As America's population blows through 300 million, we find interesting stats today where the National Parks Service is reporting fairly sizeable drops in the number of visits to the woods.
By the service's own reckoning, visits to national parks have been on a downward slide for 10 years. Overnight stays fell 20% between 1995 and 2005, and tent camping and backcountry camping each decreased nearly 24% during the same period.
And
Typically, families with children recede from the parks in the fall. Now, the retirees who traditionally take their place in the fall and winter are choosing to go elsewhere. Last year, about 569,000 vacationers went to Yosemite in July, nearly 20% fewer than in the same month in 1995. In January, there were 94,000 visitors, about 30% fewer than in January 1995.
Agency officials admit that national parks are doing a poor job attracting two large constituencies — young people and minorities — causing concerns about the parks' continued appeal to a changing population.
A study commissioned by the park service and released in 2003 found that only 13% of the African Americans interviewed had visited a park in the previous two years.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-na...iewed-homepage
Is the wide open yonder obsolete?
Cowperson