Selected National Parks and National Forests, threatened by Trump's Shutdown.

 Death Valley

Grand Canyon

Glacier Bay

National Parks top interest of International Visitors

 

The National Travel and Tourism Office has released 12 market profile reports of overseas visitors for calendar year 2024 and prior years.  These profiles, based on the Survey of International Air Travelers (SIAT), detail the characteristics of overseas visitors engaged in the following activities: Air (Intra-USA), Visit American Indian Communities, Amusement-Theme Park, Business, Car Rental, Cultural Heritage, Fine Dining, Hotel-Motel, National Parks/Monuments, Package, Shopping, and Vacation.

2024 selected highlights include:

Top overseas source markets that visited U.S. National Parks/Monuments were the United Kingdom (1.8 million), Germany (1 million), France (901,000), Brazil (876,000), and Australia, (726,000).

Top U.S. cities visited by overseas Business Travelers were New York City (973,000), Los Angeles (664,000), Miami (444,000), San Francisco (312,000), and Chicago (271,000).

Of the 3.3 million overseas visitors who came to the United States on a package tour, 19.8 percent were from Japan, followed by the United Kingdom (16.7 percent), China (8.2 percent), India (6.5 percent), and South Korea (5.9 percent). 

Overseas visitation to Amusement-Theme Parks increased 16 percent from 2023 to 9.5 million, accounting for 27 percent of total overseas visitation to the United States in 2024.

Overseas visitors who experienced Fine Dining in the United States had an average household income of $104,361. 

27.5 percent (2.7 million) of overseas visitors who Rented Cars in the United States also took air-travel between U.S. cities during their trip.

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

 Another great place to visit is Glacier Bay National Park

We want to return to see the change in this Last Chance TourismLast Chance Tourism site.

Mar-a-Lago to become National Park

 Mar-a-Lago is currently a National Historic Landmark. But there is a proposal to make it National Park, to showcase not just the historic role in American History, but its scenic beauty and a more recent history of celebrities.  Despite some bad news, there appears to be little opposition in Florida to support the replacement of Disney as the State's contribution to family fun.

"It is clear the ex-president's summer home should become a national treasure" a spokesperson reports from Florida.  Even Gov. DeSantis appears to want to replace Disney.

But get on the Tennis Courts soon, the University of Florida predicts they will be under water in 80 years.

National Park Week 2021

 Still time to enjoy National Park Week.

Here is a couple shots to get you interested:

Looks like fun.

Support the Great American Outdoors Act

The US Senate just passed the Great American Outdoors Act and now the House must take action!

Tell your Representative to urge leadership to hold a vote on the Senate passed bill and to co-sponsor the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act!

Connecting Appalachian Trail, Conservation Landscapes, & Communities

From the National Park Service webpage "National parks partner with gateway communities and other organizations for conservation initiatives. (May 2020)"

Enjoy.

https://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=9FC3D1A4-E422-42D8-C421707CDA3C6482

or

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7YkyIc7mno

NPS closes AT shelters on Appalachian Trail

"Effective immediately, the National Park Service is closing all overnight shelters (56 total) and privies (75 total) on land administered by the Appalachian National Scenic Trail Park Office in the states of VA (10 shelters, 12 privies), MD (1 shelter, 2 privies), PA (8 shelters, 6 privies), NJ (1 shelter, 1 privy), NY (5 shelters, 5 privies), CT (7 shelters, 16 privies), MA (1 shelter, 4 privies), and ME (22 shelters, 29 privies)." Source.

So I offer some pictures of these shelters (sometimes called a leanto), for your virtual enjoyment.  Starting with a PA shelter on a rainy morning.

Next we head south to NC, TN

This next one is closed since it is on NPS lands (Great Smoky MTN).

 Virginia?

This is the southern most shelter just north of Springer Mountain.

The following are in NH or ME.

Pretty sure this is in PA, south of Caledonia State Park.

This one is Stratton Pond, VT and our dog Katie.

Makes sense to close shelters since you cannot practice social distances when you are crammed together.