in the Northern

United States

O u t d oo r R e c r e a t i o n
Published by:

USDA Forest Service

Northern Research Station

11 Campus Blvd, Suite 200

Newtown Square, PA 19073

August 2012

Manuscript received for publication: October 2011

For additional copies:

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 i

Outdoor Recreation

in the Northern United States

H. Ken Cordell, Carter J. Betz, Shela H. Mou, and Dale D. Gormanson

shela h. mou, computer assistant

Southern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service

320 Green Street

Athens, GA 30602

706-559-4262

smou@fs.fed.us

dale d. gormanson, forester

Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service

1992 Folwell Avenue 

St. Paul, MN 55108

651-649-5126

dgormanson@fs.fed.us

h. ken cordell, pioneering research scientist

Southern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service

320 Green Street

Athens, GA 30602

706-559-4263

kcordell@fs.fed.us

carter j. betz

Formerly with Southern Research Station 

U.S. Forest Service 

1280 Robinhood Road

Watkinsville, GA 30677

706-769-8437

carterbetz@bellsouth.net
similar image

ii
C o n t e n t s iii

CONTENTS

Introduction 1

Population and Demographic Trends 6

Outdoor Recreation Trends 1 9

Recreation Resource Trends and Futures 3 4

Summary of Key Findings 5 2

Discussion of Findings 5 6

Acknowledgments 5 9

Literature Cited 6 1

Appendix: Methods and Data Sources 6 7

Literature Cited 7 3

Abstract inside back cove r
iv OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

List of Figures

Figure 1—Population density by county in the contiguous United States, 2009. | 10

Figure 2—Change in population density by county in the contiguous United States, 1990 to 2009. | 11

Figure 3—Change in Hispanic population of all races by county in the contiguous United States, 

1990 to 2009. | 12

Figure 4—Change in non-Hispanic White population by county in the contiguous United States, 

1990 to 2009. | 13

Figure 5—Change in persons per square mile by county in the contiguous United States, 2009 to 2060, 

for a low growth projection. | 16

Figure 6—Change in persons per square mile by county in the contiguous United States, 2009 to 

2060, for a moderate growth projection. | 17

Figure 7—Change in persons per square mile by county in the contiguous United States, 2009 to 2060, 

for a high growth projection. | 18

Figure 8—Growth in the number of participants and the number of participation days in 60 outdoor 

recreation activities, 1999 to 2009. | 19

Figure 9—Location and status of State park system units and acres by county in the contiguous 

United States, 2009. | 40

Figure 10—Federal and State parkland area within a 75-mile recreation day trip of each 

U.S. county 2008. | 46

Figure 11—Non-Federal forest area within a 75-mile day trip of each U.S. county, 2010. | 47

Figure 12—Inland, coastal, territorial, or Great Lakes water area within a 75-mile day trip of each 

U.S. county, 2008. | 48
C o n t e n t s v

List of Tables

Table 1—Population in 2009 by race/ethnicity and region, and change since 1990. | 6

Table 2—Population in 2009 by age group and region, and change since 1990. | 8

Table 3—Estimated population for 2009, projections to 2060 by region and State for three population 

growth scenarios, and percentage change from 2009 to 2060 for the moderate growth projection. | 15

Table 4—Participation in seven activity groups by individuals aged 16 years and older in four 

U.S. regions. | 20

Table 5—For activities with greater than 30 million participants annually (2005 to 2009), trends 

in the number and percentage of people in the North age 16 years and older participating in naturebased activities from 1994 to 2009. | 24

Table 6—For activities with 10 to 30 million participants (2005 to 2009), trends in the number and 

percentage of people in the North age 16 years and older participating in nature-based activities from 

1994 to 2009. | 25

Table 7—For activities with 3 to 10 million participants (2005 to 2009), trends in the number and 

percentage of people in the North age 16 years and older participating in nature-based activities from 

1994 to 2009. | 27

Table 8—For activities with less than 3 million participants (2005 to 2009), trends in the number and 

percentage of people in the North age 16 years and older participating in nature-based activities from 

1994 to 2009. | 28

Table 9—For 6- to 19-year-olds in the United States and Northern States, time spent outdoors on 

typical weekdays and weekend days. | 29

Table 10—For 6- to 19-year-olds in the United States and Northern States, amount of time spent 

outdoors compared to the same time last year. | 29

Table 11—For 6- to 19-year-olds in the united States and Northern States, participation (percent) in 

outdoor activities during the past week, by gender. | 31

Table 12—For 6- to 19-year-olds in the United States and Northern States, participation (percent) in 

outdoor activities during the past week, by age group. | 33

Table 13—Federal acres per 1,000 people (including Alaska) in 1995 and percentage change from 

1995 to 2008. | 35

Table 14—Federal acres in the National Wilderness Preservation System (excluding Alaska) per 

1,000 people in 1995a and percentage change from 1995 to 2009b, by region. | 36

Table 15—Miles of river in the National Wild and Scenic River System by classification and region, 

2000 and 2009, with percentage change (includes AK and HI). | 37
vi OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Table 16—Number and miles of National Recreation Trails by region, 2004 and 2009, with percentage 

change (includes AK and HI). | 38

Table 17—Federal recreation facilities provided or activities permitted per million people by region, 

2009. | 39

Table 18—State park system area per 1,000 people in 1995 and percentage change from 1995 to 2008, 

by region. | 42

Table 19—State park systems affected by closure or reduction in services as of 2009. | 43

Table 20—State park system area per 1,000 people in 1995 and percentage change from 1995 to 

2008, by region; estimated U.S. population was 266.28 million. | 43

Table 21—Number of local government parks and recreation departments per million people in 1997 and 

2007, and percentage change from 1997 to 2007; estimated U.S. population was 272.65 million. | 44

Table 22—Number of selected private recreation business establishments per million people in 1998 

and percentage change from 1998 to 2007. | 45

Table 23—Projected change in total acres and per capita acres of federal and State-park land with 

percent of total surface area 2008, projected per capita acres 2060, and percent of 2008 acres 

projected for 2060, by region (not including AK or HI). | 49

Table 24—Projected change in total and per capita acres of non-Federal forest land by region for the 

contiguous United States from 2010 to 2060 (not including AK and HI). | 50

Table 25—Projected change in inland, coastal, territorial, and Great Lakes water area from 2008 to 

2060, by region (not including AK or HI). | 51
Introdu c t i o n 1

INTRODUCTION

This publication is part of the Northern Forest Futures Project, through which the Northern Research 

Station of the U.S. Forest Service examines the issues, trends, threats, and opportunities facing 

the forests of the northern United States. It complements the Forests of the Northern United States 

(Shifley et al. 2012) which summarizes forest-related concerns that are unique to the northern 

United States and discusses characteristics associated with forest sustainability in the region.

This publication is intended for natural resource managers and planners, policy makers, State natural 

resource agencies, politicians, students, and those who want to know more about recreation in 

northern forests.

In this report, we describe recent population trends and forecasts for the North within the context of other 

U.S. regions, demographic composition of its population, recreation participation by its residents age 16 

and older, trends in activities and time spent outdoors by its youth, and the recreation resources, both public 

and private. The region referenced here includes the 20 states bounded by the corner states of Maine, 

Minnesota, Missouri, and Maryland. 
2 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Much of the research reported here ties to 

data, analyses, and findings developed for 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest 

Service 2010 Renewable Resources Planning 

Act (RPA) Assessment (Cordell 2012). The 

data and methods employed are described in 

the appendix at the end of this report. The 

Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources 

Planning Act of 1974 mandated a decennial 

national assessment (with periodic updates) 

of the renewable resources on all public and 

private forest and range ownerships. Each RPA 

Assessment provides a snapshot of current 

conditions and trends on U.S. forest and range 

lands, identifies factors that drive change, and 

makes model-driven 50-year projections of 

demands, uses, and conditions for recreation, 

water, timber, wildlife (biodiversity), and 

urban-forest and range resources. Trends 

and forecasts in land use and climate change 

are also included. The 2010 RPA Assessment 

stresses the influence of climate change on 

forest and grassland resources and has adapted 

three socioeconomic scenarios based on the 

fourth world assessment of climate change 

(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 

2007). RPA population forecasts to 2060 based 

on these three scenarios are reported later 

in this report. The 2010 set of special RPA 

resource studies (which include 2060 forecasts) 

and the national summary are in press.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

It was not until the post-World War II years 

that a number of social and economic forces 

combined to make outdoor recreation a national 

phenomenon that required serious attention 

and study. Three of the major forces at work 

included rising real incomes, the proliferation 

of automobiles and highways (especially the 

Interstate Highway System), and increasing 

leisure as the United States continued 

shifting from a predominantly agricultural to 

a manufacturing and service-based economy. 

Increasingly, in the 1950s and 1960s, Americans 

took to the open road to see and experience 

“the great outdoors.” A direct result was 

mounting pressures on recreation facilities 

and most public lands (Clawson and Knetsch 

1966, Cordell 2012). Consequently, major 

efforts were undertaken beginning in the late 

1950s to better understand Americans’ growing 

interest in outdoor recreation. Most notable 

was the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review 

Commission, established by Congress in 1958 to 

conduct a comprehensive nationwide assessment 

of outdoor recreation conditions and trends.

Interest in monitoring outdoor recreation trends 

continues to the present day (Cordell 2008). 

In an earlier national report, we reported that 

Americans’ participation in outdoor activities, 

including nature-based recreation activities, 

had been increasing up through the first few 

years of the 2000s (Cordell et al. 2004). 
Introdu c t i o n 3

Many Americans love to visit the ”great outdoors“ 

such as the Presidential Range in the White Mountains 

National Forest of New Hampshire. 

(Photograph by Bob Ward)

Overall, since the commission released its 

report (Outdoor Recreation Resources Review 

Commission 1962), many forms of outdoor 

activity and public land visitation have been 

observed to be growing and diversifying:

Both the NSRE (National Survey on Recreation 

and the Environment) and the National Survey 

on Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated 

Recreation show that participation in some 

nature-based activities has declined. However, 

for many other activities there seems to be 

growing popularity. Some outdoor recreation 

activities have even demonstrated rather 

strong popularity growth. One such activity is 

visiting wilderness and other primitive areas. 

(Cordell et al. 2008)

Because trends in 

outdoor recreation have far reaching implications 

for both people and natural resources, a close 

look at those trends and projected futures for 

the Northern States is an important part of 

the Northern Forest Futures Project, currently 

underway at the Forest Service (Northern 

Research Station, Eastern Region, Forest 

Products Laboratory, and Northeastern Area 

State and Private Forestry) in partnership with 

the Northeastern Area Association of State 

Foresters and the University of Missouri.
4 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

OUTDOOR RECREATION DEFINED

Outdoor recreation can take many forms 

depending on the types of activities, settings, 

social engagements, equipment, and times 

chosen by the recreation participant. Recreation 

can be physically active (for example, hiking) or 

more sedentary (for example, viewing natural 

scenery). Many of the activities of interest to 

the RPA Assessment and to assessments of 

current or future northern forest conditions 

are classified as “nature-based” in that they 

are in some way associated with wildlife, birds, 

streams, lakes, snow and ice areas, trails, 

rugged terrain, mountains, caves, and other 

natural outdoor resources or settings. For 

example, included among our list of naturebased activities are mountain biking, coldwater 

fishing, whitewater rafting, downhill skiing, 

primitive camping, backpacking, mountain 

climbing, visiting prehistoric sites, saltwater 

fishing, and snorkeling. Nature-based recreation 

participation is summarized for the North across 

seven activity groups:

•	 Visiting recreation and historic sites—

Visiting the beach, visiting prehistoric sites, 

visiting historic sites, developed camping, 

swimming in lakes/ponds/streams, and 

visiting watersides (besides beaches)

•	 Viewing/photographing nature—Viewing/

photographing birds, fish, other wildlife, 

natural scenery, wildflowers/trees/other 

plants, visiting nature centers, sightseeing, 

gathering mushrooms/berries, and 

participating in boat tours or excursions

•	 Backcountry activities—Backpacking, day 

hiking, horseback riding on trails, mountain 

climbing, visiting a wilderness or primitive 

area, primitive camping, mountain biking, 

caving, rock climbing, and orienteering
Introdu c t i o n 5

•	 Motorized activities—Motorboating, offhighway-vehicle driving (four-wheel-drive 

vehicle, all-terrain vehicle, or motorcycle), 

snowmobiling, using personal watercraft, 

and waterskiing

•	 Hunting and fishing—Anadromous fishing 

(salt-to-fresh-water migratory fish such 

as salmon), coldwater fishing, warmwater 

fishing, saltwater fishing, big game hunting, 

small game hunting, and migratory 

bird hunting

•	 Non-motorized boating and diving—

Canoeing, kayaking, rafting, rowing, sailing, 

surfing, windsurfing, snorkeling, and 

scuba diving

•	 Snow skiing and other winter activities—

Cross country skiing, downhill skiing, 

snowboarding, snowshoeing, and ice fishing
Population and Demographic Trends 

CURRENT POPULATION TRENDS 

FOR THE NORTH

Race and ethnic composition data from the 

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the 

Census, along with the percentage change 

trends from 1990 to 2009, are summarized 

by region in Table 1. Race and ethnicity are 

important determinants of what people choose 

as outdoor recreation activities and the settings 

they prefer for those activities. For example, 

African Americans tend to participate much less 

frequently in wildland recreation activities and 

many Hispanics appear to prefer settings that 

will accommodate large-group activities such as 

picnicking (Cordell et al. 2004). 

Population 

(thousands)

Change 

(percent)

Population 

(thousands)

Change 

(percent)

Population 

(thousands)

Change 

(percent)

Population 

(thousands)

Change 

(percent)

Population 

(thousands)

Change 

(percent)

Non-Hispanic 

White 92,333.8 -0.2 63,761.3 14.6 19,544.5 25.7 24,211.7 -1.7 199,851.2 6.1

African 

American 14,899.9 19.7 19,202.6 37.9 998.6 77.6 2,580.5 9.3 37,681.5 28.6

American 

Indian 421.7 24.7 716.4 38.8 779.5 40.2 443.2 14.7 2,360.8 31.4

Asian or 

Pacific Islander 4,806.0 122.7 2,626.0 186.4 732.2 187.4 5,970.4 62.9 14,134.6 102.0

Two or 

more racesa 1,524.1 . 1,311.0 . 442.1 . 1,281.8 . 4,559.0 .

Hispanicb 11,064.6 100.1 16,696.6 153.6 5,700.5 167.3 14,957.7 84.0 48,419.3 116.4

Total 125,050.0 10.7 104,313.8 34.4 28,197.5 48.0 49,445.2 26.2 307,006.6 23.4

a

Percentage change for two or more races is missing because U.S. citizens were not offered the option to select more than one race until the 2000 census.

b

Hispanics of all races are included in this category. 

Table 1—Population in 2009 by race/ethnicity and region, and change since 1990 (Source: U.S. Department of 

Commerce, Bureau of the Census 1990, 2009a).

Race / ethnicity North South Rocky Mountains Pacific Coast United States

6
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 7

The changes in the racial and ethnic makeup of 

the U.S. population have been dramatic since 

the 1990 census. Although all groups have 

been growing in number, generally, Hispanics 

and Asian/Pacific Islanders have been growing 

fastest. Slowest growing of all the groups has 

been non-Hispanic Whites. The North had the 

lowest growth rate and the Rocky Mountains 

highest. The highest percentage growth of 

any group since 1990 has been Asians/Pacific 

Islanders in the Rocky Mountains and South, 

each with about a 187 percent increase. NonHispanic Whites experienced slight population 

losses in the North and Pacific Coast.

