Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore said media reporting on algae blooms in Vermont lakes is responsible for the 10% decline in visits to state parks. Twitter observer Ryan Garvey commented, This would be like if Beijing blamed weather forecasts showing smog for a drop in tourism.

"Environmental officials have one idea about what could be causing the decline: news articles about cyanobacteria blooms. During a pre-session legislative briefing, Julie Moore, Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, said that visits to eight of the 13 state lakeside parks were down over 10% this year. That translated into more than 20,000 fewer visits this year -- or an estimated quarter of a million dollar decline in associated tourist spending, she said.

Gesturing to a powerpoint slide with screenshots of articles from local news outlets from the past year about blue-green algae blooms, Moore said "it's headlines like these that probably played no small part in discouraging people from heading to our parks."

Read the Full Story at:

Comment Below...