After reading the article below from the Jackson Hole News and Guide, hopefully you’ll get a better perspective on why Reel Deal Anglers has chosen to split our business between Jackson Hole and Pinedale. The national parks are seeing record numbers and we’re glad everyone is getting out here to see and enjoy nature but it’s gotten to the point where the equation of people vs. space has gotten out of balance. In my humble opinion fishing is best when you’re one with nature not the rest of the world. After getting off the water, that’s the time to socialize at the bar. Our professional guide staff at Reel Deal Anglers works very hard at getting you out on the very best water each and every day. We strive to get a s far away from the crowds as possible. Please give us a call and we’ll share some peace and solitude on the water with you.
Yellowstone visitors numbers are up sharply
POSTED: MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2015 4:30 AM
By Mark Huffman Jackson Hole Daily | 0 comments
The visitor count at Yellowstone National Park so far this year is running far ahead of the pace of 2014, which saw the second-largest number of tourists ever.
Through the end of May the total count at Yellowstone was 515,693, up more than 100,000 from the first five months of 2014.
That equals an increase of 24.2 percent.
Yellowstone acting public affairs chief Traci Weaver said a mild winter and early spring in the park probably played a big role in the boost, though she also noted a new after-hours counter at the West Yellowstone entrance.
May, the typical start of the summer season, saw an increase of 23.7 percent, up from 310,039 people last year to 383,670 this year.
Weaver noted in a release that “visitation to the world’s first national park begins to pick up in May as weather improves and interior roads and visitor facilities open to the public.”
The first four months of 2015 also saw significant increases, but the numbers in those months were, as usual, low in comparison to the busy summer months.
Park officials say July is always the busiest month in Yellowstone, followed by August, June, September and May.
The count of people entering the park was mirrored by counts at the park’s nine visitor centers, museums and contact stations. That count hit 624,710 from March 16 to June 13 this year, an increase of 22.6 percent from 2014.
Yellowstone park counted 3,513,484 recreational visitors during 2014, its second-busiest year since counting began in 1916. Last year’s number fell short of the record set in 2010 by 127,000.
Last year’s count made Yellowstone the National Park Service’s fourth-busiest park, behind Great Smokey Mountain National Park at 10 million, Grand Canyon National Park at 4.75 million and Yosemite National Park at 3.88 million.
Grand Teton National Park was ranked last year as the system’s eighth-busiest park, with 2,791,392 million, which broke the 1998 record of 2.75 million.
The Park Service had a record year during 2014. Counts at the 369 parks and monuments that tally visitors reached 292.8 million, up 7 percent from 2013. The previous high, 287.1 million, had stood since 1999.
In announcing last year’s record numbers, Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said the system’s 405 scenic and historic sites were estimated to support 250,000 jobs and visitor spending of about $15 billion.
The Park Service will celebrate its centennial in 2016.
Since it began counting, the Park Service has tallied 13.2 billion park entrances.