Hikers wore masks in Acadia National Park last summer due to Covid-19/NPS

Science, interpretation, and resource management are among the areas in the National Park System that have taken hits from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a study of how park operations across the country were affected by Covid-19.

At Yosemite National Park in California, for example, entrance fee revenues dropped by $12.4 million compared to 2019's tally. 

"Thus, some public engagement and resource management projects were delayed in 2020," according to a pre-proof verson of a study conducted by National Park Service staff. "And because many fees collected in 2020 fund projects in 2021, lower visitation in 2020 will likely lead to reduced funds for projects in 2021. For perspective, recreation and concession fees represent a small portion of the NPS agency-wide budget (e.g., roughly 7 percent and 3 percent, respectively, in fiscal year 2018), but much larger portions of the budgets for many individual parks (e.g., 22 percent and 12 percent, respectively, in Yosemite on average between in fiscal years 2015–2019)."

Those lost revenues to a degree handcuffed parks that rely on the money to support programs. At the Blue Ridge Parkway, constraints on staffing and resources led to just six of 33 research projects being conducted last year, the study found.

Long-term research projects also were interrupted. "The NPS Inventory and Monitoring program halted field operations across more than 280 NPS units during the last week of March and all of April 2020 because they could not be done safely—i.e., they require close interactions in the field or require travel that would be disrupted by state quarantine requirements."

“One of the greatest impacts of the pandemic for national parks is all of the lost opportunities for education and employment that national parks and partner organizations provide for people starting their careers,” said Abe Miller-Rushing, science coordinator at Acadia National Park and the lead author of the study that recently was published in the journal Biological Conservation. 

Findings in the paper show that in the early stages of the pandemic in April 2020, visitation to national parks declined by about 87 percent. In some parks visitation rebounded quickly as the summer progressed, while in others it remained low. For example, Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska got less than 10 percent of its normal visitation in 2020, according to the paper.

Preliminary data suggest that visitation to US national parks was down 87 percent in April 2020 (the height of stay-at-home orders) relative to April 2019. But visitation picked up later in the summer; preliminary data suggest that visitation in August 2020 was just 20% below that of August 2019. At many parks, this rebound in visitation occurred very quickly. Nationally, park visitation is typically 75 percent higher in July compared to May; this year visitation in July was about 335 percent higher than May. National Parks near urban areas experienced some of the largest surges in visitation. Tonto National Monument, near Phoenix, reported record numbers of visitors in summer, even as daytime temperatures exceeded 41°C. -- COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts On Conservation Research, Management, And Public Engagement In US National Parks

At Indiana Dunes National Park, an additional 150,000 people visited in 2020 compared to the previous year. Park officials attributed at least part of the increase to beach closures in other public spaces.

Miller-Rushing said researchers are still evaluating how these changes in visitation and traffic affected wildlife, cultural resources, and environmental conditions like air quality and noise pollution. Many long-term research projects and management actions at national parks were delayed or cancelled due to COVID 19, which complicates the challenge of collecting adequate data for analysis.

The pandemic also adversely affected many nonprofit organizations that support parks.

Most park partner organizations—which support research, management, and public engagement—have had to make major cutbacks. Many of these organizations rely on funds from retail sales, program fees, and philanthropy, all of which have been disrupted by the pandemic. Even with the disruptions, some partner organizations were able to provide critical support to parks. For example, the Sequoia Parks Conservancy was still able to develop a new marketing campaign to support research on giant sequoia trees (Sequoiadendron giganteum) and threats to them. The Yosemite Conservancy continued to support many projects that could be conducted safely, including resources management and remote interpretation and visitor education programs. In Acadia National Park, Friends of Acadia and Schoodic Institute were both able to run scaled-back programs working on vegetation restoration projects, citizen science, and online public engagement. -- COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts On Conservation Research, Management, And Public Engagement In US National Parks

But there were lessons learned from the pandemic's impact on parks.

• First, agencies and partner organizations can benefit from strengthening and adding flexibility to systems of park management. Many of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were exacerbated by difficulties of adjusting administration, staff hiring, communication and meeting, housing, and funding to changing circumstances. Dealing with safety issues often led to unexpected outcomes, such as reductions in volunteer activities and seasonal staffing and shifting public engagement online. Some skills developed during the pandemic—such as effective use of technologies for remote meetings and public engagement—could improve flexibility in dealing with future situations.
• Second, agencies and partner organizations benefit from having clear priorities. During COVID19, US national parks prioritized visitor and staff safety and identified essential research, management, and public engagement activities that could be done safely given the circumstances. Parks had to make painful trade-offs, in some cases foregoing essential research and management activities because they could not be done safely.
• Third, the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic for conservation research, management, and public engagement are uncertain. It is not clear how long the COVID-19 pandemic will persist, nor is it clear how society will respond. For example, if hiring, research, management, and visitation return to normal sometime in 2021, it is possible that most impacts to early career staff, long-term studies, resource management, and public engagement may be relatively short-lived. However, if these activities are disrupted during the spring and summer of 2021 or even longer, impacts will be magnified. Careers and education programs will be disrupted, management of endangered species and other critical natural and cultural resources will be weakened, research projects will be compromised, and many park-related partner organizations, which rely on in-person programs for revenue, may be substantially weakened or put out of business.