Demographic changes in the North and throughout the Nation will bring 

a changing constituency for outdoor recreation and conservation, such as 

this Maryland group of students working on a schoolyard habitat project. 

(Photograph by LaVonda Walton)

The Rocky Mountains and South are the only 

regions that exceeded the national rate for all 

groups. Total population growth in the North 

was 10.7 percent, less than half the national 

rate (23.4 percent); this held true for all groups 

except Asians/Pacific Islanders, which more 

than doubled in the North since 1990 (122.7 

percent). The non-Hispanic White population 

almost held constant, declining just 0.2 percent. 

However, the North has the largest share of 

non-Hispanic Whites (almost 74 percent), which 

depressed its overall growth rate to less than 11 

percent. About 14.9 million African Americans 

live in the North, 40 percent of the national 

total; the growth rate for the group was 19.7 

percent, compared to 28.6 percent nationally. 
8 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

The North lags behind other regions in American 

Indian population, although it is a close second 

to the Pacific Coast and has grown 10 percent 

faster than that region since 1990. 

Only the Pacific Coast has more Asians/Pacific 

Islanders, whose growth rate was nearly twice 

as high in the North as the Pacific Coast. The 

Hispanic population in the North almost exactly 

doubled, growing to almost 11.1 million. 

(years) Population 

(thousands)

Change 

(percent)

Population 

(thousands)

Change 

(percent)

Population 

(thousands)

Change 

(percent)

Population 

(thousands)

Change 

(percent)

Population 

(thousands)

Change 

(percent)

<6 9,569.8 -2.3 9,022.6 29.9 2,603.7 40.2 4,289.1 12.9 25,485.2 13.8

6 to 10 7,886.2 0.0 7,151.7 25.4 2,009.3 28.4 3,323.3 14.9 20,370.5 12.9

11 to 15 8,088.2 9.3 6,857.8 27.5 1,893.1 34.2 3,321.7 29.8 20,160.9 20.4

16 to 24 15,725.2 4.2 13,165.7 23.2 3,675.3 47.1 6,377.4 17.4 38,943.7 15.5

25 to 34 16,138.0 -16.6 14,275.9 7.4 3,995.4 23.6 7,157.0 -2.1 41,566.3 -3.7

35 to 44 16,880.1 -0.5 14,126.6 23.2 3,635.1 27.2 6,888.2 11.7 41,530.0 10.9

45 to 54 19,028.4 64.1 14,688.1 88.1 3,856.5 111.0 7,019.5 83.3 44,592.5 77.9

55 to 64 14,740.7 47.0 11,597.0 75.8 3,092.5 102.9 5,356.8 80.5 34,786.9 64.7

≥65 16,993.4 14.4 13,428.4 38.0 3,436.6 51.1 5,712.1 35.3 39,570.6 27.3

Total 125,050.0 10.7 104,313.8 34.4 28,197.5 48.0 49,445.2 26.2 307,006.6 23.4

Table 2—Population in 2009 by age group and region, and change since 1990 (Source: U.S. Department of 

Commerce, Bureau of the Census 1990, 2009a).

Age Group North South Rocky Mountains Pacific Coast United States
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 9

Age distribution—Age is another important 

determinant of recreation activity choices (Cordell 

et al. 2004). Similar to race and ethnicity, the 

age distribution of the U.S. population has 

been changing over time (Table 2). The fastest 

growing age group since 1990 (in percentage 

change) has been age 45 to 54, followed 

by age 55 to 64. Third fastest has been age 

65 and older. The 45-to-54-age group grew 

fastest in all regions. In the North, the 25-to34-age group decreased nearly 17 percent, 

contributing to a national drop in population 

of almost 4 percent. The Pacific Coast was the 

only other region to lose population in this 

young adult segment. Also losing population 

in the North was the youngest age group 

(younger than 6 years). The 6-to-10-age group 

essentially held constant since 1990. These two 

youngest segments of the U.S. population grew 

at double-digit rates in every other region, 

fastest in the Rocky Mountains.

Similar to the Nation, northern Baby Boomers 

(ages 45 to 54 and 55 to 64) dominated all 

other age groups in percentage growth (Table 2), 

but at a slower rate. However, the North 

experienced a greater disparity between the 

two Baby Boomer groups and the third-place 

age group (age 65 and older) than the Nation 

as a whole. Percentage growth for the age 55 

to 64 group was more than three times that of 

the oldest age group, and the age 45 to 54 group 

grew at more than four times the rate of the 

age 65 and older group. No other region nor the 

Nation approached these growth rates. 

Further, the North has the oldest population 

of any U.S. region. Almost 41 percent of its 

residents are age 45 or older; no other region 

has more than 38 percent in this age group. As 

with race and ethnicity, the South and Rocky 

Mountains were the only regions to outpace the 

national growth rate for every single age group. 

Conversely, northern populations increased (or 

decreased) at a slower rate than the Nation in 

all age groups. The three age groups in the North 

that lost population include the youngest age 

group (under 6) and the two groups that spanned 

age 25 to 44. The number of young adults age 

25 to 34 in their prime childbearing years, in 

particular, decreased at a far greater rate in the 

North than any other age group in any region. 

This trend helps explain the decrease and lack 

of growth in the two youngest age groups. In 

addition to growing more slowly than the Nation 

and any other region in total population, the 

North’s modest 11 percent population gain since 

1990 occurred overwhelmingly in the three oldest 

cohorts age 45 and older. A greater share of 

the northern population appears to be aging-inplace compared to other regions. The decrease 

in young adult populations in the North is the 

result of lower birth-to-death rates and of young 

people seeking economic opportunities elsewhere 

(Franklin 2003, Yang and Snyder 2007). 
10 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

<26

26 to 89

90 to 377

>377

PERSONS PER SQUARE MILE

Population density—Population density 

(persons per square mile) is greatest in Florida, 

in the Piedmont areas of North Carolina to 

Georgia, along the coast of the northern Atlantic 

States, in several Great Lakes and midwestern 

metropolitan areas, in eastern Texas, in the 

Denver-Front Range area, and in scattered 

areas along the Pacific Coast and into Arizona 

(Fig. 1). In Alaska, density is greatest in the 

Anchorage area.

The North has for years been well known for 

the cluster of densely populated counties 

that extend from the Washington-Baltimore 

metropolitan to southern New Hampshire. 

Urban or mostly urban counties also stretch 

almost continuously along the Great Lakes from 

central New York to Green Bay, WI. Other highdensity areas include western Pennsylvania, 

parts of Ohio, and metropolitan areas around 

Indianapolis, St. Louis, the Twin Cities of 

Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Kansas City, MO. 

FIGURE 1

Population density by county in the contiguous 

United States, 2009 (Source: U.S. Department 

of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009b).
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 11

The North has the largest number of counties 

in the two most densely populated classes 

(more than 90 persons per square mile); most 

of its counties in the least densely populated 

category are located in the midwestern area 

and northern Maine (Fig. 1).

Figure 2 shows that much of the overall 

population-density growth in the East has 

occurred along the northern Atlantic coast, 

down the Piedmont and Southern Appalachians 

from North Carolina to greater Atlanta, in 

peninsular Florida, around Chicago, the 

Twin Cities, and the major cities of Texas. 

Elsewhere in the United States, growth 

occurred in the Denver and Salt Lake City 

metropolitan areas, in the Bay Area and 

southern California areas, and in greater 

Seattle and Portland, OR. In some areas—

such as eastern Texas, metropolitan Atlanta, 

and Orange County in California—population 

growth exceeds 500 persons per square mile, 

which is the U.S. Department of Commerce, 

Bureau of the Census definition of an urban 

area. Greater concentrations of people in 

places near public lands and bodies of water 

are likely to put increasing pressures on these 

limited resources.

FIGURE 2

Change in population density by county in 

the contiguous United States, 1990 to 2009 

(Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, 

Bureau of the Census 1990).

<1

1 to 12

13 to 78

>78

PERSONS PER SQUARE MILE
12 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

FIGURE 3

Change in Hispanic population of all races 

by county in the contiguous United States, 

1990 to 2009 (source: U.S. Department of 

Commerce, Bureau of the Census 1990, 

2009b)..

In the North, population density increased the 

most throughout the Washington-to-Boston urban 

corridor and also in the greater Chicago and 

Twin Cities areas. Noticeably different from 

their high population-density rankings (Fig. 1), 

few Northern counties are in the two highest 

growth categories (which represents the top 

30 percent of all U.S. counties); this is especially 

true in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. Conversely, 

more Northern counties (including much of 

Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Illinois, 

and Iowa) are in the lowest growth category, 

which represents a loss or negligible growth in 

population since 1990. The urban cores of 

metropolitan Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, 

St. Louis, and Buffalo, NY, lost population 

over the 19-year period.

Hispanics—From 1990 to 2009, Hispanic 

population growth has exceeded 800 percent 

in some U.S. counties (Fig. 3). Much of the 

fastest growth has been in the southern States 

bordering the Atlantic Ocean and Mississippi 

River. High rates of growth have also occurred 

through the upper midwestern area and 

through selected areas of the West. With some 

exceptions, the rate of Hispanic growth in the 

North has been lower than most of the South; 

however, even the second-lowest category 

represents up to 357 percent growth. 

<150

150 to 357

358 to 818

>818

PERCENT
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 13

FIGURE 4

Change in non-Hispanic White population 

by county in the contiguous United States, 

1990 to 2009 (source: U.S. Department of 

Commerce, Bureau of the Census 1990, 

2009b).

Just a few northern counties—in Minnesota, 

Missouri, West Virginia, and Illinois—have 

experienced reductions in their Hispanic 

populations. Very high rates of Hispanic 

population growth—more than 818 percent 

in less than 20 years—occurred in Minnesota, 

Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, and a scattering of 

counties elsewhere. The lowest rates occurred 

in Michigan, New York, much of Ohio and 

Illinois, and the New England States.

Non-Hispanic Whites—The non-Hispanic 

White population in the United States has been 

growing in metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, 

Washington, the Raleigh/Durham area in North 

Carolina, the Twin Cities, eastern Texas, and 

throughout much of the West (Fig. 4). 

Areas rich in natural amenities—such as the 

Rocky Mountains, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, 

Utah, and Nevada—appear to have the fastest 

growth of non-Hispanic White populations. The 

top tier of percentage change includes counties 

that increased more than 40 percent, much lower 

than the highest level of Hispanic population 

growth. In the North, these high-growth counties 

were relatively few, located mostly in suburban 

areas around major cities. Three other areas with 

faster growing non-Hispanic White populations 

that are not highly urbanized, but also possess 

abundant natural amenities, are the Delmarva 

Peninsula region in Delaware and Maryland, 

the Delaware Water Gap area of northeastern 

Pennsylvania, and southern Missouri.

<-4

-4 to 13

14 to 40

>40

PERCENT
14 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

POPULATION PROJECTIONS FOR THREE 

GROWTH SCENARIOS (2008 TO 2060)

Similar to the trends in population growth and 

composition since 1990, the regions likely to 

lead the Nation in projected rate of change 

under the moderate growth scenario are the 

Rocky Mountains at 76 percent and the South at 

57 percent (Table 3). The Pacific Coast follows 

closely at 54 percent. The North lags behind the 

others by a wide margin, with just 26 percent 

expected growth. The intermountain area of the 

Rocky Mountains far exceeds all other areas 

with projected growth of 89 percent (nearly 

three times the rate of the Great Plains area). 

By 2060, the South is expected to pass the North 

as the Nation’s most populous region. Currently 

(2009), the North accounts for 40.7 percent of 

the total U.S. population, but is projected to drop 

to 35.2 percent of the total by 2060, compared 

to 36.6 percent (up from 34.0 percent) in the 

South, 11.1 percent (up from 9.2 percent) in the 

Rocky Mountains, and 17.1 percent (up from 

16.1 percent) in the Pacific Coast. 

The eight States in the north-central area (west 

of and including Ohio) are projected to grow 

just slightly faster (26.8 percent) than both 

the region as a whole (26.0 percent) and the 

12 States and the District of Columbia that 

comprise the northeastern area (25.3 percent). 

The northeastern area, however, has 7 of the top 

10 States ranked by percentage growth, led by 

New Hampshire, Maryland, and Vermont, each 

with more than 50 percent projected growth. 

Minnesota is the only State in the north central 

area expected to grow more than 50 percent. 

Ohio, West Virginia, and New York are the three 

lowest ranking States, each expected to grow 

less than 13 percent. The District of Columbia 

is projected to lose almost 17 percent of 

its population. 
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 15

(thousands) (thousands) (percent) (thousands) (thousands)

Northern States 125,050.0 157,597.9 26.0 178,045.6 139,964.2

 Connecticut 3,518.3 4,280.8 21.7 4,836.2 3,801.8

 Delaware 885.1 1,308.6 47.8 1,478.4 1,162.2

 District of Columbia 599.7 499.7 -16.7 564.5 443.8

 Illinois 12,910.4 16,364.5 26.8 18,487.7 14,533.5

 Indiana 6,423.1 8,147.5 26.8 9,204.6 7,235.9

 Iowa 3,007.9 3,612.9 20.1 4,081.7 3,208.7

 Maine 1,318.3 1,755.5 33.2 1,983.2 1,559.0

 Maryland 5,699.5 9,120.0 60.0 10,303.3 8,099.5

 Massachusetts 6,593.6 7,801.1 18.3 8,813.2 6,928.2

 Michigan 9,969.7 12,173.3 22.1 13,752.7 10,811.2

 Minnesota 5,266.2 7,987.7 51.7 9,024.1 7,094.0

 Missouri 5,987.6 8,091.3 35.1 9,141.1 7,186.0

 New Hampshire 1,324.6 2,255.5 70.3 2,548.1 2,003.1

 New Jersey 8,707.7 11,969.2 37.5 13,522.2 10,630.0

 New York 19,541.5 21,929.1 12.2 24,774.3 19,475.4

 Ohio 11,542.6 12,811.1 11.0 14,473.3 11,377.7

 Pennsylvania 12,604.8 15,235.9 20.9 17,212.7 13,531.2

 Rhode Island 1,053.2 1,403.6 33.3 1,585.7 1,246.6

 Vermont 621.8 956.2 53.8 1,080.3 849.3

 West Virginia 1,819.8 2,033.8 11.8 2,297.6 1,806.2

 Wisconsin 5,654.8 7,860.6 39.0 8,880.5 6,981.1

Southern States 104,313.8 163,673.8 56.9 184,909.9 145,360.3

Rocky Mountains States 28,197.5 49,695.6 76.2 56,143.5 44,135.2

Pacific Coast States 49,445.2 76,340.6 54.4 86,245.5 67,798.9

U.S. total 307,006.6 447,308.0 45.7 505,344.5 397,258.6

Table 3—Estimated population for 2009, projections to 2060 by region and State for three population growth 

scenarios, and percentage change from 2009 to 2060 for the moderate growth projection (Source: Cordell 2012, 

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a).

