Responding to the report that thrill seekers and Instagrammers swarming public lands are causing a threat to national parks across America, Director of Research in the University’s Centre for Journalism Dr Ben Cocking says: ‘posting photos of them become badges of honour; markers of social status amongst peer groups.’
‘In 2016 and again in 2017 US national parks recorded 330.9 million visitors. This figure represents an all-time high; 150 million more visitors per year than during the 1960s. Across America national parks are at breaking point. Park facilities such as parking and accommodation simply cannot cope with the massive influx of visitors. Most significantly, the wild spaces of America’s national parks are clogged with visitors, creating significant problems in terms of the management and preservation of wild life.
‘Iconic viewpoints such as, Horseshoe bend on the Colarado River in Arizona, have witnessed unprecedented numbers of visitors. Parks such as Yosmite have seen a 130% rise in search and rescue operations in recent years. Litter and waste management further strain already tightly stretched budgets.
‘This surge in the popularity of national parks appears to be driven, in part at least, by social media. The quest of ‘the perfect shot’ of America’s most iconic landmarks and the presentation of them on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook seems to be fuelling the surge in visitors.
‘With it has come a change in expectations – many parks such as Yosemite have installed wifi. Previously little known beauty spots and viewpoints are now sought out by large numbers of visitors, the posting of photos of them becoming badges of honour; markers of social status amongst peer groups.
‘Whilst National parks attracted more than 50 million more visitors last year than a decade ago, this rise is by no means the largest that they have experienced in their history. For example, in the two decades between 1960 and 1980, visitors to national parks surged from just of 50 million per year to over 200 million.
‘The biggest difficulty they face is that budgets have not kept up with this latest increase. Indeed, much of the infrastructure found at national parks across America dates back to the Mission 66, a 1$bn initiative rolled out in the 1950s and 60s to facilitate public access to national parks. With no similar initiatives forth coming, parks simply cannot cope with the demands on their resources and the changing expectations of visitors.
‘This comes at a time when the public’s access to other wild spaces has been significantly reduced. The Trump administration’s 2017 review of ‘national monuments’ was carried out under Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. Zinke’s report reduced the size of two of Amercia’s largest national monuments – Bears Ears by 85% and Grand Staircase-Escalante by nearly 46%. Areas such as these that were previously protected under the Antiquities Act are now accessible to commercial ventures such as mining, energy generation and housing development.
‘National parks are seeking to reduce and better manage visitors through initiatives like booking park access online prior to visiting as well as raising revenue through enterprises such as charging hikers for trail access. However, there is no doubt that greater government funding is required to make the wholesale changes to park’s infrastructure that are so desperately required.
‘Clearly, parks also need to play a more proactive role in educating visitors into good practices and behaviour; litter free parks would greatly improve everyone’s experience. However, it is perhaps in terms of the ways in which wildlife and landscapes have become so highly prized in social media that national parks face their biggest challenge. Ultimately, personally experiencing being “out there” is a pleasure in itself and not merely a driver for gratification in the form of ‘likes’ in social media.’
Dr Ben Cocking
Dr Ben Cocking, is Director of Research in the Centre for Journalism and his research interests include travel writing, news media and political communication. He is currently working on a book (or single authored monograph) titled: ‘Travel journalism and Travel media: identities, places and imaginings’ for publication in Spring 2019with Palgrave MacMillan.
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