Outdoor Foundation Finds Nearly Half of Americans Participate in Outdoor Recreation

By Justin Stakes

Research shows slight participation decline in overall participation which is most likely due to extreme weather conditions

Washington, DC -(Ammoland.com)- Nearly half of all Americans, 48.4 percent, participated in at least one outdoor activity in 2014.

This equates to 141.4 million participants, who went on a collective 11.8 billion outdoor outings. These findings are part of the Outdoor Foundation’s 2015 Outdoor Recreation Participation Topline Report, which provides an overview of American participation trends in outdoor recreation with a focus on youth, young adults and the future of the outdoors. The full Report will be released this summer.

Overall, outdoor participation dropped .8 percent since 2013 and, by a small margin, reached the lowest levels since the report began in 2006. Extreme weather and an unusually cold winter are likely major contributors to the decline. While the typically popular gateway activities of running and biking lost participants in 2014, the indoor versions of these activities — running on the treadmill and using the stationary bike — added participants.

Paddle sports are a bright spot in outdoor participation. Stand up paddling continued to be …read more

Source:: AmmoLand