Visitation to national parks dipped by 916,196, or 2.32 percent in August, but remain well above their year-to-date level from a year ago, according to the National Park Service.
In the first eight months of 2016, overall visitation reached 228,580,534, up 3.89 percent from 220,020,623, NPS visitation data shows.
Tent camping visits, however, fell by 25,000, or 3.67 percent, during month, and trailed visits for the first eight months of last year by 0.70 percent going into September.
Backcountry visits fell by 23,663, or 6.64 percent from August 2015, but are still running 26,066, or 1.65 percent ahead for the year-to-date period.
In addition to promotion of the NPS Centennial, visitation has gotten a lift from the Every Kid in a Park Program, which kicked off its second year September 1. The program gives fourth graders and their families a free pass to visit federal lands and waters nationwide for a full year. The pass, which is valid from September 1, 2016 through August 31, 2017, grants free entry for fourth graders and up to three accompanying adults at more than 2,000 sites across the country.
“The Every Kid in a Park program is unlocking natural curiosity in children by encouraging them to explore our nation’s most spectacular places,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, who served as CEO for Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) for five years prior to joining the Obama Administration. “We’re excited to welcome this year’s fourth graders and their families to our nation’s diverse parks, public lands and waters. From feeling the spray of a waterfall on their faces to peering at animals in their natural settings to understanding our rich history and culture, introducing children to their public lands can inspire a deep, lifelong connection to our country.”
By completion of the 12-year program, every school-age child in America will have had an opportunity to visit their public lands and waters for free, inspiring the next generation to be stewards of our nation’s shared natural and cultural heritage.
The program is part of an overall strategy by the Obama Administration to engage young people, who overwhelmingly live in urban or suburban neighborhoods, with the great outdoors. This strategy includes the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps, which seeks to put thousands of young people and veterans to work protecting, restoring and enhancing America’s public lands and waters. In addition, First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Outside initiative is committed to getting millions of young people to play, learn, serve and work in America’s great outdoors.
