2020 National Park Service Visitation

  • 237 million recreation visits

  • Contributed $28.6 billion to national GDP

  • Generated $14.5 billion in spending in local communities

  • Supported 234,000 jobs in communities near national parks

Source: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/currentefforts.htm

2020 U.S. Forest Service Visitation

  • 168 million recreation visits

  • Added $12 billion to U.S. GDP

  • $10 billion in annual spending in areas near national forests and grasslands

  • Supported 154,000 full- and part-time jobs

Source: https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2020-National-Visitor-Use-Monitoring-Summary-Report.pdf

Outdoor Foundation Participation Report

  • 53 percent of Americans ages 6 and over participated in outdoor recreation at least once, the highest rate on record

  • 7.1 million more Americans participated in outdoor recreation in 2020 than in the year prior

  • 46% of participants were female

  • 75% of participants were white

  • Camping participation grew 28% with 7.9 million additional participants in 2020

  • 8.1 million more Americans hiked in 2020, an increase of 16.3%

RBFF Special Report on Fishing

  • 54.7 million Americans fished at least once during 2020

  • The fishing participation rate rose to 18% of the U.S. population

  • From 2019 to 2020, there was a net increase of 4.6 million fishing participants

  • Hispanics participated in fishing at a rate of 13% in 2020, the highest recorded

  • Nearly 1.8 million more women fished than in the year prior

Recreation Sales and Manufacturing

  • New-model powersports sales increased 18.4% in 2020

  • Sales of ATVs also jumped, rising 33.8% over 2019 levels

  • 40% of new boaters purchased a boat in 2020

  • More than 310,000 new powerboats were sold in 2020

  • Annual U.S. sales of boats, marine products and services are estimated to total $47 billion in 2020, up 9% from 2019

  • 95% of boats sold in the U.S. are American made

  • RV shipments in 2021 are forecasted to gain nearly 17% over 2020 totals

  • 25% of survey respondents say they are likely or very likely to purchase an RV in 2021

  • 98% of RVs sold are made in the U.S.

Source: ORR member reports

Recreation Attracts Workers

According to a study of Utah tech industry employees by Utah Outdoor Partners:

  • 82% of Utah tech-employed residents who left and eventually moved back to the state outdoor recreation and access to wilderness and public lands was the most important factor in moving back

  • 38% of the tech employees who participated in the study said they’ve been offered higher salaries to work in other states

    • Of those, 85% said outdoor recreation and access to wilderness and public lands was their most important factor in choosing to stay

  • 60% of the survey respondents said they utilize Utah’s outdoor opportunities at least once a week