havent seen this posted yet ... some very interesting stuff ...

http://www.outdoorindustry.org/images/researchfiles/OIA_2011_OutdoorRecreationParticipationReport.pdf

Key Findings
• Nearly 50 percent of Americans ages
six and older participated in outdoor
recreation in 2010. That is almost the same
participation rate as 2009 and equates to a
total of 137.9 million Americans.
• A mere 40 percent of outdoor enthusiasts
participated in outdoor activities at least
once a week in 2010, and only 24 percent
got outside two times per week or more.
• Gateway activities, outdoor activities that
are popular and accessible, continued
to engage Americans in the outdoors.
Those who participate in gateway activities
are more likely to participate in another
outdoor activity than they are likely to
participate in only one activity.
• An outdoor lifestyle appears to provide
unique fitness and health benefits.
On average, outdoor participants rate
their fitness levels at 6.4 on a 10-point
scale versus 5.1 for non-participants.
Participants’ perspectives on their own
health was even higher with a rating of 7.5
versus 6.5 for non-participants.
• The participation rate among Americans
who live in communities with designated
walking and biking trails is higher than
those without easy access.
• There is some good news about
participation in outdoor recreation this
year. While there was no significant
growth in 2010, most participation rates
either leveled off or grew modestly — a
marked improvement from the past years’
significant drops.
• Although girls’ participation in outdoor
recreation is still lower than boys’, those
participation rates showed improvement
or leveling in 2010. Participation rates
among boys leveled or fell.
• Youth and adolescents are motivated to
get outside simply because they think
“outdoor activities are cool.”
• Engaging youth in outdoor recreation and
other activities makes a lasting impression.
Among adults who are current outdoor
participants, more than 79 percent
reported having a physical education class
between the ages of 6 and 12. Almost
60 percent of adult outdoor participants
took part in outdoor activities from ages
6 to 12, compared to only 21 percent of
non-outdoor participants — that’s a nearly
40-percent gap.
• Outdoor enthusiasts use technology
to connect to the outdoors. More than
60 percent of outdoor enthusiasts ages
18 to 44 use technology to search for
information about outdoor recreation.
• Consistent with past reports, participation
in outdoor activities was significantly
higher among Caucasians than any other
ethnicity and lowest among African
Americans in nearly all age groups.
• Although African Americans have the
lowest overall outdoor participation rate,
there was a significant increase in African
American kids’ participation this year.
Forty-eight percent participated in 2010
compared to 39 percent the previous year.