Conservation groups see decline in their best supporters

Decline in hiking, backpacking could cost conservation groups

Anyone who has been on Mount Washington’s Tuckerman Ravine Trail in August may feel like it’s a superhighway of hikers, but research shows that there has been a decline in strenuous nature recreation - hiking and backpacking. Now, a recent study shows that trend could financially hinder national conservation groups.

A paper in the journal PLoS ONE shows that people who engage in vigorous outdoor sports eventually tend to become supporters of mainline conservation groups in far larger numbers that those who are casual users - people who fish or sightsee. The study was conducted by Oliver Pergams, visiting research assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago; Patricia Zaradic, director of the Red Rock Institute in Pennsylvania, which studies people’s relationship to nature; and Peter Kareiva, chief scientist of the Nature Conservancy.

The researchers found that the amount of time one spent hiking or backpacking correlated with a willingness more than a decade later to financially support any of four conservation organizations: the Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club, or Environmental Defense. The typical backpacker gave $200 to $300 per year, after a lag of 11 or 12 years.

“For the first time, we’ve shown a direct correlation between outdoor recreation and investment in conservation, and we know what types of outdoor activity are most likely to lead to conservation investment,’’ Zaradic said.

Surprisingly, the more time one spent fishing or sightseeing in natural areas, the less likely that person was to support these particular conservation causes.

Pergams said it was a wake-up call to environmental groups that their base is probably shrinking. He said the key to conservation awareness and support is to reach children early with programs that introduce them to vigorous outdoor recreation.

“If you never get out into nature, you’re not going to care about it when you get older,’’ Pergams said. “The kids are where it’s at, and we’re losing our kids to other influences - they don’t go outside.’’

ABCs of energy efficiency

We all know by now that energy efficiency is important. It’s going to help stabilize greenhouse gases, slow the building of power plants, save us money.

But let’s face it. Getting - and keeping - people’s attention about the big EE is, at best, a challenge. It makes the eyes glaze over. People walk away from me at parties when I start talking weatherstripping. Really.

Now, officials at the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program - the federal energy efficiency gurus - are teaming up with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to get children to buy into the idea before they grow up and keep on every light in the house. Some of the 60 participating clubs have youngsters designing family energy efficiency nights, handing out high-efficiency bulbs, and even writing and producing plays about energy efficiency.

In Charlestown, teens in five Boys & Girls Club are teaching younger kids. The 13- and 14-year olds recently completed an energy review of a home in their neighborhood to find energy saving opportunities that the adults among us should have learned by now: replacing incandescent lighting with compact fluorescent bulbs; using a programmable thermostat; sealing up air leaks around doors with weatherstripping. They learned that electronics can continue to suck power even when they are off - and to use a power strip to truly turn off TVs and computers.

The group is now teaching 8- and 9-year-olds about what they learned and how it helps fight global warming.

When I was that young, everything was fun to learn. And we all know it stays with you, like a glowing CFL, for years to come.

BETH DALEY