However, ensuring that our parks will survive intact for future generations remains an immense challenge. And they must learn more about the communities and regions adjacent to park lands, as the people living nearby continue to become more involved in making decisions about the parks. To protect plant and animal species, park managers need basic scientific information about their habitats, ranges, life cycles, and more. Park managers can use the information from social science research to protect park resources, better serve visitors, and save taxpayers money. Traditionally, the social sciences have been those areas of academic study that explore the human condition.
Social science is important to park management in several ways.
Economics focuses on markets, industries, and economies and the ways in which they work together. Economic research can help park managers, private sector partners, state and local officials, and others by evaluating the economic impact of parks on local communities, the costs and benefits of park policies, and the role of parks in the tourism industry and the national economy. Geography treats regions, landscapes, and other physical areas as critical. Geographers study the way people and resources relate to one another. Geography can aid park managers through studies of tourist travel patterns, regional development, and human impacts on the parks' natural and cultural resources.