MAINE ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS • June 30, 2022
In 2021, 4.1 million park visitors spent an estimated $490 million in local gateway regions while visiting National Park Service lands in Maine. These expenditures supported a total of 7,070 jobs, $261 million in labor income, $445 million in value added, and $770 million in economic output in the Maine economy. Parks in Maine that were included in the report are Acadia National Park, Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, and Saint Croix Island International Historic Site. Across the U.S., in 2021, the National Park System received over 297 million recreation visits (up 25% from 2020). Visitors to national parks spent an estimated $20.5 billion in local gateway regions (up 41% from 2020). The estimated contribution of this spending to the national economy was 322,600 jobs, $14.6 billion in labor income, $24.3 billion in value added, and $42.5 billion in economic output. The information is in a new report, “2021 National Park Service Visitor Spending Effects Report.”