The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021 resulted in an exponential increase in visitor numbers in our state parks and forests, with impacts (both positive and negative) that will be felt for years to come.
We launched a series of beginners’ videos on our YouTube channel with an eye toward helping all those new users understand their responsibilities and become a little more comfortable in situations they may have never encountered before.
Check out our “It’s Good to Know” playlist!
At PPFF, the need to shift gears meant that while where the work was being accomplished had changed, the work kept going.
We arranged graffiti removal projects at Bald Eagle State Forest and Hyner View State Park.
We planted trees at Canoe Creek State Park with the Friends of Canoe Creek and the good people of the REI-Bedford Distribution Center.
And we learned that many small businesses near state parks or forests actually saw an increase in business as a result of those new visitors so there was a little bit of good news to share. Read their stories in one of the fact sheets we assembled.
F & S Yamaha & Marine
Miller’s Purely Maple
Pocono Whitewater/Biking
Seven Springs Resort
Tackett’s by the Lake
“The mutually beneficial relationship between state parks and local businesses highlights the economic benefits state parks and forests have on the boroughs and the Commonwealth as a whole.” PPFF’s Contributing Writer, Jessica Aiello, examined this relationship in her article, Borough Businesses Benefitted from Pandemic-Related Outdoor Recreation written for The Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs Borough News Magazine – November 2021 Issue.