Video killed the park ranger

Scientists blame TV, movies and the internet for a 25% drop in visitation to National Parks. Crazy scientists! Before you know it they will start saying Americans are getting fatter because of TV and the internet.

'Videophilia' Keeps Americans Indoors (The Washington Post)

The growing popularity of electronic media could be the death knell for tourism at U.S. national parks, according to a study in this month's edition of the Journal of Environmental Management.

Park visits by Americans grew steadily from the 1930s until 1987, when they peaked at an average of 1.2 visits a person a year. But visitation dropped by 25 percent over the next 16 years, prompting Oliver R.W. Pergams, a biology professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Patricia A. Zaradic, a research associate at Stroud Water Research Center, to explore what accounts for the decline.


Yellowstone's Old Faithful geyser and other national park attractions are frequented less.
Yellowstone's Old Faithful geyser and other national park attractions are frequented less. The two scientists determined that 97.5 percent of the drop could be attributed to increased time Americans spend watching movies at home and in the theater, surfing the Internet and playing video games, as well the cost of gas. In 2003, the average American devoted 327 more hours than in 1987 watching movies, playing video games and using the Internet.