Goose Island State Park “Getting Better Than Ever"
Park System Improvements Reflect Support From Voters, Legislature
ROCKPORT, Texas — Goose Island State Park has had more money to make major repairs and meet the rising costs of utilities and waste disposal, thanks to new funding provided by the Texas Legislature. The changes mean a more fun and educational visitor experience, plus safer and more comfortable facilities.
The park now has three staff members that are certified interpretive guides. These positions and the increased operating funding have made possible a continuing expansion of interpretative programs, such as more birding tours, school groups coming for educational programs, and volunteers helping with invasive species control and restoring marshes by planting native grasses.
Goose Island will also benefit from Proposition 4 and Proposition 8 bond money approved by Texas voters. The park is slated to get about $1.8 million to replace 45 existing bayfront shade shelters, replace the park's Old Woods restroom and repair and replace deteriorated electrical and water distribution systems at 43 campsites.
State investments in the park translate to an economic boost for the surrounding community.
Goose Island State Park generates an annual retail sales impact of $7,468,116 from employee and visitor spending, creates 94 jobs and produces an impact of $3,118,443 in additional income for Aransas County residents. The numbers come from Texas A&M University research that shows state parks draw outside visitor dollars into host counties.
"We get over 60,000 overnight campers here every year, which represents a lot of the people that come to the Rockport area," says Stormy Reeves, park superintendent. He notes that the park’s proximity to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge contributes to its popularity. Each winter the region hosts the world’s largest wild flock of endangered whooping cranes. The A&M study reported that Goose Island State Park generated $432,289 in revenues and had $501,632 in operating costs in fiscal year 2004. The state’s "net" investment to operate the park was thus about $69,000. In return, the park generated a retail sales impact of 108 times that amount in Aransas County from employee and visitor spending on groceries, meals out, lodging, shopping and other expenses. If only non-local visitor spending is considered, the park still drew $6,810,670 in retail sales impact to the host county.
The Goose Island findings are one example of the data gleaned from interviews conducted with more than 11,000 visitors at Texas state parks in 2002 and 2004 by Texas A&M University professor John Crompton, Ph.D., and his colleagues from the university’s Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences. The Texas Coalition for Conservation, a nonprofit umbrella group formed to support parks and natural resource conservation, commissioned the research to determine the economic value of state parks. For cost reasons, only 80 state parks were selected for the A&M study. There are currently more than 90 state parks in Texas.
Research revealed that economic activity associated with the 80 state parks studied generated an estimated total of $793 million in retail sales, had a $456 million impact on residents’ income and created roughly 11,928 jobs. These figures include spending by all visitors, both local and non-local, plus state park budget dollars spent in local communities. Crompton and his colleagues also analyzed expenditures of park visitors from outside host counties, excluding spending by local residents and "casual" state park visitors attracted to the community for other reasons. For each park studied, the research consistently showed that state parks draw non-local visitors to host counties. "Tourism is a major component of the Texas economy," Crompton recently told members of the Texas State Parks Advisory Committee in Austin. "Attractions drive tourism and state parks operate more of these desired attractions than any other entity in the state."
Cheryl Cuzco owns Cheryl’s By the Bay restaurant, which opened May 2004. "I get so many customers from Goose Island," she says. "When I first came to Rockport two years ago, the park was the one location I was taken to — not downtown Rockport, but Goose Island State Park. It was the main attraction here." Researchers say investing money on facilities upkeep, interpretation and services to enhance the visitor experience can boost the economic value of parks.
"State parks," Crompton contends, "are analogous to retail stores. Economic success depends on what happens inside the facility. Investments in park services and amenities mean more visitors and higher per capital expenditures, which equals higher revenues to the state and more jobs and income for local residents." The complete "Economic Contributions of Texas State Parks" research report, including fact sheets on each of the 80 parks studied, can be downloaded from the TPWD Web site.
Details on Goose Island State Park, including visitor facilities, hours and fees, maps and directions, can also be viewed online.
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Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744
