Enjoying the Great Outdoors Not a Favorite Pastime in U.S., Japan, Spain, Study Finds

People in three developed nations are spending less time recreating outdoors, according to a new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study confirms a trend that has seen a marked decline among hunters and anglers across the country, as well as a steady drop in visits to national parks since 1987.

The study shows that outdoor recreation has been declining in the U.S., Japan and Spain by an average of 1.3 percent per year over the past 25 years.

The decline started in the three nations between 1981 and 1991, and the decline already has totaled 18 percent to 25 percent across the three nations.

Conservation leaders and others said the study is a "grim confirmation” that people, especially children, are spending less time outside. That means less interest, concern and knowledge of the natural world, experts said. And it probably will translate into diminished funding for conservation as fewer people buy licenses, donate to conservation efforts or support government funding for the environment.

"As a scientist and a conservationist, I find these results almost terrifying," said Oliver Pergams, assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago and lead author of the study, in a statement. "We are seeing a fundamental shift away from people’s interest in nature, not just in the U.S. but in other countries, too. The consequences of this could be deep and far-ranging for health, for human well-being, and for the future of the planet."

The new study looked at data on camping, backpacking, fishing, hiking, hunting, visits to national and state parks and forests. Pergams and fellow researcher Patricia Zaradic found comparable, reliable statistics from Japan and, to a lesser extent, Spain.

In the U.S., visits to national parks rose almost constantly for 50 years until 1987, but have dropped every year since then, the study found.

While the study found small increase in some activities, namely backpacking and hiking, it wasn’t enough to offset major declines in camping, fishing, hunting and park and forest visits.

The percentage of Minnesotans who hunt and fish declined from 40 percent in 1969 to 29 percent in 2005. The number of Minnesotans fishing declined 12 percent in just five years, from 2001 to 2006.

A regular U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report, most recently released in 2007, shows an increase in birdwatching but a steady decline in hunting and fishing.

Conservation leaders say the problem is as basic as losing connections with the natural world.

Tom Landwehr, associate state director of conservation for the Nature Conservancy in Minnesota, said that it’s not always easy for parents to do so but he urged them to introduce their children to nature early in their lives.

He said the decline in something as simple as camping, which should be accessible to a large segment of society, is especially concerning.

"We’ve seen some nasty changes in kids, whether their health or behavior or whatever, that looks like it’s coming because they spend so much time in front of some sort of screen. The evidence is accumulating,” Landwehr told the News Tribune. "There’s a better environment for kids out the door. It’s our job as conservation groups to remind people they can get into a better environment out in nature. You can’t pick strawberries on Nintendo, or hunt pheasants. We need to get people outside again.”

Landwehr also said it’s critical to ensure more public access to wild areas to find outdoor experiences.

In previous studies, Pergams and Zaradic found the decline in natural experiences correlated with a rise in playing video games, surfing the Internet and watching movies. The researchers have dubbed this phenomenon — the focus on sedentary activities involving electronic media — "videophillia.”

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