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about 3,000 wildfires with a loss of 70,000 acres per year (State of Colorado, 2003). The <br />intense dryness of 2002, following several drought years, resulted in an increase in <br />number fires by almost 50 percent and the total area burned was nearly 8 times larger <br />than during normal years. <br />Everyone interviewed identified wildfire as major factor in overall summer tourism <br />decline. The direct impacts of the wildfires were: national and state park closures, bans <br />on campground fires, health threats due to flames and smoke, and the nationwide media <br />coverage of the wildfires occurring in Colorado. The dramatic images of Colorado fires <br />influenced people's decision to vacation in the Colorado mountains (Figure 4). The <br />wildfires also often. caused people to realize how severe the drought was. Wildfires <br />played a less definite role in. a winter tourism decline because once the temperatures cool, <br />the wildfire season ends. Lower visitation during consequent winter months was only <br />minimally a result of lagging human perception of dryness in. Colorado and was more <br />likely linked to broader skiing visitation trends. <br />Other secondary impacts related to drought identified by those interviewed included the <br />infestations of bark beetles, grasshoppers, and cut worms; the spread of noxious weeds; <br />and the decline in groundwater quality in some residential mountain communities. Many <br />of these factors can trigger long- ter ripple effects. For example, the susceptibility of the <br />0 <br />Figure 4. Images of Western wildfires shown on the Weather Channel in June 2002. <br />