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Glacier National Park had nearly 3 million visitors in 2016, up a third from 2012

[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]MISSOULA – A University of Montana research institute says that more than 12 million tourists visited the Big Sky State last year, spending nearly $3.5 billion and supporting nearly 53,000 jobs.

Montana’s mountains, rivers, lakes, wildlife and national parks are a bigger and bigger draw, according to the university’s Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research.

Norma Nickerson, the institute’s director, say

The Missoulian reports that nearly 70 percent of the 4.2 million people who visited Yellowstone National Park last year came through Montana.

Glacier National Park had nearly 3 million visitors in 2016, up a third from 2012. Surveys suggest visitor satisfaction is high at Glacier despite overcrowding, Nickerson said the owners of Montana tourism-dependent business expect even more business this year.[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text style=”margin-top:15px;”][/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text style=”margin-top: 15px;”]Montana tourism took an estimated $500,000 hit when the Yellowstone River was closed in August due to the deaths of thousands of fish from a parasite, Nickerson said.

Known as PKX, the parasite was blamed in the deaths of tens of thousands of whitefish in the Yellowstone last summer, prompting a weekslong closure of the popular river. Authorities say the parasite has been detected in 10 Montana rivers, though only the Yellowstone had a documented fish kill.

Nickerson also warned that invasive mussels pose a threat to Montana waterways. The mussels have been found in the Tiber Reservoir, Glacier National Park, Canyon Ferry Reservoir and the Blackfeet Reservation.

“Once you have mussels in a waterway, you won’t get rid of them,” she said.

Montana officials are searching for ways to fund a proposed two-year plan to combat the spread of invasive mussels in the state’s waters. The invasive mussels rapidly multiply and can damage beaches, clog boat motors and dams, harm fish and wildlife and damage infrastructure.[/cs_text][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][/cs_content]

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