Mammoth Cave National Park generates $62 million

Author's Note: I thought this news item from the National Park Service was important to pass along. Why? Because the importance of our National Parks goes beyond preserving our nation's most picturesque and historical natural spaces. Very often, they also are an economic catalyst for the surrounding areas. Sure, there are extremes - Yellowstone National Park gets more visitors in one day than Isle Royale National Park gets all year - but that is to be expected. Bottom line: Ken Burns had it right - our National Parks are America's greatest idea!

Mammoth Cave National Park generates $62 million for the south central Kentucky area each year, according to a recent economic impact study by the National Park Service.

Beginning at the national level, the study reveals how the national park system as a whole, has a trickle-down effect that pays out big dividends to the communities adjacent to each park.

"The Money Generation Model, developed by Michigan State University, is a tool each NPS area can use to calculate its economic impact on surrounding communities," said Superintendent Patrick Reed. "Mammoth Cave has a sizeable effect on the quality of life in the caveland region."

The Money Generation Model is based on a park's annual visitation; approximately 500,000 people visit Mammoth Cave National Park each year.

The program calculates a park's economic impact in this manner:

• 500,000 visitors spend $32 million in the park and surrounding communities each year. 
• Visitor spending supports 525 jobs. 
• These park-supported jobs generate $11 million in take-home pay for employees. 
• Take home pay spent in area communities multiplies to an added value of $19 million. 
• This spending has a ripple effect ($32 million + $11 million + $19 million) totaling $62 million generated in south central Kentucky.

"Mammoth Cave National Park is an anchor attraction for many nearby tourism related businesses," said Reed. "You can also look at this as a return on investment of federal tax dollars - the park's $8 million budget generates approximately $8 in economic impacts for every federal tax dollar invested."

Tourism is the third largest industry and second largest employer for the state of Kentucky. In 2010 tourism contributed more than $11.3 billion to Kentucky's economy. Tourism has generated more than $1.1 billion in state tax revenue annually, supporting 169,258 jobs. In 2010 cave region tourism alone contributed $514 million to the region's economy, supporting 8,916 jobs for the area.

"With numbers such as these, tourism proves itself as an intricate part of state industry and employment," said Reed. "The Money Generation Model shows that Mammoth Cave has a positive impact on Kentucky's tourism industry."