Chapter 2 The Demand. (Outdoor Recreation in America).

The demand is surging. Whatever the measuring rod -- visits to federal and state recreation areas, number of fishing license holders, number of outboard motors in use -- it is clear that Americans are seeking the outdoors as never before. And this is only a foretaste of what is to come. Not only will there be many more people, they will want to do more, and they will have more money and time to do it with. By 2000 the population should double; the demand for recreation should triple.

This order of magnitude, in essence, is the heart of the problem. But where will it focus? Which activities will become more popular, which less? To obtain a better idea of the action that is needed, the Commission enlisted the help of the Bureau of the Census and a number of research groups to explore the amount and underlying characteristics of demand. The result is the first detailed nation-wide study of what people do for outdoor recreation, and what, given the way our society is moving, they are likely to do in the future. (1)

If the magnitude of outdoor recreation in America is great, so too is its variety. Some swim in, and others under, water. Some walk on the surface of the earth or dig for archeological relics, while others descend into caves or go aloft in gliders or planes. Some go camping for silence and isolation. Others seek out campsites where they can be with other people. This variety reflects the values which Americans seek from outdoor recreation -- sociability as well as solitude, the serenity of the forest and the excitement of physical activity on the water.

At present, it is the simple pleasures Americans seek most. By far the most popular are pleasure driving and walking; together, they account for 42 percent of the total annual activity. (For the tables on these and subsequent figures see appendix F.) The Sunday drive through the countryside is one of the great experiences that families share, and for those who live in the city it is anything but passive; they will often put up with an extraordinary amount of intervening traffic to break their way out.

In other activities, not surprisingly, the greatest amount of time is spent on those which require the least preparation or specialized equipment -- playing games and swimming (in summer, swimming goes up almost to the top of the list). Next in order are sightseeing, bicycling, fishing, going to outdoor sports events, and picnicking. Sports that require special conditions, skills, or equipment -- such as skiing, mountain climbing, skindiving, and sailing -- rank much lower in frequency.

They do not rank low, however, in intensity of personal involvement. This dimension cannot be easily measured, but whether it is pride of skill, a sense of fraternity, or, perhaps, the thrill of danger, a powerful motivation is at work; and one has only to listen to skindivers and skiers talking shop to grasp how compelling it can be. This qualitative dimension is most obvious in the sports of special skill, but it applies to the whole range of activities. Simplicity, after all, is relative; the sailor may look down on the powerboat enthusiast, who in turn may look down on the outboard man, but to many an American even the mastery of a rowboat can be a challenge.

When they are asked what they would like to do more of, people do not necessarily want more of what they are doing. They may do the simple things most of the time -- they probably always will. But it is evident that activities just beyond reach -- horseback riding, camping, and skiing -- stir their aspirations.

Whatever the demand is for, it is concentrated where people are -- in metropolitan areas. The pressure is most acute in the Northeast, fast becoming one long city, but it has been building up in every section of the country. The South is rapidly becoming more urban, and the West Coast is well on its way to producing some of the greatest conglomerations. Even the wide-open states of the farm belt are feeling the pressure, and as a once predominantly agricultural population has been moving to the cities, outdoor pleasures that used to be taken for granted are proving harder to come by.

This metropolitan population must get most of its recreation in the metropolitan region, and, for all practical purposes, the existence of extensive facilities somewhere else is little compensation for lack of them at home.

The great bulk of the demand must be satisfied in the afterwork and weekend hours. Americans are a highly mobile people, it is true, but cars and highways do not alter the basic pattern; even on a vacation trip, more than half seek recreation one, or at the most two, days' travel from home. For weekend and day trips they travel only a few hours. This is true even among upper income groups.

But this does not mean that the more distant areas are the less valuable. They can provide a qualitative element that may be only rarely experienced but which can be very important to people, and to people who live in cities most of all. A park or a wilderness in the Far West may not be easily accessible to the millions who live in the cities of the Northeast; still, the ability to anticipate a trip to such an area is itself important, and even one visit can have an emotional impact that will be remembered for a lifetime.

THE PATTERNS OF DEMAND

Equally as important as the magnitude of demand is the way in which it is distributed among the groups within the population. There are significant differences in the desire for outdoor recreation between young and old, rich and poor, city people and suburbanites. The groups themselves, furthermore, are changing -- incomes are rising, the older are living longer. A projection of these trends cannot foretell the future, but there are important clues here indicating the new order of needs.

Of all the factors, age has the sharpest influence. As might be expected, the older people get, the less they engage in outdoor activity. This decline is especially noticeable in the more active pursuits: cycling, hiking, horseback riding, water skiing and camping. To be sure, even in late middle age, people still engage in such activities as swimming, motorboating, fishing and nature walks. And there are types of recreation -- walking or driving for pleasure, sightseeing, fishing -- where participation rates are impressive even for the oldest category of citizens. But the general picture is one of declining activity with advancing years.

