Celebrating National Park Week this week, the National Park System encouraged travelers to visit one (or more) of its 433 parks, reported USA Today last Friday.
“Find a national park and come visit!” the annual event’s webpage encourages, pointing to the National Park System, which includes national battlefields, monuments and seashores.
Cost isn’t the only factor travelers are considering for their upcoming national park trips, USA Today reported.
Prospective visitors, along with park proponents, are concerned about what the parks and experiences may look like after the sweeping layoffs across the National Park Service and the larger federal government in February.
But the parks are open, and now is a great time to visit.
“National Park Week is a great time to visit one of the country’s 430+ national parks,” an NPS spokesperson told USA TODAY by email. “It also is an opportune time to plan summer vacations or other excursions to national parks this year.”
Jason Rano, vice president, Government Affairs at the RV Industry Association, said if people stop visiting, “That’s money that’s not going back to the park and the Park Service … and for our customers and our industry, that’s a big concern. And it’s not just us. There are gateway communities that serve as important networks to these places that largely thrive or don’t on park visitation.”
Read the rest of the USA Today article here.
