But as more and more hunters stalk the woods, anglers crowd the streambanks and boaters churn the waters, a quality outdoor experience is becoming increasingly difficult to find. Overcrowding at national parks and other public recreation areas often is the rule rather than the exception, and our natural resources are feeling the strain. As competition among different user groups grows, outdoor recreationists respect for each other and for natural resources erodes. Let's face facts. It's unfair to point the finger at industry or developers.
Individuals also can have a harmful, even devastating impact on the outdoors.
Too many recreationists have minimal knowledge and skills. Barring love and war, few enterprises are undertaken with such abandon, or by such diverse individuals, or with so paradoxical a mixture of appetite and altruism, as that group of avocations known as outdoor recreation. It is, by common consent, a good thing for people to get back to nature. Sand County Almanac It is up to those of us who revere the outdoors to make our stewardship an example for others. Otherwise, our outdoor legacy may well be a bitter one.