Contributions of Behavioral Scientists to Recreation Resource Management

Abstract

Visitation to publicly administered outdoor-recreation areas in the United States has increased across all activities at about five percent annually during the past several decades. The use of many backcountry areas and areas designated as wilderness has shown an average annual rate of increase of about 20 percent per year, and the use of wild rivers has increased even faster during the past decade (USDA Forest Service, 1980). Furthermore, tourism is an important industry, especially in those states with outstanding scenic beauty, varied outdoor settings, and rich cultural histories (Owen, 1980). Thus, tastes for outdoor opportunities appear to be well established; appreciation of natural areas seems to have become more widespread and intense since the environmental movement of the late 1960s; and opportunities to enjoy outdoor recreation are valued highly for their contribution to satisfaction with life in America (Driver, Rosenthal, & Peterson, 1978). Outdoor recreation is important socially—and is big business—in American society.