National parks seeing fewer camping visits

Sep 25, 11:37 AM EDT

National parks seeing fewer camping visits

The Park Service reported that overnight stays in national park fell by 13.8 million, or 20 percent, between 1995 and 2005 and have fallen an additional 4.3 percent in the first eight months of this year.

The Park Service said tent camping dropped 23 percent, backcountry camping 24 percent and RV camping 31 percent in the 10-year period.

Visits to "gem parks" in the intermountain region, which include Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountain, dipped between 2 percent and 15 percent during that time.

"Let's face it: It's hard to protect the parks if no one is interested in them," said Park Service statistician Butch Street.

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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com