'Roads are money, and without the roads open, we die': California wildfire closures lead to massive tourism losses for businesses near Yosemite

Carrie Anderson via AP

• Wildfires burning in the US West have scorched 5.6 million acres this year, including parts of Yosemite and other national forests.
• The Ferguson Fire in Yosemite has been particularly damaging to local tourism, and businesses are facing significant losses.
• The area around Yosemite has the seventh largest tourism economy connected to a US national park.
• The park has 4.3 million visitors spending an estimated $452 million in 2017, according to the National Park Service.

For the past two weeks, a wildfire has forced much of Yosemite National Park in California to close, with smoke blanketing its famous rock formations and clouding the summer travel season for one of the largest tourism economies tied to a US park.

Steven Anker, 53, has seen business decrease by 80% at his Priest Station Café in nearby Groveland.See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

See Also:

• Your opinion matters — Join BI Insiders program
• Jeff Bezos told Amazon execs to consider 3 questions before offering someone a job, and they're still spot-on 20 years later
• Elon Musk loves video games — here are his favorites

SEE ALSO: Wildfires are tearing through Yosemite National Park and the photos look like a post-apocalyptic nightmare