Quality Places to Play for All Americans Preserving access to outdoor recreation opportunities protects the economy, the businesses, the communities and the people who depend on the ability to play outside. Behind outdoor recreation stands 140 million Americans who want and deserve access to a variety of quality places to play and enjoy the great outdoors. Every year, hundreds of millions of visitors – young and old, after-work enthusiasts to international travelers, and from coast to coast – flock to America’s parks, forests and waters. From seashores and local parks to the wild backcountry, America’s public lands and waters are the very foundation of the national outdoor recreation system. Outdoor recreation can grow jobs and drive the economy if we manage and invest in parks, waters and trails as a system designed to sustain economic dividends for America. More than 725 million visits to state parks provided a collective $20 billion economic benefit to communities surrounding state parks nationwide.1 11 | Places To Play 1 National Association of State Park Directors, 2009
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