Income has a discernible effect upon the rate of participation. With activities that demand a substantial outlay of time or money -- boating, water skiing, horseback riding, and the like -- it is hardly surprising that participation is higher among those who have the leisure and resources to participate. Interestingly enough, however, the upper income groups also do more walking.

Some of the differences between income groups are due to such related factors as education, occupation, and age. The very low rate of participation by the bottom income group, for example, can be partially accounted for by the high proportion of older people, many of them retired, in this bracket. Even after allowance for these other factors, however, it is clear that income itself has a decided influence. In general, participation tends to go up as income does; the jump is sharpest at about the $3,000-a-year mark; from there on, participation steadily increases, reaching a maximum in the $7,500-$10,000 bracket, declining slightly thereafter. The association between income and activity is particularly pronounced in the largest metropolitan areas.

Education affects participation much as income does; generally speaking, the more of it they have, the more active adults are likely to be. This is particularly the case in swimming, playing games, sightseeing, walking, and driving for pleasure. In other activities, the correlation is not very consistent.

In the range of activities as well as the total, nonwhites engage in outdoor recreation less than whites. The nonwhite rate of participation is markedly lower in water sports and in camping and hiking; it is higher in playing games and walking.

Participation does not vary by sex as much as by age or income, but in total, men do tend to participate more than women -- a difference largely due to the strong interest men show for such traditionally masculine pursuits as hunting and fishing. In activities like swimming, driving, picnicking, and camping, women participate as much if not more than men. A key fact about such activities, indeed, is that they are family activities.

Families seek outdoor recreation together. About 60 percent of family heads (or their wives) indicate that the whole family enjoys at least two of the same outdoor activities. Families turn to activities in which children can participate along with the parents. The aspiration of parents to educate the child to a level above their own extends to helping him develop in outdoor pursuits.

Occupation has a considerable influence, though to some extent, it may not be so much the particular work a man does as how much he is paid for it and how long a vacation he is given. Among occupations, professional people enjoy the most recreation, farmworkers, the least. The managerial and proprietor group is somewhat under the average for all occupations. This may be due to the large number -- perhaps half -- of self-employed in the group. In general, the self-employed and their wives show a lower rate of outdoor activity than others. Small entrepreneurs and retailers have to spend a lot of time minding the shop -- and they do not get paid vacations.

By region, there is not much difference in the amount of recreation people do --though in the South, summer activity is one-fourth less than in the rest of the nation. But there is considerable difference in what they do the most. In the Northeast, people particularly like swimming and winter sports, and they are by far the greatest walkers. In the North Central States, with so many lakes, people do more boating than elsewhere. In fishing, however, it is southerners who take first place; they also do by far the most hunting.

For just plain doing things outdoors, however, westerners rank first. They play games outdoors more than others, they go on more picnics, and they are prodigious campers, riders, and hikers. They also spend a lot of time in their cars, being the most partial to sightseeing.

Suburbanites and people who live in the country participate more than city people. There are also, of course, differences of emphasis: people living farther out tend to favor camping, fishing, and, in particular, hunting -- the activities that most involve "roughing it;" while city people emphasize sightseeing and pleasure driving, picnicking, and, most of all, swimming. Contributing to the differences are factors other than place of residence, notably income and age. When all these factors are held constant, however, people in outlying areas still show the highest rate. The simple fact of access, in short, promotes use.

But for all the differences among groups, what is more significant is how alike they are. The demand is pervasive. About 90 percent of all American adults engage in some activity in the course of a year. Thus, those involved are not just a small group of outdoor enthusiasts but the large majority of the American people. All segments of society share a common interest in outdoor activity -- even if it is only walking or sightseeing.

While the demand is pervasive, its composition is not static. As shifts in society take place, such as the move to suburbia, changes occur in the kind and quantity of recreation that people seek.

A dynamic is at work. The children of today do more kinds of things outdoors and acquire experience and skills in things like swimming and camping that their parents never had. This new generation, as it grows up, will spend a great deal more leisure time outdoors than the parents of today and so will their children and their children after them.

(1.) For the purpose of measuring demand, outdoor recreation includes activities engaged in by an individual away from his home, both within and outside urban areas. The data on the magnitude and nature of the demand is drawn from the following studies.

National Recreation Survey, a Commission staff study based on 16,000 interviews conducted for the Commission by the Bureau of the Census. ORRRC Study Report 19.

Eva Mueller and Gerald Gurin with the assistance of Margaret Wood (Survey Research Center, The University of Michigan), Participation in Outdoor Recreation, ORRRC Study Report 20.