The Economy
According to the director of the NPS, “The national parks return more than $10 for every $1 the American taxpayer invests in the National Park Service.”
How would a Driftless National Park & Preserve impact the local economy? Creating the park would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, so would tourism be enough to overcome this cost?
The answer is a resounding yes. Regarding economic output to the local region, the park would likely generate its initial cost of creation within 2-5 years and then generate billions of extra dollars for the local economy. The return on the initial investment in 20 years is expected to be between 800% at a reasonable low end (plan 4) and +3000% (plan 3). Investing in the National Park Service is an intelligent investment for Minnesota and the local area.
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These numbers and a more detailed report and methodology can be found in our economic analysis on pages 89-106 of the proposal.
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