25-07-2025
‘Perfect storm': Amid Trump administration cuts, visitation to White Mountain National Forest is up
'This data directly informs all these Forest Service decisions, from staffing and signage to trail maintenance, infrastructure, and especially the federal budget and funding,' said Michael Ferguson, associate professor of recreation management and policy at UNH, who is overseeing O'Leary's research.
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The National Visitor Use Monitoring Program is conducted every five years and was last
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'The data we collect is extremely important for the forest, and so that's one of the biggest things that I lead with is, 'You're giving back to the forest by participating in this,'' he said. Responses to interview questions are logged in a tablet, and then immediately uploaded to the Forest Service data set.
The White Mountain National Forest receives about 6 million visitors a year — more than Yellowstone (
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The research helps ensure that resources are directed where they're most needed, according to Ferguson — which he said is especially important in light of Trump administration cuts to agency budgets.
'It is a perfect storm that's happening, where we have ramped up visitation to an extreme, and at the same time, we are simultaneously decreasing funding to these entities to the extreme,' he said.
Outdoor recreation is an important economic engine for New Hampshire, contributing about $4 billion to the state's economy, according to a report from the US Department of Commerce.
For the O'Learys, conducting the surveys is a way to give back to a place they love.
'I've been coming up here since I was 2 years old, for 50-something years,' said Jimmy O'Leary, 57, who is a retired captain from the Massachusetts State Police. He now lives in Madison, N.H. 'I loved it up here, and that's why I took my kids up here, too.'
This story appeared in Globe NH | Morning Report, a free newsletter focused on New Hampshire, including great coverage from the Boston Globe and links to interesting articles elsewhere. To receive it via email Monday through Friday,
Amanda Gokee can be reached at
