Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
National Forests
The annual number of visits to
total over 192 million. Part of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, the U.S. Forest Service maintains 193 million acres in the National Forest System, with 155
national forests and 20 grasslands in 44 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Especially popular
activities are hiking, camping, hunting,
fishing, canoeing, and skiing.
The U.S. Forest Service reports that its developed recreation sites include 4,677 campgrounds, over
140 swimming areas, 1,496 picnic grounds; 1,222 boating sites, and 135 alpine ski areas. Other tourism
assets are 4,418 miles of wild and scenic rivers, 136 scenic byways, 143,346 miles of trails, 277,000
heritage sites, and 403 wilderness areas (see
www.fs.fed.us
).
national forests
Other Public Recreational Lands
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees more than 245 million acres of public land located
primarily in 12 western states. The BLM has nearly 2400 day-use and 16,698 family camp units on
50,000 acres. It also has 3,179 miles of designated backcountry byways, 62,768 miles of roads suitable
for highway vehicles, 90.8 acres open to off-highway vehicles, 54.4 million more acres open to limited
off highway vehicular use, and 19,000 miles of trails for motorized vehicles. The most popular
recreational activities on BLM lands are camping and motorized travel.
The U.S. Corps of Engineers (COE) is the nation
is largest provider of outdoor recreation, operating
more than 2,500 recreation areas at 463 projects (mostly lakes) and leasing an additional 1,800 sites
to state or local park and recreation authorities or private interests. The COE hosts about 368 million
visits a year at its lakes, beaches, and other areas. They estimate that 25 million Americans visit a COE
project at least once a year. Some of the recreation facilities provided on the 12 million acres include
some 90,000 campsites, 35,000 picnic areas, 3,500 boat launching ramps, 826 swimming areas, and
4,200 miles of hiking trails.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manages over 97 million acres of
sh and wildlife
habitats and provides recreation opportunities. According to the FWS, participants in hunting,
fishing, bird-watching, and other wildlife-related recreation spend $120 billion annually enjoying
these activities.
'
Adventure Travel
It is the resources provided by the National Park Service, the Forest Service, Bureau of Land
Management, Corp of Engineers, and the Fish and Wildlife Service that make adventure travel so
popular and feasible in the United States.
Many outdoor recreation activities are sports related and have been classi
ed in the adventure
travel area. The National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) conducts an annual study of sports
participation by Americans seven years of age and older. NSGA reports that the top outdoor recreation
adventure activities were overnight vacation camping (50.9 million participants), bicycle riding
(38.1 million),
fishing (32.9 million), hiking (34.0 million), hunting with
firearms (18.8 million),
backpacking/wilderness camping (12.7 million), alpine skiing (7.0 million), off-road mountain biking
(8.4 million), waterskiing (5.2 million), hunting with a bow and arrow (6.2 million), snowboarding
(6.2 million), and cross-country skiing (1.7 million).
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A recent George Washington University study (2010), which was conducted in partnership with the
Adventure Travel Trade Association and Xola Consulting, estimated that consumers spent more than
$89 billion (excluding airfare and gear/clothing purchases) worldwide on adventure travel in 2009. The
study shows that adventure tourism is a sizable market with the potential for economic growth. The
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