January 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 51

*	 Visitor spending
*	 Environment
*	 Health/wellness
*	 Increased property values
Yet, even with the conservative
methodology, the findings are a powerful message about how local and regional parks are engines of economic
activity. When combined with studies on the National Park Service and
state park systems, public parks are
responsible for roughly $200 billion
in annual economic activity.
State-Level Impact
The level of spending on local and
regional parks varies by state, and so,
too, does the economic impact. The
study developed estimates of the economic impacts of local and regional
parks spending in all 50 states and the
District of Columbia. The state-level
analysis followed that of the national
study and considers the economic impact of local and regional park agency
operations and capital spending.
A series of interactive tools presenting the state-level economic
impact figures at available at www.
nrpa.org/parkeconreport, but here
are some highlights about the top
five states in terms of 2013 economic impact of local and regional park
agency spending and generated employment:
*	 California - $17.612 billion in
economic activity and 126,775 jobs
*	 Illinois - $12.977 billion in economic activity and 96,317 jobs
*	 Florida - $7.486 billion in economic activity and 60,801 jobs
*	 Texas - $6.323 billion in economic activity and 51,190 jobs
*	 New York - $6.289 billion in economic activity and 43,090 jobs
It is probably not surprising that
the states that achieve the greatest
economic benefits from local and regional park agencies also tend to be
large states (and in turn have larger
	

budgets). Another way to rank states
is by the economic impact after adjusting for population, which provides a different list of the states that
benefit most from their local and regional park systems. The following
five states have the largest per capita
economic impact from spending at
their local and regional parks:
*	 Illinois - $1,107 of economic activity per resident
*	 Colorado - $878 of economic activity per resident
*	 Utah - $706 of economic activity
per resident
*	 North Dakota - $697 of economic activity per resident
*	 Wyoming - $665 of economic activity per resident
An Even More Compelling Public
Parks Message
We already know parks are important
contributors to their towns, cities and
regions. Millions of people personally benefit from their local and regional park agencies in many ways -
gathering places to meet with friends
and family, open spaces to exercise
and reap the benefits of clean air
and water, and community resources
where one can connect to others and
nature. These benefits manifest themselves in NRPA's Three Pillars.
Before this study, park and recreation professionals already had a
strong message about public parks
being on the forefront of conservation, health and wellness, and social equity. Now, these study results
combined with NRPA's Three Pillars
are further proof that investments in
local and regional parks also spark
economic activity that ripples well
beyond the initial spending to create
jobs and prosperity in our communities and throughout our nation.
At the national level, NRPA is using
the study's findings to advocate on behalf of public parks, their mission and

their funding. The fact that local and
regional public parks contribute almost
$140 billion in economic activity and
generate almost 1 million jobs is a message NRPA's Public Policy team is delivering to Congress and the White House
to secure the permanent authorization
and funding for the Land and Water
Conservation Fund. In December,
NRPA and Dr. Clower presented the
results to House and Senate members
and staffers to tell the public parks story.
At the local level, park and recreation professionals can speak about
the critical economic and job creation
qualities of parks and recreation
when advocating for operation and
capital budgets. It is likely local policymakers and leaders have not fully
appreciated the economic spark that
local parks bring to their communities. Even if your agency has not conducted an economic study on its own
contribution to the local economy,
the national and state data provided
in this report make this clear: Public
parks not only are leaders in conservation, health and wellness, and social equity, they are also engines of
significant economic activity and job
creation in the United States. Hence,
investment in public parks is an investment for a better tomorrow.
The Three Pillars, almost $140 billion in annual economic activity and
almost 1 million jobs reaffirm what we
know about our parks agencies: Local and regional park and recreation
agencies are important assets that
turn our neighborhoods into vibrant,
connected and healthier communities
that also spark economic prosperity
throughout our nation. This is the
compelling public park story that we
need to share with everyone.
Go to www.nrpa.org/parkeconreport
to learn more.
Kevin Roth, Ph.D., is NRPA's Vice President
of Research (kroth@nrpa.org).

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Parks & Recreation

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January 2016 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2016 - Parks & Recreation
