Canoeists Getting Older and Introducing Fewer New People to the Wilderness

Lots of news in the paddling world today, but the scariest is a report just released by the U.S. Forest Service about the Boundary Waters Wilderness Canoe Area:

In it, we found out that the average user age in 1969 was 26 and in 2007 it was 45. We also found out that first time visitors have dropped from 30% of visitors to 6%. This means that fewer people are being introduced to the BWCA. I’d guess that also means that the age of the average visitor will continue to rise and current users grow older. As a point of reference, the average age in Minnesota is 36. The study suggests that one way to explain this is: “While it is important to recognize that younger individuals and first time overnight visitors continue to use the BWCAW, trend data suggest that a strong and substantial cohort of aging, repeat visitors to the BWCAW exists.”

One interesting observation from the study is “Just less than half of the visitors in 1969 had visited other wildernesses besides the BWCAW at that time, but this rose to 57% by 1991 and 75% by 2007.” To me that seems to suggest that once people experience how magical wilderness areas are, they want to visit more of them. There’s something special about wilderness areas, and we need more. It probably has something to do with what Aldo Leopold called “split-rail” values (see A Sand County Almanac). As an American, when in a wilderness area, you connect with the frontier spirit and it helps you feel complete. Also, Leopold argued that outdoor recreation is valuable directly proportional to the experience’s intensity, and “to the degree to which it differs from and contrasts with workaday life.” Wilderness areas, especially remote areas such as the BWCA which doesn’t really have cell service, removes visitors from their workaday life. That getting-away feeling is addictive, so it makes sense to me that people would visit more wilderness areas. Plus, there are more than in 1969 which was only five years into the Wilderness Act of 1964.

Other stats: People are staying longer (4 days vs. 4.4 days), group sizes are dropping (5.2 vs. 4.4), organized groups as a percentage of users dropped (11.1 vs. 5.1), solo paddlers as a percentage of users rose (0.5 vs. 2.3) and family trips as a percentage of users rose (43.3 vs. 68.7).

Interesting select quotes:

Overall education of overnight visitors has increased and membership in outdoor recreation and conservation organizations has increased. This may indicate a visitor population in which the strength of wilderness attitudes and values has increased over time. Such an argument is important to managers because it suggests an invested constituency exists for the BWCAW. Thus, understanding any shifts and changes in this constituency’s attitudes and values should remain a priority to BWCAW managers.

and

It reveals that BWCAW overnight visitors are predominantly white, male, well educated, and no longer full or part time students. Visitors have a great deal of wilderness trip experience in the BWCAW and in other wilderness areas as well, with relatively few visitors being first time visitors to the area. Visitors also report seeing significantly more groups while on their trip compared to previous years and visits. However, these inter-group encounter rates are well within the expectations visitors have for the area.

and

In addition to profiling trends and changes in use and users, this study also starts to address questions about future wilderness users. Potts (2007) has recently challenged managers and researchers to consider the implications of changing human relationships with wilderness. He argues that the meaning of wilderness for today’s user is not necessarily that of the individuals championing wilderness in the 1960s and 1970s. All users are a product of their experiences and conditions that surround their interactions with wilderness….

Potts (2007) cautions that as relationships change, there is also a potential for the wilderness constituency to change or even disappear. He questions what will happen if apathy and irrelevance toward wilderness begins to prevail in the public’s eyes.

A few quick thoughts about what this means:

• In the future, fewer people will feel connected to the BWCA, which may mean that fewer folks will be passionate about fighting the pressures of further development that we’re currently facing (mining and cell towers). It’s only going to get harder to fight this in the future.
• Wilderness participation increases the desire to protect wilderness. If fewer new people are introduced to the wilderness, that could mean fewer people will want to protect the wilderness. We could see less designated wilderness areas in the U.S. and some currently designated wilderness areas could go away. We could even lose the Wilderness Act of 1964 if we don’t have people that stand up to protect it. Imagine an U.S. congress and Presidency controlled by anti-environmental interests. We need future politicians of all parties to love the wilderness, and if we’re not introducing new people and users are getting older, then there’s no chance of introducing new politicians to the wilderness in their formative years.
• I personally believe that wilderness experience improves character and connects us with the spirit of what it means to be an American. If fewer new people are experiencing the wilderness, then we move further away from our roots. Our culture changes. I don’t know how, but my gut tells me it can’t be good.
• When you combine this report with the growing number of reports showing that outdoor participation among the kids is down, you get a look at a scary future where participation rates in outdoor sports drops like a stone, and that means a coming nightmare for the outdoor industry, and I think it will make our culture less rich and more evil.

So, what can you do?

Full Report: The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness: Examining Changes in Use, Users, and Management Challenges