Region, State

Population

2009

Moderate 

growtha 2060

Change 

from 

2009

High growthb

2060

Low growthc

2060

a – c: The moderate growth scenario corresponds to mid-range population growth to about 447 million people by 2060, and an average personal 

income of around $73,000. The high growth scenario projects the highest population growth, reaching more than 505 million and the lowest 

projected average personal around $50,000. The low growth scenario projects the lowest population growth and mid-level personal income, 

predicting a population of 397 million people with average personal income around $54,000 by 2060.
16 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

FIGURE 5

Change in persons per square mile by county 

in the contiguous United States, 2009 to 

2060, for a low growth population projection 

(Sources: Cordell 2012, U.S. Department 

of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009b). 

(The low growth scenario projects the lowest 

population growth and mid-level personal 

income, predicting a population of 397 million 

people with average personal income around 

$54,000 by 2060.)

<2

2 to 32

33 to 186

>186

PERSONS PER SQUARE MILE

Figures 5 through 7 show the geographic 

patterns of projected changes in population 

density by 2060—ranging from lowest (fewer 

than 2 persons per square mile) to the highest 

(more than 186 persons per square mile)—

for the low (Fig. 5), moderate (Fig. 6), and 

high (Fig. 7) population growth scenarios. 

For the purposes of this analysis, land area in 

all counties is assumed to remain constant.

Immediately apparent in the low-growth 

projection scenario (Fig. 5) is the presence of 

numerous lower density counties distributed 

throughout the North, especially throughout 

much of the midwestern area, New York State, 

and upper New England. The highest-growth 

counties, which are expected to add more than 

186 persons per square mile, are concentrated 

mainly in the Washington-to-Boston urban 

corridor and in other suburban areas throughout 

the region. 
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 17

<2

2 to 32

33 to 186

>186

PERSONS PER SQUARE MILE

FIGURE 6

Change in persons per square mile by county 

in the contiguous United States, 2009 to 

2060, for a moderate growth population 

projection (Source: Cordell 2012, 

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of 

the Census 2009b). (The moderate growth 

scenario corresponds to mid-range population 

growth to about 447 million people by 2060, 

and an average personal income of around 

$73,000.)

The second-tier counties are mostly 

located around those counties with highest 

growth, as well as in Michigan, Wisconsin, or 

southern Missouri.

The moderate growth projection scenario (Fig. 6), 

which closely approximates the Census Bureau 

State projections, has fewer low-growth counties, 

as expected, and more counties in the intermediate 

ranges (2 to 186 additional persons per square 

mile). The highest-growth projection scenario 

mostly adds to the clusters of counties around 

the major urban centers, especially those in the 

northeastern area and those near Chicago, Detroit, 

and the Twin Cities. Under this scenario, very few 

high-growth counties in the North were added to 

nonmetropolitan areas high in natural amenities.
18 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Under the high-growth scenario (Fig. 7), 

more counties shift from the lowest to the two 

moderate growth categories. The highest growth 

counties that are expected to add significant 

population density of more than 186 persons 

per square mile appear to be limited almost 

entirely to metropolitan areas, with only a few 

exceptions. A number of counties scattered 

throughout the region are projected to remain in 

the lowest growth class (fewer than 2 persons 

per square mile added, including population 

losses), especially in Iowa, northern Missouri and 

eastward to West Virginia, plus several counties 

northeastward from Pennsylvania to Maine.

FIGURE 7

Change in persons per square mile by county 

in the contiguous United States, 2009 to 

2060, for a high growth population projection 

(Source: Cordell 2012, U.S. Department

of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 2009b). 

(The high growth scenario projects the highest 

population growth, reaching more than 

505 million and the lowest projected average 

personal around $50,000.)

<2

2 to 32

33 to 186

>186

PERSONS PER SQUARE MILE
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 19

Outdoor Recreation Trends

From 1999 to 2009 (single year labels which 

represent pooled data from the two data 

collection periods of 1999 to 2001 and 2005 to 

2009), the number of people age 16 and older 

who participated in outdoor recreation grew by 

8.5 percent nationally, from an estimated 208.2 

million to 226.0 million (Fig. 8). 

A participant is anyone who engaged in one or 

more of 60 outdoor activities during the past 

12 months. Included in the list of 60 was a wide 

range of activities such as attending family 

gatherings outdoors, viewing wildlife and birds, 

backpacking, and mountain climbing. Across the 

range of these activities, the indexed number 

of total annual activity days of participation 

(measured as the product of the average 

number of days per activity times the number 

of participants and then summed across all 

activities) increased 32.8 percent from 61.8 

billion to 82.0 billion. Average annual days 

of participation per person increased about 

22 percent, from roughly 297 to about 363 

total activity days per person per year. (These 

numbers may seem high, but they represent 

participation in more than one activity during 

any given day. So, these averages for “activity 

days” are sum totals across activities.) 

FIGURE 8

Growth in the number of participants and 

the number of participation days in 60 outdoor 

recreation activities in (A) the North and 

(B) the United States, 1999 to 2009 

(Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Forest Service 2009a).

100

80

60

40

40

30

20

10

0

PARTICIPANTS (millions)

DAYS (billions)

1999 2009

Number who participate

Number of activity days

3.5%

23.7%

250

200

150

100

80

60

40

PARTICIPANTS (millions)

DAYS (millions)

1999 2009

Number who participate

Number of activity days

8.5%

32.8%

A

B
20 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

For the North, both the total number of outdoor 

recreation participants and total annual activity 

days grew slower than the national rate. 

Participants increased by 3.5 percent, from 

about 90.4 million to 93.5 million, but their 

total number of annual activity days increased 

23.7 percent, from 27.2 billion to 33.6 billion. 

Average annual activity participation days per 

person across the full list of activities rose 

from about 300 per year to 359, a 20 percent 

increase. Although the number of participants 

increased only modestly, they engaged in an 

average of nearly one activity per day over the 

course of a year (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Forest Service. 2009a). This represents a fairly 

significant increase in activity level compared 

to approximately a decade before.

The percentage of the national total number 

of participants and total population by region 

is shown for seven activity groups in Table 4. 

Also listed is the participation rate (percent 

of the region’s population age 16 and older 

participating) for the four regions.

Visiting recreation and historic sites

(Attending family gatherings, 

picnicking, visiting the beach, 

visiting historic or prehistoric 

sites, and camping)

North 42.0 40.7 82.7

South 29.7 31.4 78.9

Rocky Mountains 10.1 10.1 81.9

Pacific Coast 18.2 17.8 81.4

Viewing/photographing nature

(View/photograph birds, 

natural scenery, other wildlife 

besides birds, and wildflowers, 

trees, and other plants)

North 40.8 40.7 75.6

South 30.7 31.4 73.2

Rocky Mountains 10.5 10.1 78.1

Pacific Coast 17.9 17.8 75.8

Backcountry activities

(Backpacking, day hiking, 

horseback riding on trails, 

mountain climbing, and 

visiting a wilderness or 

primitive area)

North 40.1 40.7 43.1

South 26.0 31.4 37.4

Rocky Mountains 13.0 10.1 57.4

Pacific Coast 20.9 17.8 51.4

Table 4—Participation in seven activity groups by individuals aged 16 years and older in four U.S. regions 

(Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service 2009a).

Activity Group

(activities that comprise 

the group) Region

Region’s 

percent of U.S. 

participantsa

Region’s 

percent of U.S. 

populationa

Percent of region’s 

population 

participating
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 21

Motorized activities

(Motorboating, off-highwayvehicle driving, snowmobiling, 

using personal watercraft, and 

waterskiing)

North 40.8 40.7 36.4

South 31.1 31.4 37.1

Rocky Mountains 10.7 10.1 39.1

Pacific Coast 17.4 17.8 35.6

Hunting and fishing

(Anadromous fishing, 

coldwater fishing, warmwater 

fishing, saltwater fishing, big 

game hunting, small game 

hunting, and migratory bird 

hunting)

North 38.6 40.7 32.4

South 35.5 31.4 38.8

Rocky Mountains 10.9 10.1 37.1

Pacific Coast 15.0 17.8 28.8

Non-motorized boating

(Canoeing, kayaking, rafting, 

rowing, and sailing)

North 45.6 40.7 23.0

South 27.5 31.4 18.0

Rocky Mountains 9.2 10.1 18.7

Pacific Coast 17.7 17.8 20.4

Snow skiing and boarding

(Cross country skiing, 

downhill skiing, and 

snowboarding)

North 49.6 40.7 14.0

South 14.5 31.4 5.5

Rocky Mountains 12.6 10.1 14.7

Pacific Coast 23.3 17.8 15.1

Table 4 continued

Activity Group

(activities that comprise 

the group) Region

Region’s 

percent of U.S. 

participantsa

Region’s 

percent of U.S. 

populationa

Percent of region’s 

population 

participating

a

Percentages sum down to 100 across the four regions of each activity group. May not equal 100.0 exactly due to rounding.
22 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Visiting recreation and historic sites—In general, 

regional differences are slight with participation 

in activities at recreation and historic sites 

slightly greater in the North and slightly lower 

in the South. The South is the only region whose 

participation is less than the 81.0 percent 

national rate, although only about 2 percent less.

Viewing and photographing nature—

Participation rates are a few percentage points 

higher in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Coast, 

and a few points lower in the South. The North 

participation rate of 75.6 percent is identical to 

the national rate.

Backcountry activities—The percentage of 

people who participated in backcountry activities 

is substantially higher in the Rocky Mountains 

and Pacific Coast than in the Nation as a whole, 

and is especially higher than in the South. 

Northern participation in backcountry activities 

(43.1 percent) is only slightly lower than the 

national rate of 44.3 percent. Northerners 

are more likely than people in the South to be 

backcountry activity participants, but less likely 

than residents of the West.

Motorized activities—Northern participation 

is just slightly lower than the national rate 

(36.9 percent), and lower than all other 

regions except the Pacific Coast. Participation 

in motorized activities is slightly higher in 

the Rocky Mountains than in the other three 

regions, and the Rocky Mountains is the only 

region that is more than a few percentage points 

higher than the national participation rate.

Hunting and fishing—The North lags behind the 

national rate in hunting and fishing participation, 

by nearly 2 percent. The South leads all regions 

in hunting and fishing participation, followed 

by the Rocky Mountains. Both are higher than 

the national rate of 34.3 percent. Hunting and 

fishing participation is somewhat more likely in 

the North than in the Pacific Coast. 

Non-motorized boating activities—

Participation in non-motorized boating is highest 

in the North and Pacific Coast, and lowest in the 

South. At 23.0 percent participation, the North 

leads the national rate of 20.8 percent and also 

has significantly more participation than the 

South and Rocky Mountains.

Snow skiing and boarding—Snow skiing and 

snowboarding participation is highest in the 

Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountains, followed by 

the North, although the rates for those three 

regions are separated by just 1.1 percent. Not 

unexpectedly, participation is by far lowest in 

the South. Every region but the South exceeds 

the national participation rate of 11.6 percent. 

Participation in the South is less than half 

the national rate. With about 41 percent of 

the national population, the North has almost 

half the Nation’s skiers 

and snow boarders.
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 23

THE NORTH’S PARTICIPATION IN 

NATURE-BASED ACTIVITIES 

Tables 5 through 8 summarize the trends in 

activity participation (number of people and 

percent of population age 16 and older in the 

North) in nature-based activities, such as 

birdwatching or camping, from the mid-1990s 

to 2009. 

Activities that had more than or equal to 

30 million people participating are shown in 

Table 5. Walking for pleasure, attending family 

gatherings outdoors, gardening or landscaping, 

viewing/photographing natural scenery, visiting 

outdoor nature centers or zoos, and picnicking 

occupied the top six slots, each with over 

50 million participants in the North. In the 

40-to-50-million participant category were 

viewing/photographing wildlife (besides birds 

and fish), viewing/photographing wildflowers/

trees/other plants, sightseeing, driving for 

pleasure, visiting a beach, visiting 

The popularity of birding and other viewing and learning activities continues 

throughout the North and the United States, as illustrated by this couple 

and their grandsons at the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota. 

(Photograph courtesy of Lake Country Scenic Byway Association)

historic sites, swimming in lakes/ponds/streams, 

and swimming in an outdoor pool. With a few 

exceptions—visiting historic sites, picnicking, 

gardening or landscaping, driving for pleasure, 

and bicycling, which increased less than 

5 percent—all of the most popular activities 

have shown considerable growth. Activities 

oriented toward viewing and photographing 

nature (scenery, flowers/trees/other plants, 

and wildlife) were among the fastest growing.
24 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

-----Number of participants----- 

(millions)

Number of 

participants 

(millions)

Portion of 

Population 

(percent)

Change 

(percent)

Walking for pleasure 62.9 78.1 82.5 84.6 5.6

Attending family gatherings 58.5 68.2 73.0 74.9 7.1

Gardening or landscaping — 63.3 64.9 66.6 2.5

Viewing/photographing natural scenery — 55.4 61.9 63.6 11.8

Visiting an outdoor nature center/zoo 50.2 53.1 55.9 57.3 5.3

Picnicking 52.1 52.6 53.2 54.6 1.0

Viewing/photographing wildlife 

(other than birds and fish)

29.1 41.2 49.7 51.0 20.5

Viewing/photographing flowers/

trees/other plants

— 40.5 49.6 50.9 22.6

Sightseeing 52.6 47.2 49.5 50.8 5.0

Driving for pleasure — 47.3 49.0 50.3 3.6

Visiting beaches 58.0 38.2 44.1 45.2 15.3

Visiting historic sites 41.1 43.4 43.3 44.4 -0.1

Swimming in lakes/ponds/streams 41.7 39.4 42.7 43.8 8.4

Swimming in outdoor pools 44.9 37.6 41.6 42.7 10.5

Bicycling 36.7 37.1 38.6 39.6 4.1

Viewing or photographing birds 25.5 31.6 37.3 38.2 17.8

Gathering mushrooms/berries — 27.9 35.0 36.0 25.7

Visiting farm or agricultural settings — 27.3 34.8 35.7 27.5

Day hiking 22.5 27.7 31.9 32.7 15.1

Visiting wilderness areas — 27.5 30.5 31.3 10.7

Table 5—For activities with greater than 30 million participants annually (2005 to 2009), trends in the number 

and percentage of people in the North age 16 years and older participating in nature-based activities from 1994 

to 2009 (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service 2009a).

Activity

1994

to 1995a

1999

to 2001b

2005

to 2009c

1999

to 2009

— = Participation in this activity was not asked during this survey period.

a

Based on regional population of 89.64 million people age 16 years and older (Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. 2009).

b

Based on regional population of 92.43 million people age 16 years and older (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a).

c

Based on regional population of 97.44 million people age 16 years and older (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a).
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 25

-----Number of participants----- 

(millions)

Number of 

participants 

(millions)

Portion of 

Population 

(percent)

Change 

(percent)

Viewing/photographing fish 11.6 21.7 24.6 25.2 13.1

Warmwater fishing 22.9 20.4 23.9 24.5 17.3

Motorboating 27.1 22.5 23.5 24.1 4.7

Visiting watersides (besides beaches) — 22.6 23.0 23.6 1.9

Sledding 17.7 19.8 20.7 21.3 4.5

Developed camping 19.6 22.4 20.1 20.6 -10.4

Mountain biking — 21.2 19.8 20.3 -6.4

Participating in boat tours or excursions — 19.1 18.7 19.2 -1.9

Visiting prehistoric sites 14.9 17.6 18.1 18.6 3.0

Driving off-road 14.0 13.8 17.2 17.6 24.8

Canoeing 9.8 11.1 12.0 12.3 8.2

Primitive camping 11.8 11.9 11.6 11.9 -2.5

Table 6—For activities with 10 to 30 million participants (2005 to 2009), trends in the number and percentage 

of people in the North age 16 years and older participating in nature-based activities from 1994 to 2009 (Source: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service 2009a).

