STATE PARK ECONOMICS 2: State Parks boost the 
economies of nearby towns ... learn more on Passport to 
Texas.
____________________________________________________________

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

An economic impact study of 80 Texas state parks ... 
completed by Texas A&M University in 2005 ... reveals to 
the rest of us what communities in proximity to those 
parks already knew: park visitation boosts local 
economies .

"It is one of the best returns on investment that I, as a business 
person, have ever seen. I would love to have something that I 
would invest $50-million dollars in annually and would return 
over a billion, two hundred fifty million dollars. That's a pretty 
good return on your investment."

George Bristol is president of the Texas Coalition for 
Conservation, which paid for the A & M research. The data 
illustrates how parks in the study generated an estimated 
total of $793 million in sales, $456 million impact on 
residents' incomes and nearly 12-thousand jobs. 

"I'd like to have all my investments have that return. It's the best 
money the state can spend for the biggest return...and not only 
biggest return, but best return. You can see this result ... you can 
measure the result of investing in parks ... every single year. And 
that's what the economic impact study did."

State Parks are a good investment, and also a meaningful 
way to spend time in the outdoors ... whether you already 
live in Texas ... or are just passing through.

Learn more about the Texas A & M study when you log 
onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

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