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Quoted from appended article, recently published in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
["The lure of the outdoors is not faring well, compared to the lure of electronics," said Derrick Crandall, president of the American Recreation Coalition, a Washington-based organization of recreation companies and trade associations.]
Perhaps the lure of the outdoors is not faring well because the American Recreation Coalition and its own Recreation Roundtable have, for nearly 25 years, actively worked to diminish the enjoyment of those participating in traditional forms of outdoor recreation. Why would a recreation lobby do such a crazy thing as that!!? Because they represent a newer breed of non-traditional recreational interests. Perhaps they would do so because they seek to replace existing public lands users with experience-seeking customers eager to buy new forms of commercially provided, toy-dependant, wreckre-tainment.
When will those who have long enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, birding, canoeing, climbing, horse-riding, bicycling, nature viewing, snow-shoeing, rock-hounding and similar activists attempt to regain control of the message? Today, ARC speaks louder than all other voices combined and it is oft-times the only voice heard.
Why, one might reasonably ask, is the lure of the campfire dimming???? Because its being drowned out by the sound of RV generators. Why is the lure of cross country skiing dimming. Because skiers are being driven away by the roar of snowmobiles. Why are canoeists, swimmer and fishermen staying away from lakes ---- because of jetskis, Duh!
But most important of all --- why is recreational use DOWN again this year on lands managed by the US Forest Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management???? I question the explanation Derrick Crandall offers below. From my experience, I'd say that the new and higher recreation fees (fees now charged thanks to the work of ARC) are driving traditional visitors away. And those who are filling the void bring with them new attitudes, toys and values. They are the attitudes, toys and values promoted by the ARC. So is it any wonder that traditional users are staying away in droves!
Attitudes are not changing as much as they are being manipulated. But the result is the same and unless other voices are heard above the whine of ARC, traditional forms of recreation will be supplanted.
Scott
--- begin quoted ---
For many vacationers, lure of campfire is dimming
Fewer people are using national parks and sites in Pennsylvania. Changes in lifestyle are cited.
By Paul Nussbaum - Inquirer Staff Writer
POE PADDY STATE PARK, Pa. - Rolling up his tent in this secluded
campground near Penns Creek, Ken Pensyl, 25, was surrounded by cousins,
aunts and uncles.
"I've been coming up here since I was 8, and the family's been doing
this for a few generations," said Pensyl, a carpenter from Shamokin,
Pa., looking around at the campers and trailers scattered under the
pines. "It's a great way to get away and spend time with family."
But will the next generation gather around the campfire?
The rustic family vacation, a staple of American summers for much of
the last century, appears to be losing its appeal. Drawn to other
activities, strapped for time, put off by the rigors of roughing it,
fewer Americans are packing up the tent and heading for the hills.
"Some forms of outdoor recreation, such as camping, particularly tent
camping, have declined fairly precipitously," said Geoffrey Godbey, a
professor of leisure studies at Pennsylvania State University. Godbey
cited an aging, more urban population, shorter vacations and that
familiar culprit - changing lifestyles - for the shift.
"One woman told me, 'Camping is just keeping house under inferior conditions. Why would I want to do that?' " Godbey said.
"The lure of the outdoors is not faring well, compared to the lure of
electronics," said Derrick Crandall, president of the American
Recreation Coalition, a Washington-based organization of recreation
companies and trade associations. He said recent surveys for the
Recreation Roundtable showed young people, especially, were less likely
than in the past to camp or otherwise get outdoors frequently.
"For the first time, we saw the percentage of people in their 20s who
are frequent recreationalists drop below those in their 30s, 40s, and
50s," Crandall said. "That's a real departure from the past. We have
never seen the relative paucity of recreational participation by
younger Americans."
America's national parks, long a favorite camping destination, have
been losing campers for years. In 1981, about 8.9 million people camped
in tents and RVs in national park campgrounds. In 2003, the number was
down to 5.7 million.
Part of the reason may be that national park campsites are relatively
primitive, usually without such amenities as hot showers or electric or
water hookups for recreational vehicles. And it may be that, ever in a
hurry, modern vacationers don't have time to camp.
