Study: Glacier an economic engine

Glacier National Park is not just a World Heritage site, a beautiful landscape, a home to many interesting and exotic species. It’s also an economic engine, according to a new study commissioned by the National Park Service.

The study, done by Daniel J. Stynes of Michigan State University looked at employment at all national parks as well as visitor spending in 2007.

While Stynes looked at the entire Park Service, he also broke numbers down by each park in its own right. Here’s a look at some of the numbers:

• Glacier, on an annual average, has 404 people on its payroll, and the total number of jobs supported by “non-local” visitors, amounted to 1,745 full-time equivalent positions. Non-local visitors were defined as folks who lived 50 miles or more from the Park. Construction jobs were not included in the study.

The number of employees for each park was estimated by totaling the number of distinct social security numbers in each pay period and dividing by the number of pay periods. The figure, therefore, is an annual average. For example, four seasonal jobs for three months counts as one full time job, Stynes notes.

• The Park’s total payroll is about $12 million and the total impact of the Park’s payroll is estimated at $18 million.

• Stynes estimated that Glacier Park visitors spent $90 million in 2007 and that $86 million of that came from non-local visitors.

• Servicewide, Stynes found that local visitors represented about 28 percent of  all visits to national parks, but less than 10 percent of all visitor spending.

• Servicewide, backcountry campers spent the least amount of money per day. On average they spend about $69.23 per day, of which $18 of that was gas and oil and $10 was at restaurants and bars. People who stayed at Park Service lodges, in contrast, spent the most — about $336 per day. Folks who stayed at motels outside parks were the second highest spenders at $250 per day.

• Lodging amounts for 29 percent of visitor spending, restaurants and bars 24 percent, transportation 16 percent, souvenirs 14 percent, groceries 8 percent and admission fees 9 percent.

• Servicewide, 275.6 million visitors spent $11.79 billion in gateway communities and parks created 209,000 jobs and $7 billion in value added income.

The Park Service alone employs 23,853 people with a total payroll of $1.142 billion.