If you need a good anecdote about what an economic engine travel and tourism can be, look no further than Jackson, Wyo., just south of Yellowstone National Park.
Jackson Hole's Chamber of Commerce and Travel and Tourism Board have ponied up $70,000 to have state crews plow park roads, obviating the need for the park to curtail its own plowing because of the sequester, which would delay next month's opening by two weeks.
According to local news accounts, community organizations in Cody are doing something similar for the approaches to the park's east gate.
The math is easy. As one Jackson official put it, some 18,500 visitors use the south gate in the two weeks after it opens, and they spend $135 a day, which means $2.5 million in spending for Jackson businesses.
For that, we plow.