Activity

1994

to 1995a

1999

to 2001b

2005

to 2009c

1999

to 2009

— = Participation in this activity was not asked during this survey period.

a

Based on regional population of 89.64 million people age 16 years and older (Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. 2009).

b

Based on regional population of 92.43 million people age 16 years and older (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a).

c

Based on regional population of 97.44 million people age 16 years and older (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a).

Twelve activities had 10 to 30 million participants 

(Table 6). Viewing or photographing fish, warm 

water fishing, motor boating, visiting a waterside 

(besides a beach), sledding, and developed 

camping all had more than 20 million participants. 

Four activities—developed camping, mountain 

biking, primitive camping, and participating in 

boat tours or excursions—showed a decrease 

in numbers of participants during the decade. 

Fastest growing for this period were offhighway-vehicle driving, warm water fishing, 

and viewing or photographing fish.
26 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Among the 23 activities with 3 to 10 million 

participants (Table 7), big game hunting, 

backpacking, ice skating outdoors, saltwater 

fishing, and waterskiing were at the top of the 

list. Seven of the activities posted double-digit 

percentage growth since 1999; eight activities 

grew from 0 to 10 percent; and eight activities 

decreased in number of participants. The fastest 

growing activities were kayaking (which grew at 

more than twice the rate of any other activity in 

this category), snowboarding, and waterskiing. 

Cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, and 

rafting posted the largest percent decreases.

Six activities had fewer than 3 million 

participants (Table 8). At the top of the list, 

with 2 or more million participants, were 

orienteering (which grew nearly 91 percent 

since 1999) and snowshoeing (which decreased 

more than 17 percent). Given their low 

participation rates, these activities primarily 

represent niche markets that appeal to small 

population segments. Many require substantial 

investments in time, equipment, and skill.

The participation data shown in Tables 5 

through 8 in part may be reflecting the rapid 

rise in gasoline prices from 2007 to 2008 

and the recession that began in 2007. Viewed 

overall, however, it is clear that what people 

in the North choose as activities is changing 

over time. Some of the activities that dominated 

a generation or two ago no longer dominate 

with the emergence of underlying changes in 

society, generations, lifestyles, information, and 

technology (Cordell 2008). 

A timely topic that has captured the attention 

of many conservation leaders and other 

interested supporters throughout the Nation is 

the relationship that America’s youth has with 

natural resources. In particular, many observers 

have expressed concern over what they see as 

a growing “disconnect” between children and 

the outdoors, asserting that children in America 

are spending increasingly less time outdoors. 

The following section presents results of a study 

of their time outdoors that was conducted from 

2007 to 2009.

CHILDREN AND THE OUTDOORS

Better understanding of outdoor time and 

activities among children provides some very 

important insights into the future. To address 

this need for better understanding, data from 

the National Kids Survey were analyzed to 

estimate the portion of each day that 6-to19-year-olds spent outdoors during the week 

preceding their interviews (Cordell 2012). This 

survey is the only national data source of time 

and activities by young people outdoors.
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 27

-----Number of participants----- 

(millions)

Number of 

participants 

(millions)

Portion of 

Population 

(percent)

Change 

(percent)

Big game hunting 8.6 7.3 8.5 8.7 17.1

Backpacking 6.5 8.5 8.3 8.5 -1.6

Ice skating 10.5 9.1 8.2 8.4 -9.7

Saltwater fishing 8.1 7.9 8.0 8.2 2.0

Waterskiing 9.3 5.9 7.6 7.8 29.2

Horseback riding 7.9 7.1 7.6 7.8 6.1

Use personal watercraft 4.5 7.1 7.4 7.6 3.8

Downhill skiing 11.0 8.7 7.3 7.5 -15.2

Rafting 8.4 8.1 7.0 7.2 -13.2

Snowmobiling 6.5 7.1 6.9 7.1 -2.7

Kayaking 1.4 3.6 6.8 7.0 89.3

Small game hunting 7.5 5.7 6.6 6.8 15.4

Snorkelingd 6.4 5.6 5.8 5.9 3.9

Horseback riding on trails 6.1 5.8 5.8 5.9 0.1

Snowboarding 3.3 4.1 5.6 5.8 35.9

Rowing 6.4 4.8 4.9 5.0 1.4

Sailing 5.8 5.5 4.9 5.0 -11.6

Mountain climbing 3.0 4.6 4.1 4.2 -11.6

Caving 3.9 3.1 4.0 4.1 30.0

Rock climbing 2.9 3.5 3.9 4.0 10.0

Cross country skiing 5.8 4.8 3.9 4.0 -20.6

Ice fishing 3.7 3.5 3.8 3.9 9.2

Anadromous fishing 5.0 3.4 3.6 3.7 6.2

Table 7— For activities with 3 to 10 million participants (2005 to 2009), trends in the number and percentage 

of people in the North age 16 years and older participating in nature-based activities from 1994 to 2009 (Source: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service 2009a).

Activity

1994

to 1995a

1999

to 2001b

2005

to 2009c

1999

to 2009

a

Based on regional population of 89.6 million people age 16 years and older (Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. 2009).

b

Based on regional population of 92.4 million people age 16 years and older (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a).

c

Based on regional population of 97.4 million people age 16 years and older (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a).

d

Scuba diving was included in the snorkeling activity in this survey period.
28 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

-----Number of participants-----

(millions)

Number of 

participants 

(millions)

Portion of 

Population 

(percent)

Change 

(percent)

Orienteering 2.1 1.3 2.4 2.5 90.6

Snowshoeing —d 2.7 2.3 2.3 -17.1

Migratory bird hunting 2.0 1.6 1.8 1.8 12.9

Scuba diving —e 1.4 1.5 1.5 6.7

Surfing 0.8 0.8 1.1 1.1 43.4

Windsurfing 1.2 0.7 0.8 0.8 3.7

Table 8—For activities with less than 3 million participants (2005 to 2009), trends in the number and percentage 

of people in the North age 16 years and older participating in nature-based activities from 1994 to 2009 (Source: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service 2009a).

Activity

1994

to 1995a

1999

to 2001b

2005

to 2009c

1999

to 2009

— = Missing data.

a

Based on regional population of 89.64 million people age 16 years and older (Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. 2009).

b

Based on regional population of 92.43 million people age 16 years and older (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a).

c

Based on regional population of 97.44 million people age 16 years and older (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a). 

d

Participation in this activity was not asked during this survey period. 

e

Scuba diving was included as part of snorkeling in 1994 to 1995.

Estimates from the kids survey included 

outdoor time during a typical weekday and 

typical weekend day (Table 9). As well, current 

estimates of time outdoors per day are compared 

to the previous year (Table 10). Nationally, 

about 62 percent reported spending two or 

more hours outdoors per day on a typical 

weekday and 77 percent on typical weekend 

days, compared to 58 percent on weekdays and 

74 percent on weekends in the North (Table 9). 

Just under half of youths nationwide spent 4 or 

more hours outdoors on a typical weekend day, 

compared to 43 percent of North region youths. 

Less than 5 percent spent no time outdoors 

on either weekdays or weekend days regardless 

of where the youth lived. As one might expect, 

school and other activities that are not necessarily 

recreation likely compose a significant amount of 

youth time outdoors during weekdays.
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 29

United States

None 2.3 3.9

<1/2 hour a day 4.3 2.2

About 1/2 hour a day 8.1 3.5

About 1 hour 23.1 13.3

2-3 hours 33.8 27.3

≥4 hours 28.5 49.8

Northern States

None 3.3 4.5

<1/2 hour a day 4.0 1.8

About 1/2 hour a day 9.2 3.8

About 1 hour 25.5 15.7

2-3 hours 32.2 31.1

≥4 hours 25.9 43.1

Table 9—For 6- to 19-year-olds in the United States and Northern States, time spent outdoors on typical 

weekdays and weekend days. 

Note: Percent may not sum down within the United States and North to 100.0 exactly due to rounding.

Source: Larson et al. (2011).

Amount of time

Respondents (percent)

On weekdays On weekend days

--------------------------------------------------------(percent)---------------------------------------------------------------

United States 15.5 44.9 39.6

Northern States 17.0 49.0 34.0

Table 10—For 6- to 19-year-olds in the United States and Northern States, amount of time spent outdoors 

compared to the same time last year.

Sample Less time About the same More time

Note: Percent may not sum across within the United States and North to 100.0 exactly due to rounding.

Source: Larson et al. 2011.
30 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Next examined were percentages who indicated 

spending less, the same or more time outdoors 

at the time of the interview relative to a year 

ago. Across the entire sample, both boys and 

girls, only about 16 percent reported spending 

less time, 45 percent reported spending the 

same, and 40 percent estimated spending more 

time outdoors this year than last (Table 10). 

In the North, respondents were slightly more 

likely to report spending less time outdoors than 

they did a year ago (17 percent), more likely to 

say they spent about the same amount of time 

outdoors (49 percent), and less likely to say they 

spent more time outdoors (34 percent).

Table 11 compares outdoor activity 

participation rates (percentages) between 

male and female respondents in the North and 

the Nation. Playing outdoors or “hanging out” 

during the previous week was the most common 

activity, with about 84 percent participating. 

Male participation in this unstructured free 

play was higher both nationwide and in the 

North. The grouping of biking/jogging/walking/

skateboarding or similar activities was the 

next most popular with nearly 80 percent 

participating both nationally and in the 

North. For both samples, female participation 

was slightly higher than male participation. 

Listening to music or using a screen or other 

electronic device outdoors was the third most 

cited outdoor activity with about 51 percent 

participating. This activity was slightly more 

popular with girls than with boys. These data 

indicate that the use of electronic media is not 

limited to indoor settings. Nationally, playing or 

practicing team sports was considerably more 

popular with boys, but less so in the North. 

By contrast, reading or studying while sitting 

outdoors was more popular with girls, both 

nationally and in the North. 

Many children and teenagers enjoy spending time outdoors 

in nature-based recreation as well as in other activities 

closer to home. Here, children learn how to kayak in the Hiawatha 

National Forest in Michigan. (Photograph by Anne Okonek)
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 31

Table 11—For 6- to 19-year-olds in the United States and Northern States, participation (percent) in outdoor 

activities during the past week, by gender. 

Note: Each activity asked separately; sample sizes vary.

Source: Larson et al. 2011

Outdoor activities United States Northern States

Male Female Total Male Female Total

Just playing outdoors or hanging out 87.1 81.8 84.5 87.9 79.4 83.9

Biking/jogging/walking/skateboarding 78.3 81.4 79.7 75.8 82.4 78.8

Listening to music or using other 

electronic devices

48.2 55.2 51.6 48.5 53.8 51.0

Playing or practicing team sports 59.5 38.8 49.3 54.7 43.8 49.5

Reading or studying while sitting 

outdoors

38.5 53.5 45.8 36.8 52.8 44.2

Participating in individual sports, 

(such as tennis, golf)

38.0 35.2 36.6 34.7 38.4 36.5

Attending camps, field trips, 

outdoor classes

34.1 39.1 36.5 36.1 37.1 36.3

Swimming, diving, snorkeling 30.8 32.1 31.5 32.5 24.4 28.7

Birdwatching and wildlife viewing 28.5 32.3 30.4 30.2 27.4 28.9

Hiking, camping, fishing 30.8 28.2 29.5 36.1 24.9 30.9

Riding motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, 

other off-road vehicles

24.2 14.4 19.4 23.7 13.7 19.0

Boating, jet skiing, water skiing 9.1 7.2 8.2 8.4 4.5 6.5

Snow skiing, snowboarding, 

cross-country skiing

8.6 6.6 7.6 12.2 8.7 10.6

Rowing, kayaking, canoeing, surfing 8.1 6.8 7.5 7.3 7.4 7.4

Participating in other activities 10.3 11.6 10.9 13.8 8.6 11.3
32 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

More than a third of respondents participated 

in other sports such as golf and tennis and 

in organized nature-based activities such as 

attending outdoor camps, classes, and field trips. 

These two activity groups had nearly identical 

participation rates of 36 percent, both nationally 

and in the North. Gender differences were slight 

in both samples. In the North, a number of 

other nature-based activities (swimming, diving, 

snorkeling, birdwatching, wildlife viewing, and 

hiking, camping, fishing) each experienced about 

30 percent participation. Boys outpaced girls in 

the motorized activity of riding off-road vehicles 

by about 10 percent both nationally and in the 

North. Hiking, camping, and fishing participation 

also was higher for males than females in 

the North.

Table 12 shows participation by age group for 

the same set of activities in the North and for 

the United States In both samples, unstructured 

free play decreased with age; biking/jogging/

walking/skateboarding decreased up to age 15 

and then rebounded slightly with the oldest age 

group of 16- to-19-year-olds. Electronic media 

use outdoors is much less frequent with the 

youngest age group, but then rises with age until 

peaking with the 13- to-15-year-age group. 

In both the North and the Nation, team sports 

also peaked with the early teenage group, but 

participation in reading or studying outdoors 

was considerably higher for the oldest teens 

than for the three younger groups. Other, mostly 

individual sports, ranked higher in the 10- to12-year-old group and also in the youngest 

group, relative to the two older ones. This may 

be indicative of more children beginning these 

activities at an early age then dropping out 

to pursue other interests as they get older. 

Interestingly, activities such as attending outdoor 

classes and camps was most popular nationwide 

with the youngest age group, but most popular 

in the North with the oldest age group. This may 

be because the northeastern area has a stronger 

tradition of organized camps and more organized 

camping facilities than other parts of the country. 

Participation rates for these activities were 

fairly consistently in the 33-to-40-percent range 

regardless of age or location. Birdwatching and 

wildlife viewing decreased significantly with 

age in both samples, which may be an indicator 

of family outings in which teenagers do not 

participate. Off-road vehicle driving and boating 

activities increased with age in both samples, 

although boating participation peaked with early 

teens nationally and with 10- to-12-year-olds in 

the North.
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 33

Table 12—For 6- to 19-year-olds in the United States and Northern States, participation (percent) in outdoor 

activities during the past week, by age group.

Outdoor activities United States Northern States

Note: Each activity asked separately; sample sizes vary.

