Treesearch

Since 1967 the Woodall Publishing Company of Highland Park, Ill., has gathered annual statistics on privately owned campgrounds in the United States, Canada and Mexico and to a lesser extent on public campgrounds. At first the information gathered consisted of little more than hand tallies of the number of campgrounds by state and degree of development, of the number of campsites in the campgrounds and a breakdown of those campsites by number of electrical, water and sewer hookups available. It has since become much more detailed.

Data from the National Travel Surveys of 1972 and 1977 are utilized in a modified shift-share approach to compare Northeastern travel with other regions of the U.S. The Northeast is losing relative to other regions when travel is compared using 1972 as the base year. However, travel with camping equipment increased in the Northeast relative to the other regions.

With precious few exceptions, ski industry trend data does not exist. This paper will enumerate sources of trend data known to the author. The paper considers the probable causes of the lack of ski industry trend data and means to ameliorate the lack of trend data. Finally, the paper presents a rationale for acquiring improved ski industry trend data.

Five nationwide surveys to determine participation in popular sports have been conducted since 1970. These, plus subsequent ones in the 1980's, will be useful to advertising agencies, the sporting goods industry and government planners. Swimming, bicycling, camping, fishing, and bowling have consistently held the top five spots. Jogging and tennis have recently moved into the top ten spots. Demographic changes, economic conditions and the energy situation may affect results of future participation surveys.

The art of "crystal-ball gazing" is not an exact science. While it is very useful to discuss what life will be like in the future, and rather fun, I might add, a review of the multitude of materials prepared 20 to 30 years ago about life in the 1980's found little that was all that accurate. The projections that were most on target tended to be those educated guesses about "things" - such as transportation devices, home products, recreational equipment, etc., plus those that could be projected from a specific, sophisticated data base such as demographic projections.

My purpose today as the last speaker is twofold. I have been asked to summarize the many excellent presentations we have heard during the previous two days and to be a spokesman for society's viewpoint. It is my intent to challenge you. I hope to draw your attention to some implications concerning outdoor recreation trends in the 1980's that I foresee in this time of continuous societal change.

Resource managers manipulate ecosystems for direct or indirect human uses. Examples of relatively well studied resource management issues include familiar biological products such as: forests, ranges, fish and wildlife; or physical products such as air, water and soil. Until very recently, urban environments received much less scholarly attention. However, as Spurr (1969) notes "principles of ecosystem management apply to wilderness and to urban environments".

Outdoor recreation research has largely ignored the fundamental requirement of science that findings be replicative. "The only way to establish replicability, of course, is to replicate." Because of this, we know practically nothing about outdoor recreation trends. "Trends, in statistics, (is) a steady change in a variable or set of related variables in a certain direction (for example, a steadily increasing magnitude or frequency of occurrence of a variable) for a period of time."

In the past, Federal land acquisition has been one of the most popular ways to protect outstanding natural resources and provide recreational opportunities. Federal purchase, maintenance, and operation can help take pressure off the State or local budget. Federal involvement also can provide a way for local officials to avoid making some tough decisions about regulating private development. However, several trends are raising obstacles to proposals for establishing new Federal management units in the years ahead.

Many claims have been made concerning the cause/effect relationship between recreation and leisure activity, and the acquisition of quality living. Studies have investigated the utility, quality, and quantity of recreation facilities. Studies of programs, leadership, members, and general classifications of users have also been conducted.