Pennsylvania is among 20 states without a national park, but the 11 sites and six trails managed by the National Park Service could be hit with major funding cuts or be turned over to the state under a budget proposal from President Donald Trump’s administration.
Trump wants to slash $1.2 billion from the National Park Service, a quarter of its $4.8 billion annual budget, as part of $33 billion in cuts to federal funding for parks and public lands, environmental management, conservation and science-related programs and grants, according to USA Today.
The National Park Service oversees 433 sites. Only 63 are considered national parks. In Pennsylvania, these sites include the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County, the Johnstown Flood National Museum in Cambria County, and the Gettysburg National Military Park in Adams County. Among the 17 Pennsylvania sites are six national trails that cross multiple states.
Visitors to these National Park Service sites spent $426 million while visiting the 15 Pennsylvania sites in 2023. The 8.3 million visitors supported some 6,160 jobs in the state, including in the hotel, restaurant, recreation and retail industries. About 1,820 of those jobs came from the secondary economic effects of these sites,
as per the National Park Service
.
Pennsylvania’s National Park Service locations
-
Johnstown Flood National Memorial
- Visitor spending (2023): $11.3 million
- Economic output: $17.3 million
- Jobs: 169
-
Flight 93 National Memorial
- Visitor spending: $25.3 million
- Economic output: $37.1 million
- Jobs: 360
-
Friendship Hill National Historic Site
- Visitor spending: $1.3 million
- Economic output: $1.9 million
- Jobs: 18
-
Fort Necessity National Battlefield
- Visitor spending: $16.7 million
- Economic output: $25.2 million
- Jobs: 240
-
Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historical Park
- Visitor spending: $13.4 million
- Economic output: $19.6 million
- Jobs: 191
-
Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site
- Visitor spending: $3.6 million
- Economic output: $5.8 million
- Jobs: 51
-
Gettysburg National Military Park
- Visitor spending: $54.8 million
- Economic output: $78.8 million
- Jobs: 653
-
Eisenhower National Historic Site
- Visitor spending: $6.6 million
- Economic output: $9.7 million
- Jobs: 81
-
Steamtown National Historic Site
- Visitor spending: $3.6 million
- Economic output: $5.2 million
- Jobs: 51
-
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
- Visitor spending: $166 million
- Economic output: $236 million
- Jobs: 2,240
-
Valley Forge National Historical Park
- Visitor spending: $27.2 million
- Economic output: $44.7 million
- Jobs: 411
National Trails in Pennsylvania
- Northeastern National Scenic Trail
- The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
- The Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail
- The Appalachian Trail
- The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail
- Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail
Matthew Rink can be contacted at
mrink@timesnews.com
or on X at
@ETNRink
.
The article was initially published in Erie Times-News:
These Pennsylvania-based National Park Service locations might feel the impact of Trump’s $1.2 billion budget reductions.
Leave a Reply