Wildlife refuge visits higher, study says

WASHINGTON - People living near the nation's 542 wildlife refuges also gain from the protected wildlife habitat, says a government study that touts the economic benefits of the refuge system.

The study by the Fish and Wildlife Service finds 35.5-million people visited the nation's 542 refuges in 2002, up 42 percent from 24.9-million visitors in 1995, bringing a huge boost in spending and jobs to communities just outside the refuges.

Those visits fueled $809-million in spending in 2002 at locales near public lands within the National Wildlife Refuge System, a 70 percent increase from the $473-million spent in 1995, the study says. They also helped create 18,728 non-federal jobs in 2002, up 84 percent from 10,169 jobs in 1995, it says.

J. Steven Griles, the Interior Department's No. 2 official, said the figures reflect a recent national trend: visits to national parks have "leveled off," while those to refuges and other public lands are "skyrocketing."

"I think it's a change in people's habits in where they want to go. They want to be in environments where they're not so structured," he said. "When they go to a refuge, they can go bird watching, they can go trail walking, they can go hunting and fishing."

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