Source: Larson et al. 2011

Age

6 to 9

Age

10 to 12

Age

13 to 15

Age

16 to 19

Age

6 to 9

Age

10 to 12

Age

13 to 15

Age

16 to 19

Just playing outdoors 

or hanging out

91.5 95.4 82.8 69.8 90.2 93.2 82.9 71.6

Biking/jogging/walking/

skateboarding

85.1 82.8 70.9 78.7 82.1 79.4 74.4 78.5

Listening to music, watching 

movies, using electronics

33.4 50.0 63.8 63.8 34.7 51.4 59.6 59.1

Playing or practicing team 

sports

45.1 49.4 56.5 48.6 43.3 51.3 56.2 50.0

Reading or studying while 

sitting outdoors

42.1 47.0 36.2 56.3 41.2 39.1 37.0 56.9

Participating in individual 

sports (such as tennis, golf)

41.7 45.0 28.1 31.3 38.2 44.5 31.3 33.1

Attending camps, field trips, 

outdoor classes

40.6 37.3 33.2 34.0 36.4 35.5 34.5 39.1

Swimming, diving, snorkeling 31.5 32.2 31.5 30.6 27.4 29.3 29.0 29.1

Birdwatching and 

wildlife viewing

40.9 36.8 23.8 19.3 35.9 38.9 29.8 14.0

Hiking, camping, fishing 34.3 26.2 27.5 28.6 32.2 34.3 29.0 28.6

Riding motorcycles, all-terrain 

vehicles, other off-road driving 

17.8 13.2 22.1 24.1 16.7 18.0 20.4 21.2

Boating, jet skiing, 

water skiing

6.7 7.3 13.0 9.9 3.4 8.0 6.7 8.7

Snow skiing, snowboarding, 

cross-country skiing

7.0 8.2 8.9 8.7 10.1 16.7 6.8 10.0

Rowing, kayaking, 

canoeing, surfing

5.7 8.4 6.2 10.2 4.1 9.9 5.8 10.4

Participating in other activities 9.7 11.3 5.4 10.4 7.8 10.9 16.4 10.8
34 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Recreation Resource Trends and Futures

FEDERAL RECREATION RESOURCES 

Federal land—Nationally, Federal agencies 

manage nearly 640 million acres, much of 

which includes vast areas suitable for a variety 

of outdoor recreation activities. Such areas are 

as important in the North as they are throughout 

the country. Other than some national wildlife 

refuges areas reserved for science and 

research, dams, and other administrative and 

operational sites, very little Federal land is 

closed or has restrictions on public access, but 

access is sometimes blocked by in-holdings and 

ownership fragmentation.

Less than 3 percent of Federal land (about 17.9 

million acres) is in the North, about 69 percent 

of which is managed by the Forest Service. 

More than 92 percent of Federal land is located 

in the western United States. Even not counting 

Alaska, which has 36 percent of the national 

total, Federal land is predominantly western, 

making up 88 percent of the 49-State total 

area. The regional distribution of acreage in 

the three water resources agencies (U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of the 

Interior Bureau of Reclamation, and Tennessee 

Valley Authority), however, is much more evenly 

distributed between the West and East. Of 

the total land and water area in these three 

agencies, nearly half is located in the East, 

about 12 percent in the North and 37 percent 

in the South.

Federal acreage changes very little over time. 

What does change, however, particularly by 

region, is the amount of Federal land per capita 

as population grows. In 2008, the 2,105 acres 

per 1,000 U.S. residents (or about 2.1 acres 

per person) represented a 5.6 percent decrease 

from the 2002 level. Decreases were largest 

in the Rocky Mountains (8.8 percent) and 

Pacific Coast (7.7 percent), reflecting greater 

population growth in those regions. The North, 

with 143.6 Federal acres per 1,000 persons, 

had the smallest regional decrease (-2.4 percent). 

The decrease in per capita Federal acres 

nationally was even more pronounced when 

compared to 1995 levels, mirroring the 

14 percent population increase (Table 13). 

The 8.2 percent decrease in Federal acres 

per capita in the North was the slowest of any 

region and considerably less than the national 

rate of change. Nonetheless, pressures for 

recreation space in the North are likely to 

increase as population grows, albeit more 

slowly than in the past.

Wilderness—The North accounts for just 

1.5 percent, or about 1.7 million of the 

109.5 million acres in the National Wilderness 

Preservation System. Similar to Federal land in 

general, the Wilderness land managed by four 

Federal agencies lies mostly in Western States 

(96 percent). Alaska, in particular, has more 

than 52 percent of the total system—largely 

managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior 

National Park Service and U.S. Department 

of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service. 
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 35

Table 13—Federal acres per 1,000 people (including Alaska) in 1995 and percentage change from 1995 to 

2008, by region; estimated U.S. population was 266.28 million (Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. 2009) for 

1995 and 304.06 million (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a) for 2008 (Sources: U.S. 

Department of Agriculture Forest Service 1995, 2008; U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service 1995,

2008; U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service 1995, 2008; U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau 

of Reclamation 1993, 2008; U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management 1994, 2008; Tennessee 

Valley Authority 2008; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2006). 

a

Resource data years for earlier period vary by agency; expressed as 1995 because 1995 population estimates were used in per capita measures.

Agency North South

Rocky 

Mountains Pacific Coast United States

Acres 

1995a

Percent 

Change 

2008

Acres 

1995a

Percent 

Change 

2008

Acres 

1995a

Percent 

Change 

2008 

Acres 

1995a

Percent 

Change 

2008

Acres 

1995a

Percent 

Change 

2008

Forest Service 101.9 -3.4 151.7 -14.6 4,600.3 -22.3 1,581.1 -12.7 719.6 -11.9

National 

Park Service

11.0 -1.8 58.3 -13.4 482.5 -17.5 1,447.3 -13.8 292.0 -11.2

Fish and 

Wildlife Service

10.3 34.0 44.8 -5.4 330.6 7.6 1,855.6 -13.7 339.7 -8.5

Bureau of 

Reclamation

0.0 0.0 2.3 -17.4 251.4 -21.8 20.3 -14.3 24.5 -12.7

Bureau of Land 

Management

3.3 -100.0 9.4 -95.7 6,629.1 -22.5 2,898.7 -22.4 1,005.1 -17.1

Tennessee Valley 

Authority

0.0 0.0 2.9 -17.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.9 -11.1

Army Corps of 

Engineers

24.8 -16.9 66.2 4.4 113.8 11.9 12.8 -13.3 43.4 4.1

All agencies 156.4 -8.2 350.2 -15.4 12,422.9 -21.2 7,911.8 -17.8 2,448.6 -14.0

Without the Alaska acres, the North’s share 

of wilderness rises only to 3.2 percent of the 

Nation’s total.

Since 1995, wilderness system area has grown 

about 6 percent, but population increases have 

reduced the national per capita acres by 3 percent 

(Table 14). In the South, the decrease was nearly 

16 percent, followed by 10 percent for Oregon, 

California, and Washington on the Pacific Coast, 

and 8 percent for the Rocky Mountains. Only 

the North experienced an increase since 

1995, although at 1.5 percent, just slightly. 

In the 49 States, per capita wilderness acres 

decreased across all agencies, except for the 

U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land 

Management. All of the wilderness system 

acreage added in the North region is managed 

by the National Park Service.
36 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Table 14—Federal acres in the National Wilderness Preservation System (excluding Alaska) per 1,000 people 

in 1995a and percentage change from 1995 to 2009b, by region; estimated U.S. population was 265.67 million, 

excluding Alaska (Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. 2009) for 1995 and 303.37 million, excluding Alaska 

(U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a) for 2008 (Source: Wilderness.net 2009). 

a

U.S. Department of the Interior

b

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Agency North South

Rocky 

Mountains Pacific Coast United States

Acres 

1995

Percent 

Change 

2009

Acres 

1995

Percent 

Change 

2009

Acres 

1995

Percent 

Change 

2009 

Acres 

1995

Percent 

Change 

2009

Acres 

1995 

Percent 

Change 

2009

Bureau of Land 

Managementa

0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 74.8 121.4 89.5 -3.5 20.0 44.0

Fish and 

Wildlife Servicea

0.5 0.0 5.5 -16.4 67.3 -21.7 0.3 -33.3 7.6 -11.8

Forest Serviceb 11.5 0.0 8.3 -12.0 823.1 -20.5 237.8 -9.1 111.5 -9.5

National 

Park Servicea

1.1 27. 3 17.5 -17.1 36.0 34.2 200.9 -13.8 39.0 -6.9

U.S. Total 13.2 1.5 31.3 -15.7 1,001.2 -8.0 505.2 -9.8 176.9 -3.0

Protected rivers and trails—Two Federal 

systems play a key role in resource protection 

and outdoor recreation. They are the National 

Wild and Scenic Rivers System and the National 

Recreation Trails System, both established by 

Congress in 1968. The currently more than 

12,500 miles of wild and scenic rivers in the 

United States represent an 11 percent increase 

since 2000 (Table 15); 3,000 miles are in the 

East and the remaining 76 percent are in the 

West. These rivers—which are classified as 

wild, scenic, or recreational—range from the 

most primitive and undeveloped (wild) to the 

most accessible and (perhaps) impounded in 

the past (recreational). The North has nearly 

2,200 miles (about 17 

percent of the national 

total), an increase of 6 

percent since 2000. Most of the 

125 miles added in the North are in the scenic 

and recreational classifications, with only 2 miles 

in the wild classification. 

The National Trails System consists of three 

categories of nationally significant trails: 

National Scenic Trails, National Historic Trails, 

and National Recreation Trails. Similar to the 

federally designated rivers, national trails 

protect linear land resources that are judged to 

have significant value for the entire country. 
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 37

Table 15—Miles of river in the National Wild and Scenic River System by classification and region, 2000 and 

2009, with percentage change (includes AK and HI) (Source: Interagency Wild and Scenic Rivers Council 2009).

2000 

(miles)

2009 

(miles)

Percent 

Change

2000 

(miles)

2009 

(miles)

 Percent 

Change

2000 

(miles)

2009 

(miles)

Percent 

Change

2000 

(miles)

2009 

(miles)

Percent 

Change

North 172 174 1.5 935 1,014 8.5 964 1,007 4.4 2,070 2,195 6.0

South 187 284 51.8 318 414 30.2 112 112 0.0 617 810 31.3

Rocky 

Mountains

710 1,328 87.1 288 380 31.9 532 587 10.5 1,530 2,295 50.0

Pacific 

Coast

4,280 4,370 2.1 911 936 2.7 1,886 1,946 3.2 7,077 7,252 2.5

U.S. total 5,349 6,156 15.1 2,452 2,743 11.9 3,493 3,652 4.6 11,294 12,552 11.1

Wild rivers Scenic rivers Recreational rivers Total

The scenic and historic category typically consists 

of long overland trails that are remote from 

population centers, compared to recreation trails, 

which tend to be located near or within urban 

areas. As of 2009 the United States had more 

than 1,000 national recreation trails totaling more 

than 20,000 miles (Table 16); of these, 53 percent 

of the trails and nearly 69 percent of the mileage 

are located in the populous East. The North, 

which had more than 7,300 miles and 36 percent 

of the system, has added more trails than any 

other region and more miles of trails (3,200) than 

any other region except the South, which saw 

84 percent growth in trail miles since 2004. 

Recreation facilities—The Recreation 

Information Database, an interagency effort 

coordinated by the U.S. Department of the 

Interior, is a public data portal on Federal 

recreation sites and facilities throughout the 

country. Table 17 shows that the Nation’s 

estimated 9,075 Federal facilities translate into 

just under 30 facilities per million people (or 

about 1 per 33,500). With just 9.5 facilities per 

million people overall (or about 1 per 105,000), 

the North lags behind the western regions by 

a wide margin. The combination of much more 

Federal property and much less population in 

the West is a primary reason for this disparity. 

The North also lags behind the South, which has 

more camping and boating facilities but is about 

even in other facilities. The Rocky Mountains 

has more than 10 times the number of available 

Federal facilities per capita than both the South 

and the North and has nearly twice as many as 

the Pacific Coast. Camping facilities dominate in 

the listing of facilities being offered at nearly 96 

percent of areas nationwide.
38 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Table 16—Number and miles of National Recreation Trails by region, 2004 and 2009, with percentage change 

(Source: American Trails 2010) (includes AK and HI).

Region

National Recreation Trails

Number Percent

Change

Miles Percent

2004 2009 2004 2009 Change

North 226 312 38.1 4,119 7,319 77.7

South 220 264 20.0 3,578 6,577 83.8

Rocky Mountains 254 292 15.0 2,969 3,380 13.8

Pacific Coast 198 209 5.6 2,622 2,944 12.3

U.S. total 898 1,077 19.9 13,288 20,220 52.2

NON-FEDERAL RECREATIONAL 

RESOURCES

State parks—Each of the 50 States has a 

State park system, which is usually a division 

or agency within the department of natural 

resources or conservation. These resources are 

usually closer to population centers and more 

developed than their Federal counterparts. 

Although most State park systems manage 

a significant number of backcountry acres, 

remote holdings are not nearly as common as 

they are in Federal systems. State parks have 

been called “intermediate” resources because 

they represent a middle ground between the 

sometimes vast and distant Federal lands and 

the usually much smaller and more highly 

developed parks managed by local 

governments (Clawson and 

Knetsch 1966). 

State systems predominantly feature State 

parks, but they also include facilities classified 

as recreation areas, natural areas, historic 

sites, environmental education and science 

areas, State forests, and wildlife and fish 

management areas. Although these other types 

of protected areas may exist separately from 

State park systems, they are usually still housed 

within natural resource departments, as are 

most—but not all— wildlife and fish areas and 

State forests.
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 39

Table 17—Federal recreation facilities provided or activities permitted per million people by region, 2009; based 

U.S. population estimate of 304.06 million (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a) in 2008 

(includes AK and HI) (Source: U.S. Department of the Interior 2009).

------------------------------------------Number available (per million people)a----------------------------------------

Camping 8.3 11.2 121.3 63.8 28.6

Hiking 1.5 1.8 65.6 19.9 10.4

Fishing 1.3 2.4 64.0 18.3 10.2

Boating 1.9 4.3 22.7 10.2 5.9

Picnicking 0.1 0.1 43.6 9.3 5.6

Recreational vehicle camping 0.0 0.0 38.0 11.7 5.4

Biking 0.4 0.4 32.4 5.7 4.2

Horseback riding 0.1 0.4 27.5 4.7 3.5

Hunting 0.4 0.8 24.8 4.2 3.4

Wildlife viewing 0.1 0.1 20.1 7.5 3.1

Auto touring 0.0 0.0 13.4 2.4 1.6

Water sports 0.0 0.0 6.4 3.9 1.2

Interpretive programs 0.8 0.7 4.7 1.3 1.2

Visitor centers 0.9 0.8 4.0 1.1 1.2

Riding off highway vehicles 0.0 0.0 9.3 1.2 1.0

Wildernesses 0.0 0.0 6.0 2.3 0.9

Winter sports 0.0 0.0 6.3 0.8 0.7

Swimming sites 0.0 0.0 2.2 2.8 0.6

Historic and cultural sites 0.2 0.0 4.0 0.5 0.5

Fish hatcheries 0.1 0.2 0.7 0.3 0.2

Day use areas 0.0 0.0 1.4 0.4 0.2

Climbing 0.0 0.0 1.5 0.2 0.2

All activities and facilities 9.5 12.1 124.2 65.2 29.8

Activity or facility North South

Rocky 

Mountains Pacific Coast

United 

States

Note: Activities shown as 0.0 reflect <0.05 per million people.
40 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

State park systems are usually accessible to 

the general public as is evidenced by their 

distribution across U.S. counties (Fig. 9), the 

majority of which have some acreage of State 

park system lands. Numerous State park system 

areas are evident throughout much of the 

northeastern and midwestern areas, Florida, 

and along the Pacific Coast. Although there are 

many fewer state parks in the West, they tend 

to be large. And although many of the largest 

properties are found in the West, State park 

system resources are also numerous throughout 

the East and particularly on the northern 

seaboard. With the exception of some parts 

of the Great Plains and a few other scattered 

regions across the country, it is rare to travel 

across more than just a few counties without 

encountering State park system lands.

Because State parks typically provide a 

diversity of recreation opportunities, many of 

the activities that people enjoy on Federal lands 

can also be enjoyed on the State park system 

lands. In the North, a State park is located 

within an hour’s drive regardless of where one 

is located; the few exceptions to this rule are 

mostly in remote areas of northern Maine and 

upstate New York. 

