ROANOKE, Va. (AP) _ The Blue Ridge Parkway drew more than 13.9 million visitors in 2014, an increase of about 1 million from the previous year. Last year’s increase was the first since 2011. Despite the improvement, last year’s parkway visitation total was the second-lowest since 1981. The lowest total during this period was in 2013, when fewer than 12.9 million tourists visited the parkway. Visitation dropped in 2013 when National Park Service attractions closed because of the federal government shutdown and sequester cuts. Many of these sites reopened last year.
