Americans Spending Less Time Outdoors, In Parks

"Biologist Oliver Pergams says those crowds can hide an important trend: Every year, a smaller percentage of Americans are fishing, camping or engaging in other nature-based activities."

"Since the late 1980s, the percentage of Americans taking part in such activities has declined at slightly more than 1 percent a year. The total effect, Pergams says, is that participation is down 18 percent to 25 percent from peak levels."

"One in 10 Americans has gone hunting every year for the past several decades. And the overall number of backpackers, while relatively minuscule, has actually risen slightly."

"But those are the exceptions, Pergams says. Participation in almost all other activities, like fishing and visiting parks, has headed sharply downward since the early 1990s."