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This is the first in a three-part series, Tourism Trouble by reporter Dan Boyce

More than three million tourists visited Yellowstone National Park last year, setting an all time record. High visitation is common during times of economic recession. But the impact to the economy around the park was mixed.

"In West Yellowstone those of us who live here call ourselves survivors, because we survive from one season to another," fly shop owner and guide Bob Jacklin said.

Jacklin has been surviving in West Yellowstone for 41 years. He maintains and runs a fly shop, and he also guides fly fishing trips. The clientele for these guided trips are usually wealthy individuals or groups of friends.

Last year, Jacklin waited all through the summer for that annual cash infusion.

"And they just didn't show. So it was a feeling I bet we were down 24, 25 percent last year," he said.

Guiding revenue was down 25 percent during the park's most popular year ever, but why?

Executive Director of the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce, Marysue Costello, says it's due to the type of visitors from 2009. They included not the wealthy flying in from around the world, but families driving from neighboring states, families looking for a value.

"For instance, they might decide to visit the museum here in West Yellowstone and then they would eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch rather than going to a restaurant," Costello said.

Also, many of they did not stay in hotels and inns.

Costello says it's these more humble operations, like the Rustic RV Campground, that did especially well last year.

The trend gave David Robinson and his wife a new business idea. They started Lava Creek Adventures about a year ago, a company offering, ironically, guided trips. But these park tours and kayak excursions are geared toward families.

"It was my feeling from the get-go that if I could get the pieces into place when things are slow it's just going to get better as things move on," Robinson said.

And they have, Lava Creek Adventures is expanding.

But Jacklin is going to stick with his business model, which depends on those wealthy individuals.

"They missed last year, they want be back fishing," he said.

He says maybe they've recouped some of their losses in the stock market, because his reservations are way up.