Natural Resource Base for Recreation

1
Natural Resource Base for Recreation

• Chapter 6

To be able to fill time intelligently is the last
product of civilization Bertrand Russell
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Overview

• Is it possible to have clean beaches and
  wilderness close to home?
• The USA is 98 land and 2 inland water
• Most has recreation value in its present sate
• Can create user-friendly areas, but not
  wilderness
• Outdoor resources fall into 3 categories Land,
  Water, and Living resources
• Not all available for recreation
• Most government land is in the west while the
  population is in the east

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Land resources

• Distribution
• 62 privately owned
• 28 federally owned
• 9 owned by state/local govt.
• 2 for Native Americans

• Use is constantly changing
• 1978-2000 federal land decreased 18
• Cropland decreased 12 since 1982
• 1982-2002 45 increase in developed land

4
Forests

• 1/3 of US is forested
• 749 million acres
• Considerable pressure for economic development
• Public vs. private uses?
• Crucial for freshwater supply
• runoff

5
Grasslands and Deserts

• Grasslands
• Old 900 million acres
• Now 3.8 million acres
• Deserts
• Receive less than 19 rain per year
• Problems damage to terrain and habitat and sale
  of plants
• Popular areas?

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Cold Places

• Snow and Ice Areas
• 85 of federal lands used
• Ski resorts mostly privately owned, but use
  public lands for lifts and runs
• Tundra
• Arctic and alpine ecosystem
• Delicate!
• Most is in Alaska

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Water resources

• Lifeblood of biological community
• Covers ¾ of the earths surface
• Vast majority unusable
• Freshwater used 14 times faster than replaced
• 98 freshwater in aquifers
• Much is misused

• Watersheds
• Controls erosion, provides drainage, supplies
  drinking water
• Water corridors
• 5 million miles of rivers and tributaries
• Vital to exploration
• Often misused
• Competing uses

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Wetlands

• Transition zones between
  
  land and water
• Old 220 million acres
• Now 105 million acres
• Vital for birds and plants
• Coastal wetlands
• Support 95 of commercial fish/shellfish
  population
• 85-90 estuary habitat lost in last 40 years
• Shorelines and islands
• 88,000 miles of ocean coastline 11,000 miles
  along great lakes
• Coastal counties account for 50 of the US
  population and 17 of land area
• Coastlines are diverse
• Not enough public beaches

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Lakes and reservoirs

• 100,000 natural lakes in the US
• 256 are larger than 10 square miles
• Thousands of artificial lakes
• Used for recreation, agriculture, industry,
  drinking water

• Dam building
• Slowed in 1970s and stopped in 1980s
• Most needed dams done (ie. TVA)
• Negative effects controversial
• Collects and holds sediment
• Warm still water heats up and evaporates
• Aquatic life cant pass
• Fiscally unsound

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Wildlife

• Some numbers
• 3,700 game species
• 30 million hunters
• 36 million fishermen
• Presence of wildlife indicates intact environment
• Controversy over predator species
• Big game hunting
• Creation/saving habitat

• Endangered species on the brink of extinction
• Threatened species likely to become endangered
• Since 1967, 6 species on the list have recovered
  and 8 have vanished
• Program is controversial
• Key is to protect habitat, remove non-native
  species, and control hunting/poaching

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Historic and cultural resources

• Some outdoor recreation spaces are man-made
• Parkways and scenic roads
• Historic places
• All are unique and non-renewable

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Classification of recreation areas