National Parks In D.C. Area Called $929 Million Boon
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The National Park Service says visitors to parks in and around the nation's capital spent nearly $929 million in surrounding communities in 2012.
The agency released a report Monday on a visitor spending analysis done by two government economists. They say visitor spending supported more than 12,000 jobs in Washington, Maryland, northern Virginia and West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle.
Parks in the District of Columbia accounted for at least 60 percent of the spending.
The most popular attractions outside the district included the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park; the Antietam and Manassas Civil War battlefields; and the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts near Vienna, Va.
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