Speed limits are up, gas prices down. New roads are built and new runs discovered every year. Where we used to drive for hours and hope for good water, now we download this morning's cfs off the Internet and go where the best water is. There has been no better time to kayak.
Access is a huge problem.
It is in the way of the sport's progress. Paddling is one of the most benign uses of nature ever. Especially on commercially rafted rivers, the river traffic can affect a landowner's quality of life. Easier by far. Just in many areas crowded, so I don't go to a lot of places any more.