Outdoor Recreation in America

April 25, 2008 - (Washington, D.C.) Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne joined National Park Service (NPS) Director Mary Bomar, a potent group of Members of Congress and a large group of park supporters to announce 110 national park projects and programs, funded by private and public funds, under President Bush’s National Park Centennial Challenge Initiative. For 2008, Congress appropriated $24.6 million for the Centennial Challenge Fund and the private sector responded with nearly $27 million in matching contributions, totaling $51 million for the projects announced on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

A preview of the first-ever National Get Outdoors Day will be held in the Washington, D.C. suburbs on May 31, two weeks before events will be held across the nation to help all Americans – and especially American families with children – discover opportunities for healthy fun. The preview will be hosted by the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America at Camp William B. Snyder with the involvement of dozens of national and regional organizations.

National Get Outdoors Day, which promotes the fun and value of time outdoors, is a signature event of “Great Outdoors Month,” the designation given annually to June by the White House and governors across the United States. For the last two decades, Americans have turned indoors and to less physically active leisure pursuits. Visits to national parks and most other public recreation sites have declined and obesity has increased rapidly among the American people, with significant health consequences, including projections of life expectancy declines of 2-5 years for today’s youth. The USDA Forest Service and the American Recreation Coalition have each pledged $100,000 to the inaugural National Get Outdoors Day in an effort to reconnect children and nature and to reverse these dangerous trends.

Lindi L. Harvey, National Park Service Deputy Director, spoke to the April 2008 Recreation Exchange. Deputy Director Harvey focused her remarks on the National Park Service Centennial Initiative and her agency’s efforts to reconnect today’s youth to the parks. Ms. Harvey applauded the Recreation Exchange participants’ partnerships with the National Park Service and called on the group to further lend their expertise in moving forward the Centennial legislation and supporting youth-outreach projects.

The first National Get Outdoors Day will be on June 14th and will emphasize reaching new and first time visitors to public lands. By offering diverse activities and opportunities, this national effort will broaden appreciation for and interest in the great outdoors – and awareness of its benefits. Plans are for the day to continue on the second Saturday of each subsequent June.

Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tevi Troy was the guest at the March Recreation Exchange, a special session held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the National Park Hospitality Association. Dr. Troy opened his remarks by recognizing that, while science and medical advancements allow people the opportunity to be among the healthiest who ever lived, “good health care is not up to others. Health care starts with self care.” Dr. Troy said that far too many people are not making the effort to take care of themselves, and as a result, chronic diseases have replaced infectious diseases as major killers. “Largely preventable chronic diseases cause seven in 10 deaths and consume three out of four dollars spent on healthcare,” he said.

Washington, D.C. (February 28, 2008) Participants from dozens of federal agencies and non-profit organizations and the recreation industry gathered in Washington to launch National Get Outdoors Day, a new annual event to encourage healthy, active outdoor fun. On June 14, 2008, and each June thereafter, these partners will offer sites for American families to experience traditional and non-traditional types of outdoor activities. Prime goals of the day are reaching first-time visitors to public lands and reconnecting our youth to the great outdoors.

Washington, DC (February 12, 2008) More than 40 organizations formed a unique team of outdoor advocates to help tens of thousands of visitors to Glendale, Arizona, drawn by Super Bowl XLII, discover healthy fun in the Great Outdoors. For four days, the organizations produced the first-ever Outdoor Recreation Village at one of the world’s top media events and used the Village as a platform to announce new initiatives to connect all Americans, and especially American youth, to the nation’s wonderful array of parks, forests, refuges and other public lands and waters.

Washington, DC (February 11, 2008) The leadership of the nation’s top provider of public outdoor recreation opportunities today expressed solid support for a new recreation strategy for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) that links agency recreation efforts both to the overall mission of the Corps and the U.S. Army to protect the nation’s health, safety and security and to special efforts to aid active duty, retired and reserve military and their families. The strategy seeks to continue the agency’s leading role in providing public recreation opportunities in America. It now hosts nearly 400 million recreation visits annually.

Partners Outdoors 2008

“Unlocking the Fun and Benefits of the Outdoors to All Americans, and Especially Youth”

January 13-16, 2008

Partners Outdoors 2008 hosted over 125 participants from the recreation community – representing both the public and private sectors – at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort in Snowbird, Utah. The four-day conference highlighted the essential need for partnerships in tackling the challenge of engaging our youth in the great outdoors.

The National Park Service recently released its statistics for the first 11 months of 2007.
Overall recreation visits increased by 0.8%.

Substantial variations by region and type of unit were reported.

For the full report, click here