{"id":32588,"date":"2021-02-04T16:07:36","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T21:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=32588"},"modified":"2021-02-04T16:08:16","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T21:08:16","slug":"lt-governor-boyd-k-rutherford-maryland-department-of-natural-resources-announce-45-percent-increase-in-maryland-state-parks-attendance-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2021\/02\/04\/lt-governor-boyd-k-rutherford-maryland-department-of-natural-resources-announce-45-percent-increase-in-maryland-state-parks-attendance-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Announce 45 Percent Increase in Maryland State Parks Attendance in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Record Visitation Reflects Growing Interest in Outdoor Recreation Amid Pandemic<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"Photo

Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford joined a hike at Patuxent River State Park on Jan. 1, 2020, kicking off a record year for state park attendance. Photo by Joe Andrucyk<\/p><\/div>\n

Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources<\/a> (DNR) today announced a 45 percent increase in final attendance for Maryland State Parks<\/a> in 2020 compared to the previous record-setting visitation attendance in 2019. In 2020, Maryland State Parks welcomed 21.5 million visitors, compared to 14.9 million in 2019.\u00a0 In addition, State Parks reported a record 292 capacity closures across 11 parks statewide last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

By September, Maryland State Parks had already <\/span>eclipsed the 2019 record<\/span><\/a>. Beginning with a record turnout for First Day Hikes on Jan. 1, 2020, parks experienced continued high visitor turnout as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened in late winter and early spring. Records were broken despite pandemic-related temporary closures of campgrounds, cabins and popular beaches at state parks. Those closures were lifted before Memorial Day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic changing the way we live, work, and play, more and more Marylanders are finding affordable, socially-distant, and family-friendly recreation opportunities at our parks and public lands,\u201d said Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford, who regularly visits Maryland State Parks as part of his <\/span>#LGStateParkBucketList<\/span><\/a> initiative. \u201cIn rain, snow, and sun, I\u2019ve yet to find a view to match Maryland\u2019s natural lands.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaryland State Parks are an invaluable refuge for our citizens and visitors, particularly in these difficult times,\u201d Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio said. \u201cWe are proud to provide safe outdoor recreation, a trail system that is second-to-none and unique experiences that highlight Maryland\u2019s history and natural resources.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, DNR and the Maryland Park Service developed <\/span>detailed response plans<\/span><\/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 continues to adapt its plans as new health advisories are issued.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Maryland Park Service is proud to have provided a safe haven over the past year for so many Marylanders who discovered the natural beauty of state parks in their own backyard,\u201d said Nita Settina, Superintendent of Maryland State Parks. \u201cIt is a testament to the professionalism and dedication of state park employees that they were able to keep the parks open by implementing new COVID-19 procedures to ensure that visitors would remain safe while reconnecting with nature.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Record Visitation Reflects Growing Interest in Outdoor Recreation Amid Pandemic Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced a 45 percent increase in final attendance for Maryland State Parks in 2020 compared to the previous record-setting visitation attendance in 2019. In 2020, Maryland State Parks welcomed 21.5 million  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,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,12],"tags":[4861,5201,4035,4981,3006],"class_list":["post-32588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-parks","tag-boyd-k-rutherford","tag-covid-19","tag-jeannie-haddaway-riccio","tag-maryland-state-parks","tag-nita-settina"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32588","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=32588"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32592,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32588\/revisions\/32592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}