A new National Park Service report shows that Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument drew 41,000 visitors last year who spent $ 2.7 million in nearby communities. The report says the spend supported 38 jobs and had cumulative benefits of more than $ 3 million.

The number of visitors increases every year. Superintendent Tim Hudson says the numbers rose about 10% last summer and prompted the National Park Service to propose adding the monument’s facilities to a national park reservation system. All campsites and lean-tos are currently available on a first come, first served basis.

“We recently had a group that said, ‘If we had a reservation system, we’d come, but we don’t want to take the risk of not getting a seat,'” says Hudson.

All campsites and lean-tos are currently available on a first come, first served basis.

The national reservation includes a fee – but there is no cost to use the facilities. The reservation system will be publicly commented on until July 15th.