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Outdoor recreation is cool again
A recent survey found that more Americans are rediscovering that outdoor recreation is fun, easy and healthy.
Eleven percent more Americans (ages 16 and older) went fishing and 9 percent more went hunting in 2011 than in 2006, according to a new five-year survey from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. These numbers reverse a 20-year decline in outdoor recreation.
This comes as no surprise to the Friends of the Chemung River Watershed (River Friends), an Elmira-based nonprofit environmental and recreation organization. We’ve seen participation in our river paddles, hikes and other outdoor recreation increase by more than 50 percent in the last four years. We are seeing more people fishing and enjoying the waterways for nature photography and as a quiet and convenient place to reconnect with nature.
People realize that our rivers offer plenty of free fun, fresh-air exercise and a connection with nature. River Friends has worked to make our rivers more accessible, safer and enjoyable, and to accommodate the increased number of people enjoying healthy outdoor pastimes. We have sponsored safe paddling classes, built and maintained boat launches and river trails, and helped the city of Elmira build a safe portage for paddlers around the dam on the Chemung River.
More Americans are realizing that enjoying the outdoors can be inexpensive and good for our physical and mental health. Outdoor recreation can be enjoyed year-round. Paddling, hiking, cycling and cross-country skiing on river trails provide healthy exercise, a wonderful way to relieve stress, and an opportunity to see, experience and learn about nature.
The recession has helped interest more local residents in enjoying the outdoors. In the past, people would hop in their cars and travel outside of the Twin Tiers for vacations and adventures. The stalled economy and high gas prices have spurred residents to stay closer to home. In doing so, residents have discovered there is plenty of outdoor recreation to be enjoyed here.
Our reconnection to nature is good for the economy. It helped bring Southern Tier Kayak Tours, an Ithaca-based kayak river touring business, to the Southern Tier this year to lead paddles on rivers in the Chemung River basin. The increase in outdoor recreation also helped On the River Canoe and Kayak Rentals in Big Flats increase its river paddling business. Local bait shops, sporting goods stores and restaurants also benefit from the increased outdoor recreation on our waterways and trails.
But best of all, the increased outdoor recreation benefits our communities and residents. It improves our quality of life, health and respect for our environment and the future of natural resources.
I urge you to please take advantage of what nature has to offer. Get outdoors and paddle a river or hike a trail. You’ll feel better, look better and get a better idea of how nature can make us healthier and happier. And it can all be done for free.
Pfiffer is the executive director Friends of the Chemung River Watershed. You can contact him at 846-2242 or riverfriends@stny.rr.com.