the parks' immense value, most notably during a 2013 government shutdown when it was estimated that for every dollar a state spent to reopen a park, $10 was generated in visitor spending for nearby gateway communities. The work done with IMPLAN set a worldwide standard for valuing protected public lands.

National Park Service