Private ForestsRecreation
By Web Admin on 8/4/2005 | Keyword(s): Forest management 101Forest Management 101
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Recreation
United States Recreation Facts by, USDA Forest Service:
- ½ of U.S. adults (98 million people) took an outdoor adventure trip in the past five years.
- "Ecological" vacations are the fastest growing of all travel segments.
- Camping is the #1 outdoor vacation activity in the U.S.
- The top motivations for outdoor activities are fun, relaxation, stress relief, experiencing nature and exercise.
- Over ½ of U.S. travelers say they want to experience the outdoors and nature on their vacations.
Outdoor recreation on private lands is influenced by myriad factors, such as land-use patterns, legal restrictions, economic conditions, taxation issues and personal preference. An important reason for increasing recreational pursuits on private lands has to do with the inability of public lands to meet all of the nation's recreational needs. In 1962, the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission projected that by the year 2000 there would be a tripling of recreational land demand. However, that mark was surpassed in 1983. As a result, public park visitation resulted in "overuse and degradation of natural resources" in some areas (*Wright & Kaiser, 1986).
As the ravages of the agricultural market and urban sprawl continuously take land out of agricultural production and green space, it drives landowners to find other values and ways of using their land. Oftentimes, the quickest fix is to sell the property to development, which may not always be desirable to the owner. However, the increasing demand for recreational space in the U.S. may be an opportunity for landowners to keep their land, while solving the problem of public land degradation from overuse. Furthermore, as population grows, the demand for leisure space and recreational opportunities will increase, causing the national per capita availability of public recreation land to shrink.
The increasing demand for outdoor recreation in America brings into play the question of liability. However, U.S. laws give some protection from liability. The "mere ownership of land and the fact that a visitor was injured on that land does not presume liability for the injury:" only when a landowner "fails to fulfill the legal duty to act" is the landowner liable for visitor's injuries (Kaiser & Wright, 1985). Liability laws vary from state to state. The landowner should check with their local Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and state government to learn more about recreational land use liability.
This introductory section is taken from, "Private Lands & Outdoor Recreation in the United States, by R Jeff Teasley, John C. Bergstrom, H. Ken Cordell, Stanley J. Zarnock and Paul Gentle
*Wright, B.A., Kaiser, R.A. (1986). Wildlife Administrators' perceptions of hunter access problems: A national overview. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 14 (1), 30-34.
Definitions:
- Prohibitive landowners -
- allow no one access to their land and use it solely for their own benefit.
- Exclusionists -
- allow hunting for themselves and family members.
- Restrictionists -
- like exclusionists, but allow friends and employees to use their land.
- Open Landowners -
- allow public access to their properties.
- Posting -
- using signage to prevent or control access to land.
Landowners should check with their local Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for legal posting criteria.
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