{"id":31568,"date":"2020-10-05T12:33:13","date_gmt":"2020-10-05T16:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=31568"},"modified":"2020-10-07T16:34:23","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T20:34:23","slug":"governor-hogan-announces-new-attendance-record-for-maryland-state-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2020\/10\/05\/governor-hogan-announces-new-attendance-record-for-maryland-state-parks\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor Hogan Announces New Attendance Record For Maryland State Parks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visitors Number 17.1 Million and Counting
\n<\/em>State Officials Continue to Promote Safe Outdoor Activity During Pandemic
\n<\/em>Parks Follow All Federal and State Health Guidelines<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Photo

Seneca Creek State Park’s contactless entrance fee system.<\/p><\/div>\n

Governor Larry Hogan today announced that the Maryland Park Service<\/a> is reporting a total of 17.1 million visitors to date in 2020, already surpassing the previous record of 14.9 million total visitors in 2019, with three months still remaining in the year. During peak season in July, state parks attracted 3.4 million visitors, compared to 2.5 million during the same time period last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs our state continues to face the COVID-19 pandemic, we have consistently reminded the people of Maryland that outside activity is much safer than inside activity,\u201d said Governor Hogan. \u201cWe are so pleased to see that Marylanders have heeded that advice by visiting our state parks in record numbers this year to exercise safely, get some fresh air, and spend time with family. I want to thank all of our park rangers and staff who have continued to provide a seamless level of service during the pandemic to ensure these valuable state resources remain accessible to Marylanders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parks throughout the state have seen a significant uptick in attendance across the board, which continues a trend of recent years but has accelerated dramatically in 2020. Various parks within the system have closed due to maximum capacity a record 260 times so far in 2020, well above the ten-year annual average of 79 closures per year, and surpassing the previous record of 121. Increases have been seen in both day-use and overnight camping.<\/p>\n

Through the end of his term, Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford is attempting to visit all 75 of Maryland\u2019s state parks. All of his visits can be tracked online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring these difficult times many individuals and families are turning to outdoor recreation to help them get through,\u201d Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio said. \u201cMaryland features a variety of world class outdoor experiences and diverse landscapes, including our amazing state park system which can be safely enjoyed year-round.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen tremendous interest in outdoor recreation and are encouraged to see so many Marylanders and visitors continuing to enjoy the outdoors responsibly,\u201d Maryland Park Service Superintendent Nita Settina said. \u201cSeeing new people experiencing the wonders and benefits of their state parks let us know that we are indeed an essential service to the people of Maryland.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Maryland Park Service developed detailed response plans<\/a> based on guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Maryland Department of Health, and the Maryland Department of Commerce. These plans served a dual purpose of protecting the health of department staff as well as park visitors. DNR will continue to adapt its plans as the state enters new phases of the \u2018\u00a0Maryland Strong: Roadmap to Recovery<\/a>\u2019 and new health advisories are issued.<\/p>\n

Visit the State Park Directory online<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Visitors Number 17.1 Million and Counting State Officials Continue to Promote Safe Outdoor Activity During Pandemic Parks Follow All Federal and State Health Guidelines Governor Larry Hogan today announced that the Maryland Park Service is reporting a total of 17.1 million visitors to date in 2020, already surpassing the previous record of 14.9 million total  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,12],"tags":[3016,4035,2952,4981,3006],"class_list":["post-31568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-parks","tag-boyd-rutherford","tag-jeannie-haddaway-riccio","tag-larry-hogan","tag-maryland-state-parks","tag-nita-settina"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31568"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31571,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31568\/revisions\/31571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}