By Any Measure
An Open Letter to Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum
Dear Secretary Burgum:
In some of your first public comments as the nation’s 55th Secretary of Interior you called our public lands “America’s balance sheet” and touted those precious lands as a way to ease our national debt. “We have all this debt,” you said, yet “we never talk about the assets. It’s our responsibility to get a return for the American people.”
Well, let’s look at some numbers.
The annual budget for the National Park Service is $3.6 billion. According to your own agency’s research, national parks generate $55.6 billion* in visitor spending. That is a 1,544% return on investment. Can you name another federal “asset” that brings that kind of return to the American people?
Furthermore, our parks are a major player in the more than $1 trillion tourism industry nationwide. In fact, in 2024 a record number of people - 391.9 million* - visited a national park (a number that your own website and press releases have been oddly quiet about). Another number not often brought up is that our national parks, by your own numbers, support an estimated 415,000* jobs nationwide.
Mr. Secretary, I am not a numbers guy. I believe the wonder, beauty, as well as the cultural and natural history of our public lands are more than a “balance sheet.” I believe they are a part of the American soul. But, ok, have it your way. If it truly is “our responsibility to get a return for the American people” from our public lands, as you yourself stated, then let’s protect our national parks simply for their numbers, their ROI as you and your bean-counters call it.
By any measure, including your own, they are worthy of protection. As I am sure that you are a man of your word, I can only expect to see you working diligently to protect our parks even if only for their “return for the American people.”
— Jeff Rennicke (all photography by the author unless otherwise noted).
Sources:
“National Parks Contributed Record High $55.6 Billion to U.S. economy, Supported 415,000 Jobs in 2023: Local economies in every state boosted by national park visitor spending” (U.S. Department of Interior website) https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/national-parks-contributed-record-high-556-billion-us-economy-supported-415000-jobs.
“Annual Visitation Statistics Release” (National Park Service website) https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/visitor-use-statistics-dashboard.htm
Wonderfully stated, Jeff. May I use this as a template to forward to other Representatives rolled up in this mess?
Jeff, this is excellent. You nailed it.
I am so very grateful for your work, dedication and ability to help us put our feelings and thoughts into words.....words that matter. N