Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight
A new National Park Service report shows six national park sites in South Dakota attracted a total of 4.6 million visits in 2023, resulting in $600 million of spending near those parks that supported nearly 9,000 jobs.
The 2023 National Park Visitor Spending Effects report includes numbers from across the country.
“This report illustrates the significant economic benefits national parks provide to nearby communities and the U.S. economy,” said U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a statement, “and the value of our work to safeguard these public lands in the wake of the climate crisis, upgrade visitor experiences and invest in park infrastructure and staff.”
The six South Dakota sites in the report include well-known destinations such as Mount Rushmore National Memorial, and lesser-known sites such as the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site near the Badlands and the Missouri National Recreational River, a free-flowing segment of the otherwise dam-controlled river in southeast South Dakota.
The report includes the following 2023 statistics for each site:
- Mount Rushmore National Memorial: 2.4 million visits resulted in $390 million spent, supporting 5,700 jobs and generating $187 million in worker income.
- Badlands National Park: 1 million visits resulted in $135 million spent, supporting nearly 2,000 jobs and generating $62 million in worker income.
- Wind Cave National Park: 600,000 visits resulted in $52 million spent, supporting 727 jobs and generating $23 million in worker income.
- Jewel Cave National Monument: 122,000 visits resulted in $8 million spent, supporting 112 jobs and generating $3 million in worker income.
- Minuteman Missile National Historic Site: 116,000 visits resulted in $10 million spent, supporting 132 jobs and generating $4 million in worker income.
- Missouri National Recreational River: 116,000 visits resulted in $6 million spent, supporting 76 jobs and generating $2 million in worker income.
The National Park Service, as a whole, experienced 325.5 million visits in 2023 and visitor spending of $26.4 billion near national parks, supporting 415,400 jobs.