"Things have changed in the ways Americans recreate," said David Barna,
chief of public affairs for the National Park Service. "It used to be
that a family would go to a campground in a park and check in for a
week. Now, they hit five parks in a week and spend a day at each.
"It used to be that 80 percent of our visitors spent the night. Now, 80 percent are day-use visitors.
"Unfortunately, they don't tend to get out and enjoy the areas of more
solitude. They're more interested in just seeing the icons - everybody
wants to see Old Faithful, the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, Yosemite
Valley."
"That changes the facilities you need; we may need less campgrounds and more parking lots."
A recent survey by the Outdoor Industry Association showed 53 million
Americans reported "car camping" last year, down from the record year
of 1998, but up from a year earlier. The survey also reported a
declining number of outings by non-car campers: 83 million outings last
year, compared with 106 million in 2002 and 141 million in 2001.
Pennsylvania state parks saw about a 10 percent decline in campers last year, to 1.7 million from a record 1.9 million in 2002.
Kampgrounds of America, which has about 470 privately operated
campgrounds around the country, reports a 10 percent decline in
camper-nights over the last decade: about 5.5 million in 2003, compared
with 6.1 million in 1994. Much of that decline, said KOA spokesman Mike
Gast, is due to fewer campsites and changes in land use.
Not all indicators are down. Some private campgrounds, with more
elaborate amenities for RV campers - now often including not only
water, electric and sewage hookups, but cable television and high-speed
Internet connections - say their numbers are up in recent years.
New Jersey state parks' camping numbers have been up in the last
decade. Jay Otto, executive director of the New Jersey Campground
Owners Association, said that private campgrounds in the state have
seen an increase in demand since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and
that requests for campground information are up 10 percent from a year
ago.
And not all surveys agree that camping is on the wane. The government's
National Survey on Recreation and the Environment, which periodically
asks Americans about their outdoor activities, has shown a continuing
increase in the numbers who say they camp and participate in most other
outdoor recreation.
The survey's lead author, Ken Cordell, of the U.S. Forest Service, said
this year's survey showed an "increase in the numbers of people who
report that they camp, but a slight downturn in the numbers of days
that they camp."
And, Cordell, said, "a tent is not the way they do it."
"People have lost the urge to rough it - they're moving toward motorized recreation," he said.
Among those who have embraced the ease of motorized camping are George
and Joan Hess of Toms River, N.J. On a recent morning, they were
enjoying a home-cooked breakfast of eggs and bacon and toast at the
picnic table outside their 28-foot Four Winds recreational vehicle at
the Buena Vista Camping Park, in Buena, N.J.
With their granddaughters and two of the girls' friends, they relaxed
under an awning. Surrounding them were the amenities of a modern
campground: gigantic double water slide, swimming pool, miniature golf
course, movie theater, mini-zoo, amusement rides, video arcade,
baseball field, basketball court, antique auto museum and bass-fishing
pond. Their RV is comfortably equipped with a stove, oven, microwave,
bathroom, shower, queen-size bed and two TVs.
"When we tell people we're camping, they say, 'No, you're RV-ing,' "
Joan Hess said with a laugh. "But we'd be dwarfed by some of those
$300,000 RVs."
For the Hess family, as well as the Pensyl family in the Poe Paddy
State Park, the attractions are the same: life out of doors and out of
the fast lane.
"In a campground, it's a different atmosphere than staying in a hotel,"
Joan Hess said. "There is a nice camaraderie, it's about family. In a
campground, you walk over to the pool, and eat your breakfast outside.
And the friendships are more lasting - we have met many wonderful
people."
At the Pennsylvania state park, Pensyl said his brief camping trip had
left him relaxed and "ready to go back to work." But he said it seemed
many people didn't seem to have the time to find that relaxation.
"Things are going too fast anymore, you know what I mean? People are
taking shorter vacations, and they want to go somewhere where it's
warmer and there are more luxuries."
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- Outdoor recreation 
