National parks are key players in region

It has been said that as the Grand Canyon goes, so goes the Flagstaff economy.

Recent years of flat or even declining visitation at the Canyon have prompted city leaders to look to develop Flagstaff as a destination in its own right.

Arizona Daily Sun

(Thanks to Headwaters News for passing this along.- Russ)

But a recent Michigan State study that attributes more than 7,000 jobs to visitor spending at the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell should be a wakeup call to local officials that national parks are one of this region’s most important economic engines.

That’s why it is disheartening to learn of the constant struggles that park officials have to cover basic maintenance and resource protection, much less visitor services and employee housing.

The most recent $1.6 billion Park Service operating budget is an example. Although it is $55 million more than last year, that is an increase of just 3.5 percent, despite a huge backlog of projects ranging from trail maintenance to studies of endangered species.

The Grand Canyon has seen visitation hover between 4 million and 5 million a year in the last decade after explosive growth in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The most recent falloff in numbers is due to overall decline in vacation travel in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But before that, the South Rim had gained an unenviable reputation in the travel industry as being too congested in the summer, prompting some agents to book tours at other national parks.

As the crown jewel in the national park system, the Canyon deserves the resources necessary to protect its natural beauty while enhancing the visitor experience. If the federal government won’t provide sufficient resources, then partnerships with state and local governments, individuals, conservation and recreation groups, businesses and Indian tribes will become increasingly important.

As we’ve noted before, we think the city of Flagstaff should take a more active role in helping Grand Canyon National Park meet its visitor management challenges, especially in the area of transportation. Only one private business, Open Roads Tours, provides shuttle service to the South Rim, and as the Park Service moves toward limiting private vehicle access, we can only see growth opportunities in that service.

Flagstaff leaders might also do more to promote the city with park visitors as a destination attraction. The Michigan State study classified 60 percent of Grand Canyon visitors as "non-local day trippers." That means that a majority are not planning to stay overnight in the region. Some of those are bus and helicopter tour passengers from Las Vegas. But many more might be convinced to spend an extra day or two in Flagstaff with more aggressive and targeted marketing.

At heart, national parks are about stewardship of this country’s most precious natural resources. Gateway communities that honor that mission will do well by doing good. Flagstaff and Grand Canyon National Park should face the future together, knowing each can benefit the other.

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