FIGURE 9

Location and status of State park system 

units and acres by county in the contiguous 

United States, 2009 (Source: U.S. Department 

of Agriculture Forest Service 2009b).

<787 acres

787 to 3,327 acres

3,327 to 12,045 acres

>12,045 acres

Park closed

Park open
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 41

Most State parks are located within easy access of population centers but 

still have many wildland characteristics, such as the Devils Lake State Park 

in Wisconsin. (Photograph by Greg Walther)

The Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves in 

New York, although not technically classified as 

State parks, encompass nearly 3 million acres of 

State-owned public land and provide numerous 

outdoor recreation opportunities. Furthermore, 

Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York 

all have a longstanding tradition of public access 

to private forest lands, particularly on parcels of 

1,000 acres or more (Daigle et al. 2012).

The National Association of State Park Directors 

reported in their 2009 Annual Information 

Exchange that more than 13.9 million acres 

exist in State park systems, an increase of about 

3 percent in acres per 1,000 people since 1995 

(Table 18). Northern States reported about 

5.2 million acres (37 percent of the national 

total or nearly 49 percent if Alaska’s large State 

parks are removed from the Pacific Coast total). 

State park acreage per capita fell 2 percent 

from 1995 to 2008 in the North. However, State 

recreation area acreage per capita increased 

50 percent in the North during this period. 

The North growth in per capita acres across all 

categories of areas under State park system 

management was more than 33 percent, about 

10 times that of the Nation. It should be noted, 

however, that most of the North’s increase 

was likely due to the reclassification of other 

State properties into the State park system’s 

jurisdiction. This was particularly the case in 

New York State, which included data on the 

Forest Preserves and other properties 

managed by the Department of Environmental 

Conservation in the Annual Information 

Exchange report.

State park systems have faced difficult budgetary 

pressures since the onset of the 2007 recession. 

There have been occasional closures of some 

parks (for example, four in Arizona in 2010), 

transfers of some to other government and 

quasi-government entities, and reduced hours, 

services, and staffing (Table 19). The two affected 

States located in the North were Massachusetts 

and Michigan.
42 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Table 18—State park system area per 1,000 people in 1995 and percentage change from 1995 to 2008, by 

region; estimated U.S. population was 266.28 million (Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. 2009) for 1995 and 

304.06 million (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a) for 2008 (includes AK and HI) 

(Source: National Association of State Park Directors 1996, 2009).

a

Includes environmental education sites and areas classified as scientific sites. Large changes are likely to be the result 

of system reclassifications and not additions. 

b

Very large percentage change is primarily the result of system reclassifications and not additions.

c

Includes forests, fish and wildlife areas, and other miscellaneous State park system sites. 

Type North South

Rocky 

Mountains Pacific Coast United States

Acres 

1995

Percent 

Change 

2008

Acres 

1995

Percent 

Change 

2008

Acres 

1995

Percent 

Change 

2008 

Acres 

1995

Percent 

Change 

2008

Acres 

1995 

Percent 

Change 

2008

State parks 18.0 -2.3 10.1 40.2 37.0 -12.8 95.3 -8.1 29.4 -1.1

Recreation areas 1.5 49.7 1.3 -28.8 8.9 -22.9 18.1 -28.1 4.7 -15.0

Historic sites 0.1 123.1 0.3 -8.8 1.2 -59.8 0.4 51.2 0.3 12.1

Natural areasa 0.9 77.6 0.1 9066.7b 0.3 2907.4b 0.0 . 0.4 804.9

Other areasc 9.4 111.6 0.6 -7.9 14.4 -87.1 1.2 7.5 5.7 52.5

All areas 31.2 33.2 19.7 8.8 70.5 -29.7 117.4 -10.1 44.4 3.2

State facilities—Table 20 shows the eight 

major types of facilities provided by State park 

systems and trends in these facilities since 

1995. Of these, campsites are by far the most 

numerous. Nationally, access to improved (or 

developed) campsites, cabins, golf courses, 

and marinas held steady since 1995, but fell 

by about 12 percent for primitive campsites. In 

the North, the decrease in primitive campsites 

per capita was particularly sharp, falling by 

about 31 percent. Improved campsites, however, 

increased by 15 percent; when combined with 

losses in the South and Pacific Coast, the result 

was little to no net change nationwide. 

The drop in the number of swimming pools per 

capita at Northern State parks was in the same 

direction as the national trend. The region 

also experienced a reduction in the number of 

stables per capita, but the base year number in 

1995 was already relatively small.

Local governments—The 2007 Census of 

Governments tallied 8,852 local governments 

that provide recreation and park services, with 

more than 48 percent of these (4,273 units) in 

the North. On a proportional basis (per million 

people) the North experienced about 14 percent 

growth since 1997, just slightly higher than the 

national rate of 13 percent (Table 21).
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 43

Table 19—State park systems affected by closure or reduction in services as of 2009 (Source: U.S. Department of 

Agriculture Forest Service 2009b).

Alabama 23 None One park transferred to county government.

Arizona 28 Two parks and two historic sites Reduced hours for two State parks and five 

historic parks.

Georgia 63 None One park changed to outdoor recreation area; 

reduced. hours for six historic parks/sites; 

and three historic sites now operated by the 

counties within which they reside.

Hawaii 50 None One park transferred to a development 

corporation.

Massachusetts 136 Two State forests Staffing eliminated for two areas.

Michigan 93 None Reduced summer hours for one site.

State Total facilities Number of closures Reduction in services

Table 20—State park system area per 1,000 people in 1995 and percentage change from 1995 to 2008, by 

region; estimated U.S. population was 266.28 million (Woods and Poole Economics, Inc. 2009) for 1995 and 

304.06 million (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a) for 2008 (includes AK and HI) 

(Source: National Association of State Park Directors 1996, 2009).

Facility North South

Rocky 

Mountains Pacific Coast United States

Acres 

1995

Percent 

Change 

2008

Acres 

1995

Percent 

Change 

2008

Acres 

1995

Percent 

Change 

2008 

Acres 

1995

Percent 

Change 

2008

Acres 

1995 

Percent 

Change 

2008

Improved campsites 608.1 15.0 361.1 -2.4 837.2 4.7 514.8 -40.4 533.2 0.3

Primitive campsites 144.4 -31.3 60.6 28.7 855.1 -5.4 215.0 -30.5 186.9 -11.7

Cabins 23.3 11.7 30.1 -11.2 17.3 50.4 9.7 29.0 22.8 5.5

Golf courses 0.4 19.5 0.6 -3.2 0.2 38.9 0.1 -42.9 0.4 4.8

Golf holes 6.4 28.2 9.8 3.3 2.5 108.9 1.7 -46.2 6.4 15.1

Marinas 0.8 29.8 1.0 -22.9 2.5 -10.7 0.3 0.0 0.9 3.3

Swimming pools 1.4 -8.1 1.5 -19.9 0.4 8.1 0.1 100.0 1.1 -12.6

Stables 0.3 -10.0 0.3 92.6 0.6 -40.0 0.1 -77.8 0.3 14.3
44 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Table 21—Number of local government parks and recreation departments per million people in 1997 and 2007, 

and percentage change from 1997 to 2007; estimated U.S. population was 272.65 million (Woods and Poole 

Economics, Inc. 2009) for 1997 and 301.29 million (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a) 

for 2009 (includes AK and HI) (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2007a).

North South Rocky Mountains Pacific Coast United States

1997 2007 Percent 

Change

1997 2007 Percent 

Change

1997 2007 Percent 

Change

1997 2007 Percent 

Change

1997 2007 Percent 

Change

County 3.5 3.5 0.3 5.4 5.7 6.2 5.8 5.1 -12.6 2.3 2.2 -5.6 4.1 4.2 1.7

Municipal 15.0 18.4 22.7 15.5 18.8 20.7 21.0 29.4 40.3 12.9 14.0 8.0 15.3 18.8 22.6

Town or 

Township

8.5 9.4 11.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.7 3.9 5.1

Special 

District

3.4 3.2 -5.6 0.5 0.7 53.2 7.6 4.8 -37.1 3.8 3.4 -11.3 2.9 2.5 -11.5

All units 30.3 34.5 13.6 21.4 25.2 17.7 34.4 39.5 14.8 19.1 19.5 2.5 26.0 29.4 13.0

Municipal recreation departments grew much 

faster (23 percent) than county departments and 

at about twice the rate of township agencies. 

Special recreation and park districts were the 

only type of local government jurisdiction that 

experienced reductions since 1997. The number 

of special districts and county recreation and 

park departments was much smaller than the 

number of municipal or township departments, 

which averaged 3 million residents. (Special 

districts are authorized by State legislatures to 

perform a single function or a limited number 

of functions including but not limited to water 

and sewage, irrigation, fire control, primary/

secondary/technical education, and hospital 

administration. Park and recreation services are 

included among these functions, sometimes as a 

sole purpose, and at other times as one of many 

purposes, such as in conservancy.)

Two examples of northern local government 

agencies that are specifically oriented toward 

natural resources conservation and recreation 

are the Wisconsin County Forests and the Illinois 

County Forest Preserve special districts. The 

Wisconsin county forests protect more than 2.3 

million acres of public forest land in 29 counties 

and offer a variety of nature-based recreation 

opportunities. Likewise, in Illinois, the Forest 

Preserve Districts protect designated lands as 

“forest preserves” for conservation, education, 

and “compatible” outdoor recreation experiences. 

One such example is the Forest Preserve District 

of Cook County, which manages 68,000 acres of 

forest, prairie, and wetlands in and around Chicago.
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 45

Table 22—Number of selected private recreation business establishments per million people in 1998 

and percentage change from 1998 to 2007; estimated U.S. population was 272.65 million (Woods and Poole 

Economics, Inc. 2009) for 1998 and 301.29 million (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2009a) 

for 2007 (includes AK and HI) (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2007b).

Recreation 

business entity North South

Rocky 

Mountains Pacific Coast United States

1998 Percent 

Change 

2007

1998 Percent 

Change 

2007

1998 Percent 

Change 

2007

1998 Percent 

Change 

2007

1998 Percent 

Change 

2007

Golf courses and 

country clubs

49.8 -4.3 40.1 -11.7 47.1 -6.0 26.0 -8.8 42.6 -7.7

Recreational vehicle parks 

and campgrounds

13.3 4.1 11.4 0.4 26.9 -1.3 17.3 -3.1 14.5 1.4

Marinas 17.7 -3.5 16.5 -18.6 7.5 -24.9 10.6 -12.3 15.3 -11.5

Recreational and vacation 

camps (not campgrounds)

14.0 -18.1 8.5 -20.7 22.5 -28.4 11.3 -12.2 12.5 -19.6

Historical sites 4.5 6.1 2.3 23.9 3.8 -15.2 1.8 3.4 3.3 6.7

Nature parks and similar 

institutions

1.9 31.7 1.5 35.6 2.9 20.7 1.3 118.5 1.7 42.5

Amusement and 

theme parks

3.7 -47.8 3.6 -36.8 2.9 -16.6 2.4 -12.9 3.4 -37.7

Zoos and botanical gardens 1.4 33.8 1.3 44.8 1.7 15.5 1.5 49.3 1.4 37.8

Skiing facilities 1.7 0.6 0.4 -40.5 4.4 -7.7 1.5 -17.6 1.5 -8.3

Private providers—Among the nine outdoor 

recreation business categories tracked by the 

Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns, 

five showed a decrease in the number of 

establishments per million people from 1998 

to 2007 (Table 22). In the North, amusement/

theme parks, recreational/vacation camps, 

golf courses, and marinas all posted decreases, 

with amusement and theme parks falling 

by almost half. Private-sector zoos/botanical 

gardens, nature parks, and historical sites—all in 

the viewing/learning/photography group 

of activities—posted the largest 

gains. Recreational vehicle parks 

and campgrounds (4.1 percent 

growth) was the only category 

that exceeded the national 

growth rate (1.4 percent).
46 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

CURRENT AVAILABILITY OF NEARBY 

RECREATION RESOURCES 

Federal and State parkland—Figure 10 shows 

county-level availability of Federal and State 

parkland within a 75-mile radius, the distance 

considered to be the maximum distance of most 

day trips, with no overnight stay necessary. 

Whereas some counties have no Federal or 

State land within their boundaries, all have 

some public acreage if acreages in surrounding 

counties are considered. The large majority of 

counties in the North have fewer than 1,461 

acres of public land per 1,000 persons, with 

numerous counties having less than 70 acres 

per 1,000 people. These least abundant areas 

are concentrated around the northeastern 

metropolises stretching from Maryland to 

Boston; in western New York; throughout much 

of Ohio, Indiana, and southern Michigan; 

in the urban region extending from greater 

Chicago to Milwaukee; and from the area near 

metropolitan Kansas City up through western 

Iowa to the Twin Cities. The relatively more 

abundant categories of 1,461 to 18,310 acres 

per 1,000 people are concentrated in a large 

region extending across northern Minnesota 

and Wisconsin to the Upper Peninsula of 

Michigan and the northernmost counties of the 

Lower Peninsula; smaller pockets also exist

FIGURE 10

Federal and State parkland area within a 

75-mile recreation day trip of each U.S. county

2008 (Sources: U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Forest Service 2008; U.S. Department of Interior

National Park Service 2008; U.S. Department

of Interior Bureau of Land Management 2008a; 

Tennessee Valley Authority 2008; U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers 2006; National Association 

of State Park Directors 2009).

<70

71 to 1,460

1,461 to 18,310

>18,310

ACRES PER THOUSAND PEOPLE
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 47

in southern Missouri, eastern West Virginia, 

and northern New Hampshire. Cook County in 

the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, is the only 

Northern county in the most abundant category 

of more than 18,310 acres per 1,000 people. 

Non-Federal forests—Residents of the drier 

counties of western Texas and some parts of 

Nevada and California lack non-Federal forest 

land within a 75-mile recreation day trip zone 

(Fig. 11). Although all northern counties have 

access to non-Federal forest within the zone, 

the most abundant non-Federal forests are 

in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, 

and much of Maine. In addition to having 

large forest acreage, these areas are sparsely 

populated, which means that they have the 

most non-Federal forest acres per person. 

With the exception of Missouri, most of the 

midwestern area is in the category of less than 

1,330 acres per 1,000 people. Not surprisingly, 

the northeastern urban corridor is also in the 

least abundant category.

FIGURE 11

Non-Federal forest area within a 75-mile 

recreation day trip of each U.S. county, 2010 

(Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest 

Service 2010).

0

1 to 1,330

1,331 to 5,990

5,991 to 16,110

>16,110

ACRES PER THOUSAND PEOPLE
48 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

FIGURE 12

Inland, coastal, territorial, or Great Lakes 

water area within a 75-mile recreation day 

trip of each U.S. county, 2008 (Source: U.S. 

Department of Commerce, Bureau of the 

Census 2000).

<70

71 to 400

401 to 2,250

>2,250

ACRES PER THOUSAND PEOPLE

Water—As with public land area, all counties 

have access to some water area when the 

75-mile zone for each county is considered 

(Fig. 12). Water as defined here is all water 

area with the exception of open ocean. For 

the North, greater water area per capita is in 

the same Great Lakes region of Minnesota, 

Wisconsin, and Michigan that is abundant in 

Federal and State parkland and non-Federal 

forests. The counties of eastern Maine are also 

among the Nation’s most abundant in water 

acres per capita. Among the least abundant 

are the Kansas City and St. Louis metropolitan 

areas, a large portion of central and western 

central Iowa, and a large band of counties 

stretching from eastern Illinois all the way to 

the New York metropolitan area.

