National parks before — and during — the pandemic

During a year of various restrictions on gathering at restaurants, gyms, theaters, shops, and more, one way Americans have been getting in recreational time is by taking to the great outdoors. However, attendance at National Park Service (NPS) land dropped last year amid scattered park closings and Americans reducing their travel. So, how many people attended a national park in 2020? What was the most popular park and how did patronage compare to past decades?

• There were 327.5 million recreational visits to national park land in 2019, about one per every US resident. That dropped to 237 million trips in 2020. Grand Canyon National Park had more than a 50% decline. 
   
• Visits increased at all parks in 10 states in 2020. They increased as much as 20% at some sites in New Jersey and Michigan.

• There are 85.1 million acres of NPS land, 64% of which is in Alaska. Altogether, the National Park System covers an area larger than New Mexico.
   
• Congress must approve all park designations, except for national monuments, which are created solely with the president’s approval.

Understand more about how the NPS works and how parks are designated in this explainer. 
 

Declaring disasters 

• The federal government has issued 4,523 disaster declarations in 22 different categories since 1953. Thirty-two percent (1,469 disasters) were fires. All but 320 of those occurred this century.
   
• There are two types of disaster declarations: emergency and major disaster. Emergency declarations usually occur during the event, while major disasters are declared after an event and provide a broader range of programs than emergency declarations. Both require the president's approval.
   
• Disaster funding comes from the FEMA-managed Disaster Relief Fund. During fiscal year 2020, Congress approved $62.9 billion in appropriations and FEMA spent $52.7 billion in response to COVID-19. 2005 had the highest amount ever appropriated: $90.9 billion. 

• While 2020 had the most disaster declarations, 2011 and 1996 had the second- and third-most. 

Learn more, including the most recent restructuring of FEMA, at USAFacts.

One last fact...

Natural disasters have cost the US more than $1.79 trillion since 1980. Of the 22 weather and climate disaster events with losses exceeding $1 billion in 2020, one was a drought, one was a wildfire, seven were tropical cyclones, and 13 were severe storms.