Funding allocations, workers part of fed’s impact on tourism, travel

The federal government keeps people moving into and out of Utah, in the form of funding and employment for national parks and its airports, according to a new study.

The amounts include more than $100 million in allocations to Utah’s national park areas and airports annually and supporting more than 1,200 jobs, according to an analysis by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah. The study is part of a series highlighting the economic linkages between Utah and the federal government.

Utah’s federal parks receive a combination of U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Department of Transportation ongoing and one-time funds annually. In fiscal year 2023, the allocations totaled nearly $49 million in ongoing, base operating funds to Utah’s federal parks and more than $143 million in one-time Legacy Restoration Funds since fiscal year 2021.

As for employment, in fiscal year 2024, Utah had more than 1,200 federal workers in tourism-related jobs, including 658 in leisure and hospitality (including national parks and recreation jobs) and 605 at the Federal Aviation Administration.

More than 16.7 million people visited Utah’s 18 national parks and places in fiscal 2023, with 15.7 million concentrated at 13 locations. According to the National Park Service, those visitors spent $1.9 billion, generating a $3 billion economic impact in the state.

While National Park Service jobs at Utah’s “Mighty 5” national parks grew 8 percent between fiscal 2005 and 2024, park visitation doubled, from about 5.3 million to more than 10 million. Utah’s national park visitors spent $1.9 billion in fiscal 2023, ranking Utah third among states, behind only California’s $3.2 billion and North Carolina’s $2.6 billion.

Utah’s federally funded national parks and places comprise 5.6 million acres of land. The NPS manages all of Utah’s national parks and places except for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and Jurassic national monuments and Ashley Karst and Flaming Gorge national recreation areas. Garfield, Wayne and Grand counties had the most federal leisure and hospitality job shares in fiscal 2024.

The state’s first national monument, Natural Bridges, was established by Pres. Theodore Roosevelt in 1908. A year later, Pres. William Howard Taft designated Mukuntuweap National Monument, which would later become Zion National Park. Between 1908 and 2019, U.S. presidents and Congress designated 18 national parks and places in Utah.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Transportation allocated $50.5 million in its Airport Improvement Program grant funds to Utah’s international airport and six regional and 11 municipal airports in fiscal 2024. Of that total, Salt Lake City International Airport received $34.8 million, while Utah’s regional and municipal airports received $4.9 million and $10.8 million, respectively.

Five of Utah’s regional and municipal airports also received a combined $4.4 million in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Airport (IIJA) Infrastructure Grants in fiscal 2024.

What would become Salt Lake City International Airport began as an airstrip in 1911, with its first terminal and administration building constructed in 1933. Its current redevelopment project under “The New SLC” name includes a new parking garage, central terminal, additional concourses and central tunnel to accommodate over 28 million annual passengers.

Utah’s public transportation systems — including its airports, roads, bridges, mass transit, and electric vehicle charging stations — have received hundreds of millions of additional IIJA federal grant dollars in recent years, the report notes.

“Nearly 130 years ago, Utah became the 45th state in the nation,” the report states. “This long battle for statehood set in motion a beneficial and, at times, tumultuous relationship between the U.S. government and the Beehive State. Among other national contributions, Utah settled vast acreages of land, led out on women’s suffrage, provided raw materials, served as the connection point for the transcontinental railroad, supported two World Wars, and, more recently, emerged as one of the nation’s most successful and dynamic economies.

“As the federal government reinvents itself through significant policy changes and cost-cutting measures, decision-makers will benefit from a data summary of the key economic linkages between Utah and the federal government.”

The report is available at https://gardner.utah.edu/recent-research/.