FORECASTS OF FUTURE AVAILABILITY

Federal and State parkland—Federal and 

State parkland area is expected to be constant 

or almost constant through time. Nearly 

30 percent of the total U.S. land and water area 

is in Federal or State management, which is 

slightly more than 2 acres per person (Table 23). 

Because of population growth, per capita 

Federal and State park acreage is predicted to 

decrease to 1.4 acres per person (or about 

68 percent of the 2008 amount) by 2060. 
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 49

Table 23—Projected change in total acres and per capita acres of federal and State parkland with percent of 

total surface area 2008, projected per capita acres 2060, and percent of 2008 acres projected for 2060, by region 

(not including AK or HI) (Sources: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service 2008, 2009b; U.S. Department 

of the Interior National Park Service 2008; U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service 2008; U.S. 

Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management 2008; Tennessee Valley Authority 2008; U.S. Army Corps 

of Engineers 2006.).

Region Federal and state park landa

2008 2060

Acres (thousands) Percent of total area Per capita acres Projected per capita 

acres

Percent of 2008 acres projected 

for 2060

North 19,915 4.2 0.16 0.13 79

South 28,274 5.0 0.28 0.17 63

Rocky Mountains 259,643 34.6 9.35 5.22 56

Pacific Coast 319,487 49.5 6.51 4.19 64

U.S. total 627,319 25.8 2.06 1.40 68

a

Federal and State parkland is the sum of federal land-managing agency area and state park system areas. Federal agencies include NPS, USFS, USFWS, 

BLM, TVA, and USACE. USDI Bureau of Reclamation not included because most of its areas are managed by other agencies.

In the North, the Federal or State parkland 

area per person is projected to decrease to 

0.13 acres, about 79 percent of the 2008 level. 

Compared to their western counterparts, the 

Eastern States currently have relatively little 

Federal or State parkland; for example, the 

North region has only 4.2 percent of national 

total, which is less than 0.2 acres per person. 

The percentage of total area that is Federal 

or State parkland is slightly higher and the 

population is lower in the north central area 

than in the northeastern area, but both 

areas are projected to have the same rate of 

population growth through 2060 as the North 

region overall.
50 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Non-Federal forests—Non-Federal forest land 

area is expected to continue to be converted to 

developed uses. Excluding Alaska and Hawaii, 

about 19 percent of total U.S. surface area is 

non-Federal forest (Table 24), which is about 

1.27 acres per person. By 2060, per capita nonFederal forest area is predicted to decrease to 

0.8 acres per person, about 63 percent of the 

current level. In the North, more than 31 percent 

of total land area is non-Federal forest, which is 

the highest percent of any region (just slightly 

ahead of the South). Given the current North 

population, this represents about 1.19 acres 

per person. By 2060, per capita non-Federal 

forest is predicted to decrease to 0.88 acres per 

person, or 74 percent of the current level. 

The percentage of total area that is non-Federal 

forest is much higher for the northeastern 

area (53 percent) than for the north central 

area (22 percent). However, given differences 

in population growth, projected per capita 

acreages in each area will be nearly the same 

by 2060, with both at 0.88 acres per person. 

Table 24—Projected change in total and per capita acres of non-Federal forest land by region for the contiguous 

United States from 2010 to 2060 (not including AK and HI) (Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 

Service 2010).

Region Non-Federal forest land

2010 2060

Total acres

(thousands)

Percent of total area Per capita acres Projected per capita 

acres

Percent of 2010 acres projected 

for 2060

North 147,762 31.4 1.19 0.88 74

South 171,810 30.5 1.66 0.95 57

Rocky Mountains 28,486 3.8 1.02 0.55 54

Pacific Coast 37,736 17.1 0.79 0.47 59

U.S. total 385,793 19.3 1.27 0.80 63
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 51

Table 25—Projected change in inland, coastal, territorial, and Great Lakes water area from 2008 to 2060, by 

region (not including AK or HI) (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 2000).

Region Water area

2008 2060

Acres (thousands) Percent of total area Per capita acres Projected per capita 

acres

Percent of 2008 acres projected 

for 2060

North 56,834 12.1 0.46 0.36 79

South 29,282 5.2 0.28 0.18 63

Rocky Mountains 7,289 1.0 0.26 0.15 56

Pacific Coast 70,848 11.0 1.44 0.93 64

U.S. total 164,253 6.8 0.54 0.37 68

Water—Like Federal and State parkland, total 

water area is expected to be constant or almost 

constant through time. About 7 percent of 

total U.S. surface area is water, which roughly 

equates to a half acre per person (Table 25). 

For the North, which is heavily influenced by 

the Great Lakes, water area is 0.46 acres per 

person, or more than 12 percent of the total 

surface area (slightly more than the Pacific 

Coast and a lot more than the other two 

regions). By 2060, per capita water is predicted 

to decrease to 0.36 acres, 79 percent of the 

2008 level. Water as a percent of total surface 

area is slightly higher in the north central 

(12.9 percent) than in the northeastern area 

(10.2 percent). Per capita water acreages for 

the north central area (0.55 acres per capita) 

are projected to remain much larger than in 

the northeastern area (0.18 acres per capita), 

although both areas expect population to grow 

at the same rate.
52 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Summary of Key Findings

POPULATION

•	 From 1990 to 2009, total population in the 

North grew at a rate (11 percent) that was less 

than half the national rate (23 percent). The 

region has just under 40 percent (14.9 million) 

of the country’s African American population 

and ranks second to the Pacific Coast in Asian/

Pacific Islander population, which had more 

than doubled (123 percent) in the North. The 

Hispanic population almost exactly doubled to 

about 11.1 million.

•	 The South and the Rocky Mountains were the 

only regions to outpace the national growth 

rate for every single age group. In the North, 

the Baby Boomer age groups ranging from 45 

to 64 have dominated all others in percentage 

growth from 1990 to 2009, but the rate of 

growth for this group lagged behind the rest 

of the Nation. Modest decreases occurred 

in the North for the younger than 6 age 

group and held constant for 6- to-10-yearolds. Interestingly, the 25- to 34-age group 

decreased by nearly 17 percent, which far 

exceeded decreases in other regions and 

for the Nation as a whole. This phenomenon 

was likely a function, in part, of early-career 

individuals seeking employment opportunities 

elsewhere. The rate of growth of people age 

65 and older in the North (14 percent) was 

less than half that of the other regions and 

the Nation, where the growth was 27 percent.

•	 The North is known for its cluster of highdensity metropolitan counties that stretch 

from greater Washington and Baltimore 

to southern Maine. Major cities include 

Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Other 

high-density areas include many of the 

rust belt cities of Pennsylvania and Ohio; 

most of southern Michigan; the large urban 

corridor stretching from Gary, IN, through 

metropolitan Chicago and north to Milwaukee; 

the Minnesota Twin Cities of Minneapolis 

and St. Paul; greater Indianapolis; and the 

two urban regions of Missouri, St. Louis, and 

Kansas City. The highest growth in population 

density (persons per square mile) from 1990 

to 2009 occurred in the Washington-to-Boston 

urban corridor and in the Greater Chicago 

and Twin Cities areas. Although counties 

located in suburban areas of the largest cities 

grew, the urban cores of metropolitan Detroit, 

Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Buffalo, 

NY, all lost population. Losses also occurred 

in much of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New 

York, Iowa, and northern Missouri. 

•	 With moderate growth, the total population 

of the United States is projected to exceed 

447 million by 2060, an increase of almost 

46 percent. Projected growth for the North 

is expected to be 26 percent, much less than 

the other three regions. The 12 States and the 

District of Columbia in the northeastern area 

and the eight States in the north central area 

are all expected to grow at virtually the same 

rate. New Hampshire, Maryland, and Vermont 
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 53

have the largest projected growth, and the 

smallest growth rate is expected for New 

York, West Virginia, and Ohio. Washington, 

D.C.’s population is projected to decrease 

almost 17 percent.

RECREATION DEMAND

•	 One overriding recreation trend is that the 

relative popularity of outdoor activities 

is shifting over time. For example, the 

number of people participating in wildlife 

or birdwatching and photography is growing 

while numbers participating in some other 

activities are not.

•	 For the North, rate of growth of total outdoor 

recreation participants and total activity 

days was lower than the national rate. 

For those age 16 and older, participation 

increased about 4 percent, from about 90 to 

94 million, and participation days increased 

by 24 percent in the last decade. Average 

participation days per person across the 

full list of 60 activities rose from about 300 

per year to 359, a 20 percent increase. 

Some of the slower gains can be attributed 

to the North’s lower population growth rate 

compared to the Nation as a whole. 

•	 Of the most popular activities in the North 

(those having over 30 million participants), 

the top six slots were occupied by walking 

for pleasure, attending family gatherings 

outdoors, gardening or landscaping, viewing/

photographing natural scenery, visiting 

outdoor nature centers, and picnicking. 

Other popular growth activities included 

viewing/photographing flowers and trees, 

viewing/photographing wildlife (besides birds 

and fish), visiting a beach, and viewing/

photographing birds. Activities oriented 

toward viewing and photographing nature 

(scenery, flowers/trees/other plants, birds, 

and wildlife) have been among the fastest 

growing in popularity.

•	 Among moderately popular activities (10 to 

30 million participants), the most popular 

were viewing or photographing fish, warm 

water fishing, motor boating, and visiting 

a waterside (besides a beach). Growth has 

been especially strong for off-highway-vehicle 

driving, warm water fishing, and viewing or 

photographing fish.

•	 In the 3 to 10 million participant category, 

backpacking and ice skating have both been 

declining over the past 10 years, indicating 

continuing shifts in activity popularity. 

Kayaking was the fastest growing of these 

activities by a wide margin, followed by 

snowboarding, caving, and water skiing. 

Several activities posted decreases during 

this decade. 

•	 Only six activities attracted fewer than 

3 million participants, led by orienteering 

(which grew by over 90 percent in the last 

decade), snowshoeing, and migratory bird 

hunting. These are primarily niche activities 

that appeal to specialized segments of 

recreation participants.
54 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

•	 Just under three-fourths of northern 6-to19-year-olds spent 2 or more hours outdoors 

on a typical weekend day (58 percent on a 

weekday). Forty-three percent spent 4 or 

more hours outdoors on weekend days 

(26 percent on weekdays).

•	 Among young people 6 to 19 years old, 

unstructured free play or “hanging out” and 

biking/jogging/walking/skateboarding were 

the leading outdoor activities, each with more 

than 78 percent participation. Slightly more 

than half of respondents used electronic 

devices while they were outdoors, presumably 

much of it during unstructured time.

•	 Among 6- to 19-year-olds, structured naturebased activities, such as attending outdoor 

camps, classes, and field trips, attracted 

about 36 percent. Approximately 30 percent 

also participated in a variety of nature-based 

recreation activities, such as swimming, 

diving, snorkeling, birdwatching, wildlife 

viewing, hiking, camping, and fishing.

PUBLIC RECREATION RESOURCES

•	 Compared to the more than 92 percent of 

Federal land that is located in the West, less 

than 3 percent, about 17.9 million acres, is 

in the North and about 69 percent of that is 

managed by the Forest Service. 

•	 Although Federal acreage changes very 

little over time, population changes a great 

deal. In the North, which had an 8 percent 

decrease, Federal acres per 1,000 persons 

decreased more slowly than the national rate 

of decrease (-14 percent since 1995).

•	 The North accounts for just 1.5 percent of 

the land area in the National Wilderness 

Preservation System, about 1.7 million of the 

over 109 million acres nationally. Modest 

additions to the system in the North since 

1995 resulted in a 1.5 percent increase in 

wilderness acres per capita.

•	 Nearly 2,200 miles of National Wild and 

Scenic River miles are in the North (about 

17 percent of all designated river miles), 

representing a 6.0 percent increase in 

protected river miles since 2000 (less than 

the national growth rate of 11 percent). 

•	 The North has more than 7,300 National 

Recreation Trail System miles, more than 

any other region and about 36 percent of the 

system nationally. The addition of 3,200 miles 

(78 percent) since 2004 was higher than any 

other region except the South. The region has 

fewer than 10 Federal recreation facilities 

per million people, or about 1 per 105,000 

people. After camping, boating is the most 

common Federal recreation facility.

•	 State park system areas total nearly 5.2 

million acres in the North. Throughout the 

region, especially New England and the 

rest of the Northeastern States, State park 

resources are situated within an hour’s drive 

of home for most people. 
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 55

•	 Nationwide, more than 8,800 local 

governments provide recreation and park 

services. Nearly half (48.3 percent) of 

these local units were in the North, where 

the number of local parks and recreation 

departments per million people was up 

almost 14 percent since 1997—very close to 

the national growth rate of 13 percent. Some 

local government agencies have specific 

mandates to manage for conservation and 

compatible nature-based recreation.

•	 On average, residents of the North have 

access to fewer than 1,460 acres of public 

land per 1,000 people (or 1.5 acres per 

person) within 75 miles of their homes. 

•	 Within a 75-mile recreation day trip zone, the 

greatest water (non-ocean) area per capita is 

in counties located near the Great Lakes. 

•	 The North has relatively more non-Federal 

forest land along the Appalachian Mountains, 

in southern Illinois, much of Missouri, and 

similar to water, is most abundant in Maine 

and northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and 

Michigan. On a per capita basis, most of 

the metropolitan areas have relatively little 

forest land close by.

PROJECTED RESOURCE FUTURES

•	 In the North, the Federal and State parkland 

area per person is projected to decrease 

to 0.13 acres, about 79 percent of the 

2008 level, by 2060. Because the northern 

population is not projected to grow as fast as 

the Nation or any other region, the projected 

decrease per capita is lower.

•	 Currently, more than 31 percent of total land 

area in the North is non-Federal forest, or 

1.19 acres per person. By 2060, per capita 

non-Federal forest is predicted to decrease to 

0.88 acres per person, or 74 percent of the 

2010 level, lower than all other regions and 

the Nation as a whole.

•	 Total water area, like Federal and State 

parkland, is expected to stay mostly constant 

over the next several decades. Currently, 

water area in the North is slightly more than 

12 percent of the region’s total surface area, 

or 0.46 acres per person. By 2060, per capita 

water is predicted to decrease to 0.36 acres 

per person, or 79 percent of the 2008 level. 

Similar to the other resources, the projected 

reduction in water resources per capita is 

less for the North than for the Nation and all 

other regions. 
56 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

?

Discussion of Findings

The North has been and continues to be a 

socially dynamic region of the country. It is 

a region characterized by large metropolitan 

areas, population diversity, steady projected 

population growth, and a mixture of public and 

private land and water resources. In the last 

two decades, the North’s population grew at 

a considerably slower rate than the Nation as 

a whole. Growth has been moderated by many 

of the region’s older people having moved 

to warmer climates and many of its younger 

people having moved in search of better 

employment opportunities.

Even though growth is slower than in other 

regions, the large population of the North means 

numerous densely populated communities, 

large commercial areas, and a wide array of 

industrial complexes. Many areas have changed 

radically to accommodate communities and their 

infrastructure, leaving only a fraction of the 

natural lands that once dominated the landscape. 

At the same time, more individuals, families, 

and other households translate into greater 

demand for venues for outdoor recreation. 

This rising demand presents a dilemma for 

the North’s shrinking supply of undeveloped 

lands. Will these lands and the developed 

parks of the future North be sufficient to 

meet public expectations?

