Fewer hikers may mean less support for conservation groups

By Beth Daley, Globe Staff

Anyone who has been on Mt. Washington’s Tuckerman Ravine Trail in August may feel like it’s a superhighway of hikers, but research shows that there is a decline in strenuous nature recreation – read that hiking and backpacking.

A hiker in New England (Mark Wilson/Globe photo)

Now, a recent study shows that trend may prove a financial hit to national conservation groups.

A study this month in PLoS ONE shows that many people who engage in vigorous outdoor sports later tend to become supporters of mainline conservation groups in far more numbers that those who are casual users that may only fish or go sightseeing. The study was conducted by Oliver Pergams, visiting research assistant professor at University of Illinois at Chicago, Patricia Zaradic, director of the Red Rock Institute in Pennsylvania that 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 in nature correlated with a willingness more than a decade later to financially support any of four conservation organizations: the Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, the Sierra Club or Environmental Defense. The typical backpacker gave $200 to $300 per year, after a 11 or 12 year lag.

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

"Apparently not all outdoor recreation is equal in terms of who is going to be an investor in conservation," Zaradic said. Pergams said it was a wake-up call to environmental groups that their base is likely shrinking.

Pergams says 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."