AP 4-25,2016
Visitation and spending are up at the national parks in Wyoming.
An annual National Park Service report shows visitation in 2015 was up 13.5 percent from the year before, at more than 7 million people.
People also spent 15.1 percent more than in 2014 on tourism related to national parks, bolstering the state’s economy by $1.1 billion last year.
The report ranked Wyoming sixth-highest nationwide in visitor spending at national parks, monuments and historic sites.
Visitor spending supported almost 13,000 jobs.
A news release says Yellowstone National Park visitation rose 16 percent from 2014 to reach an all-time high in 2015.
The release says marketing and low gas prices likely contributed to the uptick in visitors, which strained park staff, resources and traffic.
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