Economic Impact of Nat’l Forest

The US Forest Service is looking at the number of people who visit National Forests, and the impact of those visits on the local economy.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, one hundred and sixty million people made visits to National Forests such as the Chattooga River District of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in 2012.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says that when people visit the forest, they tend to purchase needed supplies from the cities near the place they will be visiting.

“Folks who are hiking or biking or camping have to buy supplies, they may need gas, they may need a tent or some fishing equipment, they may need binoculars, there’s just a whole series of they might need, and where are they going to get those things?” asked Vilsack. “They’re going to get them in the communities adjacent to the National Forest.”

Last year, visitors to National Forests spent almost eleven billion dollars country wide.