Listen to this week’s radio segment here or read the transcript below. This week’s segment discusses increased visitation at Iowa’s state parks.
After a number of wet summers, the dry conditions of 2012 seem to have helped increase visitation at Iowa’s state parks
This is the Iowa Environmental Focus.
In 2012, traffic at Iowa state parks increased by 12 percent from the previous year. Iowa’s 87 parks attracted 15.6 million visitors. Typically, they bring in closer to 14 million visitors.
Additionally, the number of nights spent at the parks by campers increased by about 25,000.
The state parks with the most overnight campers were Lewis and Clark, Rock Creek and Viking Lake.
The drought conditions may have spurred these increases. Dry weather means more days with suitable conditions for camping and visiting at parks.
For more information on Iowa’s parks, visit IowaEnvironmentalFocus.org.
From the UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, I’m Jerry Schnoor.
