Problems generating interest in national parks
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Jorge Castaneda knelt on a rocky ledge with a map of the Sierra Nevada spread before him.
“There aren’t street names,” the 18-year-old city kid said only half-jokingly just before his first backpacking trip. “How are we supposed to read these maps?”
Castaneda was with a group of young men from inner-city Oakland and Los Angeles heading into the Yosemite backcountry for a five-day, 20-mile excursion sponsored by an outdoor education program called WildLink.
The group’s aim is to help them forge a connection with public lands that will keep them coming back, and hopefully beef up the ranks of those who spend their free time hiking, climbing, fishing or otherwise enjoying open spaces.
The goal is especially important because national parks face twin concerns: Lack of diversity among visitors and fewer of them overall.
A 2004 survey by the U.S. Forest Service showed that 92.7 percent of those who visited national forests over a three-year period were white.
At the same time, the number of people visiting public lands is dwindling. The National Park Service found in 2006 it had nearly a million fewer visitors than the year before, and 14.5 million fewer than in 1999.
Experts say a range of factors are contributing to the drop in visitor numbers, from gas prices to shorter vacations. But “it may be that a certain portion of our decline is because population growth is being driven by people who are not traditional national park users,” said Jim Gramann, a social scientist with the park service.
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A National Park Service survey in 2003 showed Americans of all backgrounds gave the same reasons for staying away from public lands — cost, distance, not knowing what to do there and lack of interest. But some differences emerged, giving a sense how cultural perceptions of the outdoors might vary among groups.
Blacks were significantly more likely to say they received poor service from park employees or that they felt uncomfortable while visiting parks. Hispanics expressed greater concern than others about having to make reservations too far in advance and about personal safety while outdoors. (more…)
A really interesting topic.
For me, camping is one of those activities that has never caught on on either side of my family. It was always seen as “something White folks do”. Plus, there was always that thought in the back of your mind that you would wake up one night in your tent surrounded by the klan (lol). Breaking that mindset can be such a challenge.
I think for me that has really change since living out here in the West. Most of my perceptions of camping and hiking were formulated by what I saw on television. However after making the drive from Colorado to California, I knew I just had to get out there in the great outdoors (Man, what a beautiful drive!!!).
On our recent trip from Monterey, CA we drove part of the way back by taking the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). Now THAT is another trip worth taking.
On one side of the highway is all mountains. On the other side, nothing but blue ocean and forest. There were camping grounds all along the road which gave me some ideas for a possible future camping trip with just my son or the entire family.
Our house is located right at the foot of the Cleveland national forest and just recently someone showed me the location of the hiking trails. I am planning on hiking it in a few weeks as the trail leads to the top of a mountain range with a awesome view of both Riverside and Orange counties (I heard that you could even see the ocean).
This is one of those things I am really pushing myself to do because I know my children will thank me for it later. Plus, knowing me I will get hooked once we make the plunge.
Anybody out there with camping experience?
