LANSING, W.Va. — Governor Patrick Morrisey, state Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby and others celebrated the state’s two national parks staying open during a Friday press conference at the New River Gorge Canyon Rim Visitors Center.
On Thursday, Morrisey announced a donation agreement to keep the visitor services for NRG and Harpers Ferry open. The agreement includes the state paying $97,986.56 to keep everything functional.
“Not only is West Virginia open in terms of its national parks, we secured the first agreement in the country to open up our national parks. We’re the first state to say, ‘Our national parks are open, and the Schumer Shutdown will have no effect on our parks,” Morrisey said.
Without the agreement, visitors’ centers would have been closed, trash would not have been collected, and important shuttles would not have been operational.
Ruby says this is a crucial month for the state, and the visitor centers at these two parks can’t be closed.
“October is one of our busiest months. We’re in the middle of Gauley Season. We’ve got Bridge Day just around the corner. This is the fourth busiest month of the entire year,” she said. “I know everyone here shared in my panic Tuesday night when I saw this was really going to happen and those doors were going to close.”
During the press conference, Morrisey and Ruby both expressed how visitors coming to West Virginia to visit the parks fuels an entire industry, and that can’t be lost for multiple weeks, regardless of the season.
“It generates more than $9.1 billion annually in total economic impact and supports more than 60,000 West Virginia jobs,” he said.
“Tourists spend more than $18 million a day in West Virginia. That’s with no multipliers. That’s how much is spent each and every day, on average, in West Virginia,” said Ruby.
Morrisey says he believes West Virginia will move forward as outsiders visit and realize the beauty of the state.
“People are flocking to our state every day and they know that we have rich history and stunning scenery,” he said. “I know that as West Virginia really begins its comeback, we do it on the backs of people falling in love with our gorgeous state and then spending more time here.”