The seasonal and permanent resident population of the Peninsula is growing and visitors are a significant factor, especially during the summer months. From a resident population of approximately 10,000 in 1960, the population of the Peninsula is now estimated at 48,098, an increase of almost 500 percent in 35 years.

Property-related requests from the public to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Planning Department have varied with changes in population growth rates and the economy of the region. These have been in the form of platting actions (property line changes, subdivisions, dedication or vacations of rights-of-way, etc (Data accumulation began in 1985 when the Planning Department began sequentially numbering files for platting activities).

The economic boom of the early 1980’s and the economic downturn in the late 1980’s are clearly illustrated by the number of platting actions (see graph). Renewed interest in making property changes is apparent in the number of applications received in the 1990's. In 1992 there were 141 files processed, by 1996 the number had grown to 260 (Planning Department, Kenai Peninsula Borough, statistics, memorandum Brown from Parker, May 30, 1997). Of these 260 applications, 229 were plat actions and 53 were requests to vacate land (right-of-way, utility, and section line easements) (Planning Department, Kenai Peninsula Borough, statistics, memorandum Parker/Best from Harris, January 2, 1997).

Recreational users also appear to have been increasing, predominantly originating from the Anchorage area but also coming from other parts of the state and from outside Alaska. Visitors to the Alaska State park sites (27 local state park units) and the Kenai Wildlife Refuge (W. Peet, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, personal conversation and annual statistical records July 1997) together have varied between 1.2 and 1.8 million visitors per year between 1990 and 1996. State Parks has noted that 66 to 75 percent of their visitors are resident Alaskans and only one-fourth to one-third of their visitors are from other parts of the United States or from other countries (K. Reid, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Department of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, personal conversation and fiscal year statistics).

The year-round Kenai Visitor and Cultural Center opened in April of 1992. From 49,000 visitors recorded in 1992, the number increased to 67,271 visitors in 1996 (Kenai Visitors & Convention Bureau, Inc., statistics). Open from mid-May to mid-September, the Kenai Peninsula Information Center, located in Soldotna, served 6,898 people in 1988, 19,408 in 1993, and 46,807 in 1996 (Kenai Peninsula Information Center, Advisory Reports). The Seward Chamber of Commerce served 24,000 visitors in summer of 1993 and over 38,000 in 1996 (C. Dixon, Seward Chamber of Commerce/Visitor's Center, July 1997). The Homer Visitor Information Center had 10,925 visitors in summer of 1993 and 11,256 in 1996 (Homer Chamber of Commerce, statistics, August 1997). From 1990 to 1996, Kenai Municipal Airport enplanements increased by over eight percent, and year-round traffic counts coming to the Kenai Peninsula on the Seward Highway had increased by approximately nine percent. The Alaska Railroad ridership from Anchorage to Seward has increased by 35 percent since 1990 and cruise ship dockings by 30 percent (Economic Development District, Kenai Peninsula Borough, "1996 Situation and Prospects", ADOT&PF statistics, July 1997).