Over the past year, the tourism industry made significant strides toward a full recovery in the wake of COVID-19. This Memorial Day, experts believe the country will see the greatest travel volume in three years, a trend they expect to continue throughout the summer and beyond.  

The American Automobile Association’s Memorial Day travel forecast anticipates that 39 million individuals will travel over Memorial Day weekend. With the West being home to some of the country’s top tourist destinations, the influx of visitors could help businesses with economic recovery. 

The Automobile Club of Southern California predicts that this Memorial Day will be the state’s fourth busiest on record, with 3 million people expected to travel statewide. Seattle, Washington, ranks as the nation’s second most popular Memorial Day tourist destination, according to AAA, and the influx of visitors could provide an economic lift to seasonal businesses that are recovering from the pandemic. "It was kind of a ghost town for a while, but now it's usually shoulder to shoulder tourists everywhere," said Darren Patton, an employee at The Frankfurter on Pier 55.

Throughout the rest of the summer, the U.S. Travel Association projects that the tourism market will reach $726 billion in 2022 compared to $722 billion in 2019. The travel-booking app, Hopper, reported that Denver, Colorado, and Las Vegas, Nevada, are among the top three most booked destinations this summer. The Denver International Airport predicts that summer travel in 2022 will top 2019 with 225,000 daily passengers expected in July.   

In hopes of building upon this trend and developing an even stronger tourism industry coming out of the pandemic, many western states are investing in new attractions and advertising campaigns. By Investing $6.5 million in a tourism campaign North Dakota drove 2 million visitors to the state’s tourism website and helped increase visitation by 15% in 2021. The Hawaii Tourism Authority is hoping for similar results with its new urban trail that will connect visitors to points of interest and businesses with virtual reality and other smart features. Kansas also awarded 11 Tourism Attraction Development Grants across the state to renovate theatres, improve parks, expand convention centers and build a disc golf course, among others. “By continuing to develop vibrant travel destinations across Kansas, we are opening the door to more revenue and new economic growth in communities of all sizes,” Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said.

Transporting Carbon Dioxide: Tallgrass Energy recently received funding from the Wyoming Energy Authority to convert a 400-mile natural gas pipeline that runs through Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming to transport carbon dioxide from a corn processing plant to permanent underground storage. Once completed, it could transport 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. “We’re able to repurpose existing infrastructure to create significant CO2 transportation capacity without impacting natural gas service in that region,” said Kyle Quackenbush, Tallgrass segment president.

Saving Priceless Seeds: Researchers saved precious ponderosa pines, spruce and other conifer seeds used for post-fire restoration when a wildfire burned near New Mexico State University’s Forestry Research Center. The nursery is one of the few of its kind in the U.S. and uses the seeds to rebuild resilient forests as wildfires intensify. Biologists at the University of New Mexico are also contributing to post-fire restoration by building models that predict the best locations to plant seedlings after wildfires. Additionally, the state’s Forestry Division and several universities submitted an $80 million proposal to the federal government for a reforestation pipeline that includes seed collection, seed sowing in nurseries and the location. Learn more about post-fire restoration in the ‘Out West’ podcast episode, Post-Fire Restoration Challenges.

Ghost Rainbows: Visitors at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska recently saw a natural phenomenon known as a fogbow. 'Like a rainbow’s cousin,’ the colorless rainbow is caused when the sun is at a low angle and smaller water droplets in the fog aren’t strong enough to create colors. They're actually quite common to see in the park, but visitors are most likely to spot the ghost rainbows from high vantages above the fog in the mornings or evenings. 

A Rare Rose with History: An archaeologist in Colorado was among the first to discover a rose bush not seen in 80 years at the Camp Amache National Historic Site. It’s believed that Amacheans planted the flowers during World War II. Last fall, the Denver Botanic Gardens took clippings from the plant to grow in a controlled greenhouse, which helped the Camp Amache rose bloom unexpectedly. It’s also assisting horticulturists in researching how the flower made its way to Colorado. “[The blossom] will help us get an idea maybe of the species of the rose, and knowing the species of the rose will help us know a little bit of where it came from,” said Bonnie Clark, an archaeologist who discovered the plant.