NEWS RELEASES
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through Tucson's website.
Saguaro National Park saw record numbers in attendance in 2019. The park topped more than 1 million visitors for the first time in the park’s history. According to statistics just released by the National Park Service, Saguaro National Park saw 1,020,226 visitors last year, up from 957,405 in 2018.Tucson writer, Henry Brean, covers in his article, "The most obvious impact is springtime congestion on roads and in parking lots, especially along the Cactus Forest Loop Drive, at popular trailheads off Speedway and Broadway, and around the visitor center for the park’s east-side Rincon Mountain District." Saguaro National Park saw its budget cut by almost 5% and its full-time staff cut by 20% , despite a more than 40% increase in visitation. Last year was the third busiest on record for the park service as a whole, with more than 327.5 million visitors at 379 sites nationwide. Only 2016 and 2017 saw more traffic, with 331 million and 330.9 million visitors respectively.
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