The National Park system is often called “America’s Best Idea,”
but according to a new report, it remains more like terra
incognita for many people of color. Released Wednesday, “The
National Park System Comprehensive Survey of the American
Public,” conducted by the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center at
the University of Wyoming, is a follow-up to a much-cited report
on race/ethnicity among park visitors conducted in 2000. Taken
together, the two surveys show that while the American public
has grown increasingly diverse in the last decade, black and
Hispanic-Americans remain underrepresented in visits to the 394
National Park Service (NPS) properties. “Despite efforts by the
National Park Service and its partners to engage underserved
populations,” wrote the researchers, “visitation differences by
race/ethnic group seem not to have changed much over the past
decade.” Conducted by telephone in 2009, the survey queried
4,103 respondents across the U.S. The results showed that non-
Hispanic whites comprised 78 perc