Tourism to Mammoth Cave NP creates $40 million in Economic Benefit
Friday, July 18, 2014
Report shows visitor spending supports 567 jobs in local economy
MAMMOTH CAVE, Ky., July 18, 2014 – A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 494,541 visitors to Mammoth Cave National Park in 2013 spent $40 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 567 jobs in the local area.
“At Mammoth Cave, we welcome visitors from every state and from around the world,” said Acting Superintendent Lizzie Watts. “It is an honor to share stories of Mammoth Cave’s history and scientific research, and help people experience the cave, the rivers, and the beautiful karst landscape of the park. Mammoth Cave National Park draws thousands of people to south central Kentucky, benefiting local communities and businesses. Many people make return visits.”
Mammoth Cave is one of 401 areas managed by the NPS across the country. National park tourism is a significant driver in the national economy – returning an average of $10 for every $1 invested in the NPS.
The peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis was conducted by U.S. Geological Survey economists Catherine Cullinane Thomas and Christopher Huber and Lynne Koontz for the National Park Service. The report shows $14.6 billion of direct spending by 273.6 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of a national park. This spending supported more than 237,000 jobs nationally, with more than 197,000 jobs found in these gateway communities, and had a cumulative benefit to the U.S. economy of $26.5 billion.
According to the 2013 economic analysis, most visitor-spending was for lodging (30.3 percent) followed by food and beverages (27.3 percent), gas and oil (12.1 percent), admissions and fees (10.3 percent) and souvenirs and other expenses (10 percent).
The largest jobs categories supported by visitor spending were restaurants and bars (50,000 jobs) and lodging (38,000 jobs).
To download the report visit http://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/economics.cfm
The report includes information for visitor spending at individual parks and by state.
To learn more about national park areas in Kentucky and how the National Park Service works with Kentucky communities to help preserve local history, conserve the environment, and provide outdoor recreation, go to www.nps.gov/KENTUCKY.
Trail work begins on lower end of First Creek Trail
Thursday, April 03, 2014
MAMMOTH CAVE, Ky., April 3, 2014 Its time to work on First Creek Trail, said Russell Runge, Acting Superintendent at Mammoth Cave National Park, following a planning meeting. As a result, 1.5 miles of First Creek Trail, from Temple Hill Trailhead to the bridge near First Creek Lake, will be closed for the next six weeks while an American Conservation Experience work crew repairs and rebuilds the trail.
This section of trail has needed attention for some time, said Runge, who is filling in for Superintendent Sarah Craighead while she is on a three-month detail in Atlanta. It is rocky and steep, with many exposed roots and washouts. In its present condition, the trail causes erosion problems and negatively impacts a visitors hiking or horseback riding experience.
The trail will close for six weeks beginning April 9. Workers will install water bars and elevate the trail in some places to improve drainage. The crew will stage their equipment, supplies and vehicles at Temple Hill Trailhead, but there will still be room for visitor parking. Trail users may travel the upper end of First Creek Trail from the First Creek Trailhead, or McCoy Hollow Trail that heads out from Temple Hill Trailhead.
The American Conservation Experience is a youth organization modeled after the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s, that recruits, coordinates, and trains volunteers to undertake practical environmental restoration projects in America's national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other public lands. (http://usaconservation.org/)
In the 1930s, four Civilian Conservation Corps camps were stationed here at Mammoth Cave to transform the property from farmland into a park, added Runge. They built roads and cave trail, and planted 2 million trees to help control erosion. Today, we appreciate the American Conservation Experience, a new generation of young people who are here to help us preserve and protect park resources, while they build a personal conservation ethic.
Be a Project Budburst observer
Monday, March 31, 2014
MAMMOTH CAVE, Ky., March 31, 2014 – Are you longing to see flowering dogwoods and tulip poplars? Do you like to notice the seasonal changes in trees and plants from year to year?
