Theses and Dissertations

Advisor

Jungers, Brenna

Committee Member

Earle, Andrew

Committee Member

Petrolia, Daniel

Committee Member

Yun, Seong

Date of Degree

8-12-2026

Original embargo terms

Immediate Worldwide Access

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Agriculture (Agricultural Economics)

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Agricultural Economics

Abstract

Staffing changes in U.S. national parks have the potential to influence both visitor experience and recreation demand. This study examines how an abrupt system-wide staffing reduction affected visitor sentiment and visitation across the National Park System, while accounting for differences in park-level risk exposure. Using the February 2025 staffing reduction as a quasi-natural experiment, the analysis combines monthly park-level visitation data with TripAdvisor visitor reviews from January 2024 to August 2025. Sentiment scores derived from reviews measure perceived experience quality, while recreation demand is modeled using fixed-effects count models (Poisson and negative binomial) that control for seasonality and park characteristics. The results indicate that staffing reductions were associated with declines in visitor sentiment and, in some parks, reductions in visitation, with substantial heterogeneity linked to baseline levels of visitor risk exposure. These findings provide empirical evidence on how staffing capacity relates to visitor perceptions and behavior in national parks.

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