USFS Declining Use - Interesting Story

[Fairweather]

I don't agree with everything here, but parts of it ring true. In order to protect it we need more recreational use, not less.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,459225,00.html

[ScaredSilly]

The gas price thing is a red herring. High gas prices have been a "problem" for the past couple of years. But yet ATV ridership has increased. The decline is probably been more towards the electronic generation. I am not sure the fees are the issue either - although I tend to avoid those areas.

 

It will be very interesting to see what happens in the next four years. I see some real fights in the west over land issues, whether it be for water, minerals, or trails.

[mattp]

I'm with you, Fairweather. We need people getting out and enjoying our wildlands if long term preservation efforts are going to be politically sustainable.

[letsroll]

I don't think that the fee's are the sole result in declining use. I contribute it to a multible of factors, I will only touch on two. The average family has been brain washed into thinking that they need all this special gear to camp. When in fact in most cases of camping at a camp ground you only need the clothes you own. Fancy rain gear, special boots, sox, shirts, sleeping bags, and..... are just not needed. I remember as a kid when my family headed out I had a cheep sleeping bag from REI (WAY BACK when they were a REAL Co-op) and just my street clothes and my huffy BMX bike. Perfectly happy. When my dad and I started backpacking all I got was a proper external frame backpack, and that was relativly cheep. No rain gear other than the jacket I had for school no fancy pants or shirts. Yes cotton kills in bad weather but it works just fine for the summer backpack trip. All the equipment we used was not the lightest and best, but it all worked! People get brain washed, we need the best of the best.

 

As for the electronic generation. I agree. I coach high school track and the kids now days, heck even in the 6 years I have been coaching have changed. They are more fragile as a general rule. There are always exeption to the rule. I have had to teach high school kids how to SKIP. No I am not kidding, how to skip. What kid does not know how to skip. In the spring the first couple of weeks have to be easy work-outs as not to break 90% of the kids out for track, and to not scare them from the hard work it will take to make them faster. When I started coaching I would make a promise to my kids that they might not be the fastest but they would be the fitest kids on the track. If they were not the fastest they would be able to hold a pace and break thier competition in the long grind. As stated earlier I have had to back away from that so that I don't have too many kids on the injured list. People as general are getting physically lazy. Why go hike when I can ride a motorbike or play on my computer.

 

After college my roommate and I moved to portland and we went on several runs. He was a "city kid." I finally egged him into a run in forest park. He had never ran in the "woods." This was forest park. The whole time I felt sorry for him, and amazed that this was such an amazement to him. Then I realized I should be happy that I introduced him to something other that running in the city and there is a life outside of pavement.

 

I better stop now, I could go on for days. I would like to thank my parents for getting me out there and showing what life is about. We may not have had all the fancy stuff I have now when I head out, but we made the best of it and had a blast. Just wish I could take my dad out more often and further. Now he can borrow my gear instead of the other way around

 

I am sure there are tons of spelling errors, oh well.

Edited November 30, 2008 by letsroll

[Fairweather]

I hear what you're saying. There is no greater satisfaction in life than introducing someone to a world they never even realized was out there. It's almost as if three worlds now exist. In addition to the day-to-day life of the city/suburbs/consumer/worker, there is the introverted world of the video-gamer and, in the opposite direction, the world that you and I and Matt share: The mountains, the sea, the physical test of self. I sometimes wonder about the motivations of those who would restrict our access to our world and wonder if many of these people have ever really experienced it for themselves--or if they really have a right to petition changes based solely on what they've been fed by someone else's agenda.

[Stefan]

Here's my guestimate on why less people are out in the da woods:

 

more work=less vacation 30%

damaged roads=less recreation 20%

user fees 20%

gas prices 15%

competing entertainment 10%

more family vacations to disneyland/mexico… 5%

 

[Stefan]

Now with gas prices down, and people spending less on "disneyland" vacations, lets see if the USFS visitation will increase next summer....like more camping. If not, then those factors are OUT.

[Spiral_Out]

One thing that is missing is the knowledge that there is value in simply getting into a wild area. It is something that is not an instant payoff. The connection between the natural world is something that gets stronger and stronger with each experience. I couldn't tell you exactly why i climb, but it is something that resonates deep inside me and something that i cultivated within myself. It took some time to develop, but as well know, is completely worth any time, effort, money put into it.

 

The video game generation, of which i am a part of, has no understanding of the value of connecting with the natural world. Sure they like to be outside and go for walks in city parks. But how many go out to experience that wildness that we all cherish? How could anyone expect them to without knowing it is out there? In broad terms, those connections, which have existed throughout time, and only have recently been lost, need to be reestablished for long term health of our wild lands and ourselves.

 

As stated by Letsroll, this is something i could go on for days about.

 

IMO it starts with the kids.

www.rootsranch.org <---- check this out!

[not_a_climber]

I think the Forest Pass is an issue to some extent. The person or group that decides to go on a hike will now drive to the trailhead, see signs that say they need a pass, and wonder what the pass thing is all about. I ran into this at a trailhead last Summer. A group of guys pulled into the parking lot next to my car. "Do you need a pass here?" they asked me. I told them they did. They risked the day without a pass. I have no idea if they got ticketed, but I suspect that for those who do, it really dampens their intial wilderness experience.

 

I agree with the comment that you don't need a lot of expensive gear to start out, though advertisers would try and convince you otherwise. Summer hikes were common for our family, and we wouldn't carry much more than lunch, sweatshirts, and maybe a flashlight and compass (me carrying these, possibly hoping the hike might break out into a real adventure).

 

Now they try and convince people that even for short excursions you need hydration systems, nutrition systems...and maybe a college degree as well.

[Reilly]

I find it 'interesting' that for many years we enjoyed the 'wilds' fee-free. Probably not coincidentally the timber companies and the Japanese also enjoyed absurdly low prices for timber not to mention free roads in to the logging areas. Now we have to pay while the Weyerhauser grandchildren live large off of the Forest Service's largesse.

[Wastral]

Most of the decline is due to the digital age of the nanny state where anything that even comes close to a bug or germ is termed "dangerous. Can't wait till the safety idiots will say that watching TV or playing games will be "DANGEROUS". Kids can't do anything because its "unsafe". You can't build treehouses in your backyard without a permit and PLANS!!! Why? Because a kid might get hurt. Oh no, I might bleed or break a leg! SO??? It teaches lessons and makes life enjoyable.

 

The second biggest decline is due to fees for access to supposed PUBLIC LANDS. Not exactly very public if you have to pay to get access to them now is it???

 

The Forests/parks are supposed to be for the PEOPLE of this country to enjoy. Not for those who have the money to pay for permits. National parks should be FREE. NO camping permit $$$ Its for the PEOPLE of this country/world to enjoy. Same with the forests.

 

For instance Washington State parks used to have a permit to get in. Here in Issaquah, Sammamish State Park saw over a 50% decline in usage. Now that the fee is gone, its just as popular as it ever was and finding a parking spot anywhere close to the beach on a sunny weekend is impossible.

 

Go to the park now and you see young families, groups of teens, the poor immigrants to this country speaking 10 different languages etc. Quite a nice place. Soccer club/baseball etc usage of fields is a different proposition entirely.

 

Brian