BAR HARBOR, Maine — Maine's independent senator and a colleague from Montana want more staffing at America's National Parks to keep up with increased attendance.
Sens. Angus King of Maine and Steve Daines of Montana said visitation and workloads have increased in the parks system, but employment numbers have not kept up. They said park staffing has steadily declined over the course of the last decade.
King and Daines told the leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee that a good staffing level would be 23,000 full-time equivalent positions. That figure was 18,567 in fiscal 2020, the senators said.
The senators said the increased staffing is needed in a time when “many of the nation’s most popular parks consistently set attendance records through 2021.”
Nearly two years into a pandemic that has forced officials to enact various social and travel restrictions, Americans with cabin fever have been flocking to national parks across the country in record numbers.
According to National Park Service, after a plummet in 2020, Yellowstone recorded over 4.86 million visits in 2021, making it the busiest year on record. Other parks like Zion, Glacier and Canyonland also broke previous records.
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But employment numbers have not kept up with the surge of tourism. According to the National Parks Conservation Association, while visitations have increased by 16% over the past decade, total national park employees have decreased by 14%.
The association indicated that this drop in shortage has been due to various budget cuts over the last several years.