Redesignating Bandelier National Monument as a national park would produce an economic boost, according to a study/NPS

More and more efforts are underway across the National Park System to rebrand some units as "national parks," in large part -- if not entirely -- for the cachet of being called a national park, and the accompanying economic benefits, as opposed to being known as a national monument or national lakeshore.

Of course, reasonable people who hold differing standards and visions for what constitutes a "national park" can and will disagree with some of those rebrandings. But recent economic studies seem to show it's a good move.

Recently, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was transformed into Indiana Dunes National Park, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial began Gateway Arch National Park, Pinnacles National Park not too long ago was a national monument, and there is talk of turning both White Sands National Monument and Bandelier National Monument, both in New Mexico, into "national parks."

There have been success stories. Arches, Death Valley, Saguaro, and Great Sand Dunes all started out as national monuments and have since been redesignated as national parks. "National parks" resonate in our consciousness. How many times have you been asked, "How many national parks have you visited," as opposed to "How many national monuments have you visited?"

But there also are problems on the ground level, as the popularity of "national parks" in recent years has drawn at-times stifling crowds. Acadia, Zion, and Arches national parks, just to name three, have been grappling in recent years for ways to best manage congestion and its impacts on natural resources and the park experience. 

Local chambers of commerce view the "national park" brand as a moneymaker, the sometimes elusive but always sought golden goose. And Headwaters Economics, a Montana-based firm that focuses on studies "to improve community development and land management decisions," notes that "national parks" have greater visitation and economic impacts than national monuments. And the differences between the two designations that the firm highlighted seem compelling:

* In the Intermountain West, from 2000 to 2017, recreation visits to national parks increased 55 percent while visits to national monuments increased 2 percent.

* Currently, most national monuments are not overnight destinations, substantially lessening their economic impact,

* National Parks can be sources of pride for communities, who become actively involved in promoting more visitation.

Headwaters Economics produced the data for a study looking at the impact of redesignating Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico as a "national park."

"Depending on how local communities advertise a new national park, redesignation of Bandelier National Monument may result in between $2.1 million and $2.5 million in new spending, 29 to 36 new jobs, and between $917,000 and $1.1 million in labor income," the economists predicted.

How long-lasting might such a prediction hold?

"The period from 2013 to 2017 was remarkable for the National Park Service. Visitation to national parks has accelerated rapidly since the end of the Great Recession (which lasted officially from 2007 to 2009)," noted Headwaters Economics. "From 2013 to 2017, visitation to national parks has increased nationally by 21 percent. Each of the case studies profiled showed a rapid increase in visitation from 2013 to 2017, with a corresponding rise in jobs and personal income that resulted from visitor expenditures. Even in Bandelier National Monument, visitation and local economic impacts increased rapidly since 2013.

"Americans obviously love to visit national park units, and we can expect the trend to continue to grow as long as the national economy grows also," it concluded.