Attendance at state parks falls slightly amid economic = decline

By Joseph Spector =95 Albany Bureau =95 = September 4,=20 2008

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ALBANY -- Attendance at New York parks dipped slightly during = this=20 year's vacation season compared to 2007, despite high fuel prices = that=20 kept more people closer to home.

State parks officials had hoped for an increase in park = activity this=20 summer as travelers scaled back vacation plans because of soaring = gas=20 prices and the economic downturn.

But bad weather in July and early August in much of upstate New = York is=20 to blame for about 50,000 fewer visitors at state parks from = Memorial Day=20 to Labor Day than during the same period last year, according to = the=20 Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Still, parks officials pointed out that the decline is less = than a 1=20 percent decrease from the 30.9 million visitors that state parks = drew in=20 2007.

"We did have more people staying closer to home, but Mother = Nature=20 didn't cooperate with us in July," state Parks Commissioner Carol = Ash=20 said. "Had we had better weather in July, we really would have = topped last=20 year, which was a spectacular year."

The attendance decline comes as the state is upping its = investment in=20 its parks, the nation's oldest park system. The current budget = includes=20 $132 million for capital improvements at many of the state's 178 = state=20 parks and 35 historical sites, the largest infusion of cash in the = system=20 in state history.

The revamped "I Love New York" tourism campaign this year also = focused=20 on luring tourists within the state to parks and outdoor = activities.

Many park improvements are already under way: the Franklin D. = Roosevelt=20 State Park in Yorktown Heights, Westchester County, added new = bathhouses=20 this summer; a new tunnel and disability ramp was added to the = Bear=20 Mountain State Park in Rockland County, and the pool and cabins at = Letchworth State Park in Castile, Wyoming County, are being = upgraded.

Parks officials said they are hopeful that the fall season will = boost=20 the attendance numbers for the full year. Yet they noted that they = may=20 have to scale back some park hours this fall to cut costs because = of the=20 state's fiscal woes.

While attendance was down overall in New York, park usage = increased in=20 New York City, which saw attendance boom by nearly 420,000 between = the=20 summer seasons of 2007 and 2008. The biggest decline was in the = Saratoga=20 region parks, which had an attendance decline of about 110,000, = state=20 records show.

Attendance at state parks is calculated largely on the number = of cars=20 that pay between $6 and $8 for a daily park pass.

The National Park Service said it may be misleading to link = park=20 attendance with economic trends. Nationally, attendance at = national parks=20 has dropped this year from 2007 by nearly 1 percent - or roughly = 1.5=20 million visitors.

Jeffrey Olson, a spokesman for the National Park Service, said = that=20 weather, wildfires or other variables can impact attendance -- = just as=20 much as any market-driven factor.

"When the economy is doing the wild fluctuations that it's = doing, and=20 our visitations stay statistically the same, there are just too = many=20 things in the mix that are not apparent," Olson said.

But some state parks advocates said they expect attendance to = increase=20 as people's vacation habits change to adapt to higher gas = prices.

"In the long run, state parks, which are closer to home than a = lot of=20 other vacations, are quite viable and are going to get more and = more=20 important as energy and fuel prices rise," said Robin Dropkin, = executive=20 director of Parks & Trails New York, a non-profit group.

"People will more and more want to stay closer to = home."

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Attendance at state parks falls slightly amid economic = decline

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