The study by the National Park Trust warns that the well being and the very existence of many state parks is in jeopardy.
State parks receive just as many visitors each year as do national parks.
Georgia topped the list, with four threatened parks including the Etowah Indian Mounds. It is followed by North Carolina, Minnesota, Nevada, West Virginia, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Montana. The report also explores the reasons behind the growing threat to state parks and the importance of state parks to the natural, economic and cultural vitality of cities and states. NPT s research found that more than 90,000 acres in the state parks are currently threatened by overuse, traffic, adjacent commercialism, encroachment, rapid land development, ever rising land values and privately owned land within the parks' boundaries. Elakayla Falls, in West Virginia's Blackwater Falls State Park.