Americans are spending less and less
time enjoying the outdoors.

This story says that ever since the late 1980's, Americans are
partaking in nature related activities less and less by slightly more than 1% a year. I have
personally seen the opposite appear to be true, since every year we have to book our
summer's camp sites at midnight, January 1st! (When they start taking reservations). If you wait a few days to book
a federal camp site online (www.reserveamerica.com) then you'll be out of luck.
I really find it hard to believe that these federal parks and forests are seeing less
people, and must wonder if the smaller percentage is due to an increase in
the total number of population, or maybe it's due to a rise in the number of disabled
or obese people that wouldn't be able to go fishing, camping, hiking, kayaking
etc?

The story goes on to say that, "The study, which appears in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, speculates that the declines could
have a variety of long-term causes, ranging from rising gas prices to increases
in the amount of time spent in front of video games and TV screens."

I can accept this as a relevant cause of the decline, and even
though the story says this decline could be the start of a new era, I welcome
it. Not only will there be less people abusing the outdoors by littering, harming wildlife and polluting natural resources, but
it will also give the rest of us the opportunity to enjoy nature on a more
regular basis. If this decline continues, those of us that have a deep love for nature will not miss our chance to book campsites because other people that may not appreciate nature as much (and are doing it because they feel they "have to") have booked up all the spots.

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