Mammoth Cave National Park as a Project Budburst Partner is asking the public to watch and record the leafing, flowering and fruiting cycles of ten plant species. Project Budburst is a network of people, citizen scientists, across the United States who monitor plants and collect ecological data as the seasons change.
“Project Budburst allows data to be collected in a consistent manner across the country so it can be used by citizens, researchers, scientists, and educators to learn how plants react to changes over time,” said Shannon Trimboli, education coordinator for the Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learning. “For instance, we can compare the flowering time of dogwoods from year to year, on a local, regional and national basis. You can record information from here in the park or observe plants in your own backyard. This is a great project that anyone can participate in as individuals, families, or classes.”
The ten species that Mammoth Cave staff are most interested in learning about are: mayapple, Virginia bluebells, flowering dogwood, garlic mustard, eastern redbud, Virginia creeper, beefsteak plant, spicebush, tulip poplar, and eastern serviceberry. Two on the list (garlic mustard and beefsteak plant) are invasive alien species that if left unchecked will crowd out native plants; on a farm, the beefsteak plant can out compete other plants that cattle prefer to eat.
“Mammoth Cave National Park recognizes the valuable contributions that citizen scientists can make towards better understanding the natural resources we are charged with protecting,” said Superintendent Sarah Craighead. “We are pleased to be a Project Budburst at the Parks partner. Working together we will gain detailed data on our plant communities and how climate change may affect them.”
How do you participate? Go to http://budburst.org/parks/mcnp.php and download a data form. Observe plant activity in your yard, on a farm, or in a park and record what you find. Enter your data on the Budburst website. If you want to collect data on plants that aren’t one of Mammoth Cave’s ten focus species, then check out the other plant lists that can be found on the Project Budburst website. Information gathered on those plants will be used by other scientists and researchers.
Dave Wyrick leads Mammoth
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
(MAMMOTH CAVE, Ky., March 5, 2014)
Dave Wyrick’s life is spiced with variety.
From his hometown of Carlsbad, N.M.,
Wyrick has lived and worked from Washington
State, to Washington, D.C., from Fort Sumter,
S.C. to an historic ranch in Montana, from
bluffs over the Mississippi River in Natchez
to the great Mammoth Cave of Kentucky.
This month, Wyrick will dust off his caving
gear from his years at Carlsbad Caverns
to begin his new position as the chief of the
division of interpretation and visitor services
at Mammoth Cave National Park
“Dave Wyrick has a broad background and is
a great addition to our management team at
Mammoth Cave,” said Superintendent Sarah
Craighead. “Our interpretive staff is one of the largest in the National Park Service (NPS), and we offer more formal programs each year than Great Smokies, Everglades, and Shenandoah National Parks combined. At his previous parks, Dave has found ways to engage the public that could be applied at Mammoth Cave. I’m looking forward to working with him.”
Wyrick grew up in Carlsbad, N.M., not far from Carlsbad Caverns National Park. His grandfather was a state forest ranger on Cloudy Mountain in Oklahoma. “As a kid, I loved to visit my grandfather and because of him I knew that I wanted to be a ranger someday,” said Wyrick. He pursued and earned a degree in park administration at Eastern Washington University, in Cheney, Wash., in 1981. Following college, he found seasonal ranger employment with the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, and at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
In 1983, Wyrick switched career-gears and moved to Maryland, where he took a job in construction and worked his way up to the level of construction superintendent, building homes and subdivisions.
Wyrick’s interest in parks resurfaced in 1991. He gave up construction and became an NPS interpretive ranger on the D.C. Mall, touring visitors through memorials, museums, and up and down the Washington Monument. And so his list of parks continued: Rock Creek Park, a 2,800-acre forest in the middle of D.C. (1994-1995); Fort Sumter National Monument in South Carolina (1995-2000); Carlsbad Caverns National Park, where he supervised the cave tour operation (2000-2004); Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Mont., where Wyrick served as the chief of education, interpretation and cultural resources (2005-2009). In 2009, the couple came back east to Natchez National Historic Park, Miss., where Wyrick was the chief of interpretation and resource management until moving to Mammoth Cave.
