Fewer People Visiting National Forests

Visits to national forests are way down this year, and have been steadily declining since 2004, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. Researchers are trying to determine why, and their guesses so far include high gas prices, rising visitor fees, and less interest in the outdoors as people live increasingly urban, television- and video game-centered lives.

From Oregon Live:

They say the decline is troubling for rural economies that increasingly look to tourism and recreation to replace revenue lost when logging dried up. It also may leave fewer people who champion the value of public lands.

“I think that there is cause for concern,” said Thomas More, a researcher at the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station in Vermont. “There’s some important consequences for rural communities and for people’s chance to get out and enjoy being in the outdoors.”

Visitors to national forests do not seem unhappy: More than 80 percent said they were satisfied with facilities and services at developed sites. The most common activity for forest visitors was viewing natural features, with 51 percent saying that was one of their pursuits.

Only 12 percent said they engaged in more traditional pursuits, such as fishing, and 9 percent hunted.

Stevens said some of the visitation decline may be driven by user fees national forests charge to bring in revenue that pays for recreational facilities. Fee systems in the Pacific Northwest include the $30 annual Northwest Forest Pass, required for parking at certain trailheads, picnic areas and other forest sites.

This isn’t good, especially since national parks need visitors in order to stay open and unspoiled.  I’m not sure how my area, Western North Carolina, compares to other places around the country, but here national forests are major recreation destinations. There are opportunities for fishing, swimming, boating, hiking, camping, skiing, mountain biking, mountain climbing and tons of other fun outdoor activities within a 1-2 hour drive. And, they always seem pretty busy. To stay home and watch TV instead of go out and do these things seems like such a waste.

So, next time you and your friends or family are all sitting around trying to think of something to do with a day off, head out to a national forest. They need your support!

Link [Oregon Live]
Photo credit: Flickr user Bill in Ash Vegas

Billy Knows a Tree When He Googles One: The Soccer Mom Syndrome

The big ass Chevy Suburban that just cut you off is not dangerous because of the cell phone-jabbing, 5′2″ super housewife behind the wheel. The real danger lives behind those tinted rear windows, in the murky back seat region, where billions of microchips and processors compete for the attention of the one little whiny occupant who reigns supreme. Fumbling from Gameboy to iPod to DVD remote control, it’s a wonder little Billy even finds the time to allow a finger to break free and troll after those boogers that are just dying to get out. Our little friend has driven through the forest a billion times, but has yet to so much as touch a tree.

In his discussion at the Aspen Environment Forum, EO Wilson (Pellegrino Research Professor in Entomology at Harvard) blamed the group that he lovingly referred to as “soccer moms” for the declining interest in nature and the environment amongst children.

DiscoverMagazine.com reports:

Wilson filled more than an hour of questions and answers with witty remarks and barbs. And to be sure, his tone was playful. Yet, there was a seriousness behind his “soccer mom” remarks that struck a cord with many people in the audience: Have children been largely cut off from nature because of technology?

Many people agreed that they have, with video games, the Internet and structured play times replacing — as comedian George Carlin commented in a recent skit — sitting outside in a yard with a stick wondering how to entertain themselves.

If Wilson is right, little urban zombies like Billy will one day rule the world, able to leap tall logarithmic search engines in a single bound, but stupidly worthless when it comes to differentiating between an acorn and a pine cone. These are tomorrow’s Republican Senators and Governors.

Links [Discover Magazine] & [The Aspen Environment Forum]

Photo credit: Flickr user MonkeyLeo13