Parks data causes concern
about money and kids


A view of Pamola Peak, Mt. Katahdin, Baxter State Park

The Portland Press Herald today provides a local view of the disgusting trend revealed earlier this summer in a study by The Nature Conservancy.


"The Bubbles" at Jordan Pond, Acadia National Park

PPH's Deirdre Fleming reports that the number of Baxter State Park visitors "declined from 75,000 to 56,000 in the five-year period that ended last year," and that the drop in revenue generated by usage fees may mean the Baxter visiting season gets "shortened to cut down on the cost of staffing the park." She added, "Attendance at Acadia dropped 20 percent during the same period, from 2.5 million to 2 million."

As MSNBC reports, these revenue shortfalls could have similar impacts nationwide.


These kids hate nature

The Nature Conservancy study was published in the July 2006 issue of The Journal of Environmental Management. Authors Oliver R.W. Pergams and Patricia A. Zaradic noted that:

We may be seeing evidence of a fundamental shift away from people’s appreciation of nature … to ‘videophilia,’ which we here define as ‘the new human tendency to focus on sedentary activities involving electronic media.’ Such a shift would not bode well for the future of biodiversity conservation.

Fleshing it out, they noted:

We have presented data suggesting that as sedentary recreation choices involving electronic media become more prevalent and the cost of motor vehicle ravel rises we may, unfortunately, predict further declines in per capita NPV.If it is indeed true that people have changed their behavior, that they go to national parks less (at least in part) because they are more sedentary and use electronic media more, what does this mean for biodiversity conservation in general? There would seem to be at least two possible biodiversity conservation related viewpoints. One viewpoint might see declining per capita NPV, and the resulting reduced ecological pressure on our national parks, as being a good thing. An opposing viewpoint might see people’s apparent decrease in ‘biophilia’ and corresponding increase in ‘videophilia’ (which we here define as ‘‘the new human tendency to focus on sedentary activities involving
electronic media’’) as being a very bad thing indeed. [E. O.] Wilson[, in "Biophilia",., 1984. Biophilia. Harvard University Press] defined biophilia as ‘‘the innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes,’’ or the ‘‘innately emotional affiliation of human beings to other living organisms’’ (Wilson, 1984). According to Wilson we humans have an affinity for the natural world that has evolved over millennia and is part of our genes, just like our tendency to be territorial or to protect our young. [S.] Kellert, [in "The Value of Life: Biological Diversity and Human Society," Island Press, (1996)] described human cultural learning and experience as exerting a fundamental shaping influence on the content, direction, and strength of people’s nature-related values. Any shift in the value placed on natural areas and experiences will affect the value placed on biodiversity conservation. If we are indeed seeing a fundamental decline in people’s appreciation of (and attachment to) natural areas, the authors feel this does not bode well for the future of biodiversity conservation.

Wonderful news, eh? While I'm not prepared to enroll the young man in any kind of crash course in Luddite-ism, I suggest that this is another example of something that needs to be fought locally – as local as within our own families and among our circles of friends. For sure, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, so it's likely our families and friends already share our views. But considering Ms. Fleming's reports about Baxter and Acadia visitorship, I'll pause before exempting Maine from the Nature Conservancy's castigation.

That said, I wonder how much of the visitorship drop-off relates to the jump in gas prices. Perhaps some study is in order to check the usage numbers at Maine's other State Parks. It's not such a concern if the folks who aren't visiting Baxter are instead visiting the outdoors. closer to home, in previously unexplored places in Western Maine, or something else entirely new.


Looking down on Hosmer Pond from Bald Mountain, in Camden

After all, our trip to Sugarloaf/Eustis Rangeley didn't seem fostered by or in service of anything like what is deemed "biophilia." And we weren't the only ones in Western Maine over the Fourth with "from away" appearance. I guess we need to see what the other outdoorsee places report at the end of the season before we should get too categorical with our pronouncements.

In the meantime, I'll see what I can do to push the suggestion (see the comment) offered by B. I'll float it to anyone I can find over at the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands. I'm sure they'll be receptive.