“I’m excited to work in a cave again,” said Wyrick. “National park areas each present the challenge of helping the public experience and appreciate our national treasures in such a way that the treasure is well protected and preserved. It is the same here at Mammoth Cave. When visitors arrive, they may think our main attraction is just a big hole in the ground, so it’s our job to help them see the intricacies of underground life and its dependence on the surface world. I haven’t been caving since my years at Carlsbad. My hardhat and headlamp are ready to go.”
Wyrick and his wife, Mary Ann (nee Roth) have a grown daughter Jessica, and two dachshunds, Lilly and Edward. They enjoy outdoor sports and have embraced the possibilities of each place they have been stationed, like skiing in Montana and kayaking in South Carolina. Here in Kentucky they plan to hike, bike and kayak.
Greg Davis retires from Mammoth Cave Hotel
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
(MAMMOTH CAVE, Ky., February 11, 2014) Greg Davis, general manager of the Mammoth Cave Hotel, heads to the barn, retiring after 41 years in the tourism industry.
Davis has been involved in the hospitality industry since 1968, primarily in and around Mammoth Cave National Park. A leader in the community and active in local organizations, Davis has welcomed and shown Kentucky hospitality to millions of visitors over the span of his career. Since 2001, Davis served as general manager of Mammoth Cave Hotel.
“Greg has been a real work horse for Mammoth Cave Hotel and its parent company, Forever Resorts,” said Scott Gold, regional vice president of Forever Resorts. “We appreciate his hands-on approach as general manager and dedication to his employees. Greg has also been a great partner to not only the park and local community, but also to the tourism industry all across Kentucky.”
In 2010, the Kentucky Hotel & Lodging Association (KHLA) honored Greg Davis with the Garner B. Hanson Hotelier of the Year Award. Davis worked for Mr. Hanson at Mammoth Cave Hotel while attending Western Kentucky University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1974.
Davis’ career history is all about hospitality and tourism: executive director of the Cave City Tourist and Convention Commission; general manager of Renfro Valley; executive director of the Bardstown Nelson County Tourist and Convention Commission; secretary and board member of the Kentucky Tourism Federation; and was honored as the 1986 Citizen of the Year by the Cave City Chamber of Commerce. In 1993, he returned to Mammoth Cave Hotel as assistant manager.
“Greg knows the business inside and out,” added Gold. “Over his career, he has worked in maintenance, front desk registration, as a cook, a bus driver and even waiting tables. Greg was never too busy to help out when needed. As a manager, he made a habit of bussing tables to see what menu items were pleasing to the public.”
Always working to improve Kentucky tourism and his community, Greg has held positions as: president of the Kentucky Hotel & Lodging Association; chairman of the Caveland Marketing Association; president of the Cave City Chamber of Commerce; board member of the Cave City Tourist and Convention Commission; chairman and a member of the Board of Directors of the Edmonson County Tourist and Convention Commission. He is a past master of the Park City Masonic Lodge and a member of the Cave City Baptist Church.
“Greg had a strong connection to Mammoth Cave and it showed in his dedication to the park and in the way he performed his job,” said Sarah Craighead, superintendent of Mammoth Cave National Park. “We wish him all the best in this next chapter of his life.”
You could say that Mammoth Cave is in Davis’ blood. His family lived on the Flint Ridge before it became part of the national park, and he met and proposed to his wife, Lisa, while they both worked at Mammoth Cave Hotel. The Davis’ live on a farm just outside the park. They have two sons, Mikel and John, and several horses.
Dove Brown will serve as general manager at Mammoth Cave Hotel for the next two years, until the new concessions contract is in place. Ms. Brown comes to Mammoth Cave from the Forever Resorts operation at Big Bend National Park.
