STATE PARK ECONOMICS: State Parks are good for the 
spirit and the economy ... learn more on Passport to 
Texas.
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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Tourism is consistently ranked as one of the top five 
industries in Texas. And results of a recent A&M study 
indicate many out of state visitors come to Texas to 
experience state parks.

"Of the 28 reasons out of staters picked Texas to visit, 13 of 
those reasons were directly attributable to features within a 
state park."

George Bristol is president of the Texas Coalition for 
Conservation, and a State Parks Advisory Committee 
member. 

"We have to have places where people can go. The need to get 
out and to get away with family and friends - or by yourself - 
it's this urge to renew yourself."

State parks do more than renew the spirits of out of town 
visitors, they also invigorate the economies of nearby 
communities.

"When you look at the economic activity they generate - whether 
it's Bastrop, or San Jacinto Monument, or whatever - it's 
huge ... and particularly in rural areas, where most of our parks 
are ... it is a major economic engine for that little community."

Bristol's group raised 100-thousand dollars to fund a 
state park economic impact study to measure state parks' 
value to communities. Find out what it says, tomorrow ... 

That's our show for today ... for Texas Parks and 
Wildlife ... I'm Cecilia Nasti.