Not only is recreation demand growing, but also 

what people now choose as outdoor activities is 

shifting from what they were in past decades 

and generations. Similar to some of the relatively 

new activities like orienteering, snowboarding, 

and mountain biking, which were largely unknown 

to past generations, new outdoor activities 

will undoubtedly emerge as the 21st century 

continues to unfold. One very prominent factor 

driving this emergence is the changed and ever 

changing relationship between young people 

and the outdoors. Contrary to the widely held 

notion that children in today’s United States are 

not spending time outdoors, the National Kids 

Survey results suggest that they may actually 

spend quite a bit of time outdoors, even though 

significant numbers are using electronic devices 

when doing so. 
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 57 ?

Today’s youth are tomorrow’s adults. How they 

spend their time now will carry over to affect 

their future adult lifestyles. Certainly, they 

have different interests than their parents’ 

generation. The experiences and opportunities 

of today’s young people are different. Likewise, 

the next generation will be different than the 

youth of today. If history is a predictor of the 

future, generational differences will continue to 

be major drivers of change. This will very likely 

influence the way people think about and use 

the outdoors. Undoubtedly, this future use will 

involve electronic devices, and who can know 

what these may be in 20 years.

Concurrent with population growth and 

shifting recreation demands is a very strong 

likelihood of increasing pressure on forest and 

other undeveloped lands. Especially in the 

North, this poses a challenge. Because of high 

population densities, the average resident of 

most northern counties has access to fewer 

than 1.5 acres of Federal or State land within 

75 miles of his or her residence. As well, many 

of the major metropolitan areas have relatively 

little access to nearby non-Federal forest 

land, and recreationally accessible water is 

becoming increasingly scarce throughout much 

of the region. Like public lands, total water 

area is fairly static over time; with increasing 

population, this translates into decreasing per 

capita acreage in future years.

Population, recreation, and resource trends 

are all headed in directions that leave one 

wondering. Who will be the future recreation 

participants from among the North’s growing 

and changing population? Will participants of the 

future be representative of the growing diversity 

of this region’s population? Or, could there be 

a narrowing of participants’ demographics as a 

result of increasing per capita scarcity of places 

and resources for outdoor recreation? 

Where will outdoor recreation occur in the 

future? As land and water resources in rural 

areas are increasingly pressured by expanding 

urban and other development uses, private 

land and water are likely to become less 

available for outdoor recreation for some 

segments of the population. This raises the 

question of how future residents of the North 

may gain access to outdoor recreation areas. 

If the importance of easily accessible, nearby 

public or private outdoor resources increases 

in the future, recreation and other nontangible 

benefits could become important factors in 

land-value calculations, especially in areas 

close to population centers. Without inclusion 

of the value of recreation and other ecosystem 

services in land value calculations, development 

value will almost always outweigh other 

considerations. Including recreation and other 

ecosystem service values perhaps would open 

an opportunity for local citizenry and public 

service organizations to offer incentives that 

would encourage private owners to keep more 

land in forest and make it more accessible.
Autumn colors

in the forest

58
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 59

We thank them all

Thank you to our reviewers John Daigle, Associate Professor of Forest Recreation Management 

at The University of Maine, Orono, ME; and Rob Porter, Professor in Recreation, Park, and 

Tourism Administration at Western Illinois University, Macomb, IL. We also thank Susan Wright, 

Carol Whitlock, and Rhonda Cobourn, who provided editorial guidance and support. 

Acknowledgments
60 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 61

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64 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

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Seedling growth 

on forest floor

66
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 67

Appendix
68 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Methods and Data Sources

POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHIC 

TRENDS AND PROJECTED FUTURES

Historical data from the 1990 U.S. Census 

of Population and Housing through the 2009 

census population estimates were analyzed to 

examine recent trends in population, population 

distribution, and demographic composition. 

National and regional population totals and 

percents are presented in tables, along with 

maps showing the distribution of the population 

among northern counties. All maps show four 

shading levels that correspond to the following 

percentage distributions of the data depicted 

in each map: 0 to 35, 36 to 70, 71 to 90, and 

91 to 100. The two highest percentage ranges 

(shown by the darkest shades) are purposely 

more restricted to emphasize counties having 

the largest counts of population or more 

significant data values. 

Included in this report are data on population 

by race/ethnicity, population by age groups, 

current population density (persons per square 

mile), change in population density since 1990, 

percentage change in Hispanic population, 

percentage change in non-Hispanic White 

population, and projected changes in population 

density from 2008 to 2060. For comparison 

with the North, the same statistics are also 

shown for all counties of the rest of the country, 

except for Hawaii and Alaska. The northern 

region consists of Connecticut, Delaware, 

District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, 

Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, 

Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, 

New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, 

Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. 

The U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of 

the Census provides updated annual population 

estimates for the Nation, States, and counties 

each year. Based on these updates, county-scale 

maps were produced for this report showing 

change in Hispanic and other segments of 

the North’s population. (The census released 

preliminary 2010 estimates of total population 

by county in March 2011, but had not released 

population estimates by demographic categories 

at the time of writing.) Data consulted included:

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the 

Census (2009a), SC-EST2009-alldata6: Annual 

State Resident Population Estimates for 6 Race 

Groups (5 Race Alone Groups and One Group 

with Two or more Race Groups) by Age, Sex, and 

Hispanic Origin: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2009 

(http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2011/

tables/11s0019.xls)

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the 

Census (2009b), CC-EST2009-ALLDATA-[ST-FIPS]: 

Annual County Resident Population Estimates 

by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: April 1, 

2000 to July 1, 2009 (http://www.census.gov/

popest/data/counties/asrh/2009/CC-EST2009-

alldata.html)
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 69

State and county population from the 1990 

census were derived from Woods & Poole 

Economics, Inc. (2009). 

Working from Census Bureau estimates, 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Forest 

Service Southern Research Station developed 

county-scale forecasts of population change 

for three of the future scenarios defined by 

the International Panel on Climate Change in 

its Fourth Assessment Report (Zarnoch et al. 

2010). The scenarios—labeled A1B, A2, and 

B2—were adapted for use in both the national 

2010 Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) 

Assessment (Cordell 2012) and for the 

Northern Forest Futures Project, currently 

underway at the Forest Service (Northern 

Research Station, Eastern Region, Forest 

Products Laboratory, and Northeastern Area 

State and Private Forestry) in partnership with 

the Northeastern Area Association of State 

Foresters and the University of Missouri. The 

overall purpose for examining population change 

in the context of these scenarios is to evaluate 

the sensitivity of forest and other resource 

trends to a range of feasible futures. In this 

report, percentage change over the 50-year 

assessment period (2010 to 2060) is shown 

only for the A1B moderate population growth 

scenario. Under this scenario, total population 

in the United States is projected to exceed 

447 million people by 2060, a growth of almost 

46 percent.

RECREATION ACTIVITY TREND DATA

The source of data on recreation activity trends 

for adults is the National Survey on Recreation 

and the Environment (NSRE). Sponsored by 

the Southern Research Station, the University 

of Georgia and the University of Tennessee, 

it is a general population random-digit-dialed 

telephone survey that asks Americans age 16 

and older about their participation in outdoor 

recreation activities (U.S. Department of 

Agriculture Forest Service 2009a). The NSRE 

data presented here are from surveys conducted 

continuously from 1999 to 2009, with a brief 

interruption during 2004.

Earlier estimates of trends in outdoor 

recreation in general and in nature-based 

outdoor recreation in particular (Cordell 2008) 

were conducted for the RPA Assessment. This 

report updates those findings. NSRE data 

were pooled to define two trend periods: 1999 

to 2001 and 2005 to 2009. (The volume of 

NSRE surveying decreased in the latter years 

which resulted in smaller yearly sample sizes 

and thus the combining of more years in the 

later period.) An overview of Americans’ 

participation in outdoor recreation in general 

was constructed by defining a “participant” as 

any person who engaged in at least one of 60 

outdoor recreation activities one or more times 

during the 12 months prior to the date they 

were interviewed. A “yes” value was assigned 

to respondents if they reported participation 

in any of the 60 activities, with “no” indicating 
70 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

that the individual did not participate in any 

activity during the past year. A similar indicator 

was used to determine nature-based activity 

participation using a shorter list of 50 activities 

that typically occur in natural settings. Previous 

estimates from the 1994-to-1995 period are 

included to indicate overall trends across 

two decades.

The source of data for youth time in the outdoors 

is the National Kids Survey (Cordell 2012), 

a household telephone survey that was conducted 

by the Southern Research Station in cooperation 

with the University of Tennessee and the 

University of Georgia from 2007 to 2011. 

Households with a 6- to 19-year-old qualified 

to participate. If a household had more than 

one qualifying household member, the survey 

questions were directed to the individual with 

the most recent birthday. Teenagers 16 to 19 

responded for themselves; an adult proxy, usually 

a parent, answered for children age 6 to 15. The 

survey data were post-weighted to approximate 

census population percents by gender and by 

eight age strata. Questions asked included the 

amount of time spent outdoors regardless of 

activity, as well as the types of activities engaged 

in. A total of 1,945 respondents or their proxies 

participated, 763 from Northern States.

RECREATION RESOURCE DATA 

Federal resources—The Federal land managing 

agencies are the sources for Federal outdoor 

recreation resources data. The four largest 

Federal land-managing agencies—Forest 

Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior 

Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife 

Service, and National Park Service—have real 

estate offices that maintain records on the size, 

location, and boundaries of their holdings. The 

three Federal water resources management 

agencies—U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of 

Reclamation, and Tennessee Valley Authority—

have much smaller land holdings. 

Resources protected by inclusion in the National 

Wilderness Preservation System, the National 

Wild and Scenic River System, and the National 

Trails System are also described in this paper in 

the section titled specially designated Federal 

land systems. Current and past data from each 

of these systems was examined for trends in per 

capita availability.

Federal recreation sites and facilities are 

cataloged in an online database called the 

Recreation Information Database, better known 

through its portal as www.recreation.gov [Date 

accessed: December 15, 2011] or simply rec.

gov. The Department of the Interior coordinates 

an interagency coalition that gathers recreation 

site and facilities information across all Federal 
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 71

agencies. The rec.gov Web site includes a 

standardized list of 22 separate recreation 

activities, facilities, or attractions with binary 

(yes/no) availability. Trend data are not available 

for this database because it is fairly new, 

originating around 2002. Both a limitation and a 

strength of the Recreation Information Database 

is that it is an evolving source of information, 

which is expanding and growing, but not yet 

complete across Federal recreation facilities.

State resources—Two sources of State park 

system data were used in this report. First is 

the National Association of State Park Directors 

Annual Information Exchange survey, which 

collects data from all 50 State park systems. 

This report uses survey data to assess the 

status of each State park system’s resources, 

operations, and visits. Included in coverage are 

State parks, recreation areas, natural areas, 

historical areas, environmental education areas, 

scientific areas, forests, wildlife and fish areas, 

and other miscellaneous areas. The exchange 

summarizes all information by State; it does not 

have individual State park unit information, 

such as size, location, and site attributes. The 

most consistent data over the history of the 

exchange have been about the State park and 

State recreation area classifications.

The second source is a State park database of 

individual park system units developed from 

printed and online sources1

, and includes 

acreage data and location (latitude/longitude 

coordinates). The database focuses on the three 

most common types of State park system units: 

parks, recreation areas, and historic sites.

Local government resources—The data 

source for local government outdoor recreation 

resources is the Census Bureau Census of 

Governments, which is conducted every 5 years. 

The classifications for this census are type 

of governmental unit and services provided. 

A difficulty in assessing local government 

recreation resources is the sheer number and 

variety of local jurisdictions that provide park 

and recreation services. Further, many local 

agencies place as much (and sometimes more) 

emphasis on indoor leisure programs and 

services as on outdoor resources. The Census 

of Governments does not provide details on land 

holdings or other resources; rather it collects 

administrative, financial, and employment data. 

This report assumes that all local government 

agencies listed as providing recreation and 

park services also include management of 

some outdoor recreation resources, although 

the amount provided is not known. 

Cordell, H. Ken. 2011. [Untitled]. Unpublished database. On file with: Pioneering Research Project, Southern Research Station, 

U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, 320 Green Street, Athens, GA 30602-2044.

1
72 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN THE NORTHERN U.S.

Private Recreation Businesses—The Census 

Bureau provides the annual County Business 

Patterns (CBP) series of economic data. Included 

is number of recreation business establishments, 

payroll, and number of employees for the full 

range of businesses as described in the North 

American Industry Classification System. Nine of 

the business classes listed are related to outdoor 

recreation. Summarized in this report are number 

of business establishments per capita, along with 

percentage change from the 1998 to the 2007. 

County Pattern Maps—Included in this report 

are county-level maps for 2008 that depict 

patterns of recreation resource availability per 

capita across northern counties and the rest of 

the Nation. (These recreation resource maps 

employ the same criteria as was used with the 

demographic data, which displays four shading 

levels based on percentage distributions of the 

data: 0 to 35, 36 to 70, 71 to 90, and 91 to 100.) 

Recreation resources per capita within a 75-mile 

radius of each county are displayed in the maps. 

The 75-mile zone includes a home county plus 

all surrounding counties whose geographic 

centers or centroids are within a 75-mile 

straight-line distance from the home county 

centroid. This distance is roughly the 

equivalent of a recreation day trip. The three 

basic recreation resources summarized in this 

report are combined Federal land and State 

park area, non-Federal forest land, and water 

area (from census Tiger geographic data).

PROJECTED FUTURES

Using the population projections described 

earlier, projections of per capita recreation 

resources were developed for three resources. 

The projection index used is the ratio of 

per capita acres predicted for 2060 relative 

to the per capita acres that existed in base 

year 2008. This statistic indicates the percent 

of the resource currently available per capita 

that is forecast to remain by 2060. The per 

capita future is forecast for three recreation 

resources—Federal and State parkland, nonFederal forest land, and water. Projections are 

summarized for the North and for other regions. 

Also reported is the percentage of total surface 

area in each region represented by the resource. 
O utdoor R e c r e a t i o n 73

Cordell, H.K. 2008. The latest on trends in nature-based outdoor recreation. Forest History Today. 

Spring: 4-10.

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ABSTRACT

In the last two decades, the North’s population grew at a considerably slower rate than the Nation 

as a whole. Nevertheless, this region’s population is large and in all likelihood will continue to grow. 

This means greater development of land and water resources at the same time that there is growth 

in demand for outdoor recreation. This report looks at recent population trends and forecasts within 

the context of other U.S. regions, demographic composition of population, recreation participation by 

residents age 16 and older, trends in activities and time spent outdoors by its youth, and the changes 

occurring in recreation resources, both public and private. The region referenced here includes the 

area within the corner States of Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, and Maryland. Much of the research 

reported here ties to data, analyses, and findings developed for the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Forest Service 2010 Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment (Cordell 2012) and how 

they affect the sustainability of northern forests.

How to cite this publication: Cordell, H. Ken; Betz, Carter J.; Mou, Shela H.; and Gormanson, Dale D. 

2012. Outdoor Recreation in the Northern United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-100. Newtown Square, PA: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 74 p.

Keywords: trends, population, outdoor recreation, natural resources, northern United States
DE P A R TMENT OF AGRICU LT U RE

FOREST SERVICE

U S

U.S. Department of Agriculture

U.S. Forest Service

General Technical Report

NRS-100

2012