U.S. National Parks Vs. Overtourism: 3 Steps to Stop Overcrowding
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The new $100 million grant will boost the National Park Service's efforts to mitigate overtourism. It's going to need the help because there are no signs of a visitor slowdown.
America's national parks have been swamped with visitors. To help them, the Lily Endowment awarded the National Park Foundation a $100 million grant.
A portion of the grant will go toward helping the National Park Service manage visitor growth, along with conservation, infrastructure maintenance and other areas. During the pandemic, the national parks experienced a boom in visitors. Since then, the trend has continued. In 2023, the National Park Service reported 325.5 million visits to 400 national parks, up 13 million from 2022.
Overtourism at parks takes the form of traffic congestion, worn out trails, overcrowding, environmental degradation and a worsening
