Note that the data published in the 2002 State of the Nation’s Ecosystems Report as well as the 2003 and 2005 Web-Only Updates have been superseded by the 2008 Report and thus should be used with caution. For the most recent data, purchase the 2008 Report from Island Press.

What Is This Indicator, and Why Is It Important? This indicator will report the number of days per year that people engage in a variety of recreational activities on the nation’s grasslands and shrublands. Activities will include hunting; off-road vehicle (ORV) driving, motorsports, mountain biking, and snowmobiling; bird watching and nature study; and hiking and camping. (Other categories necessary to describe grassland/shrubland recreation more fully may be added when data become available.)

A great deal of recreation takes place on grasslands and shrublands. These lands provide a benefit to society through recreation in much the same way that they support the production of cattle.

Why Can't This Indicator Be Reported at This Time? There are no national data sets that document the type and amount of recreation on grasslands and shrublands. The National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation (http://fa.r9.fws.gov/surveys/surveys.html) and the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment (http://www.srs.fs.fed.us/trends/nsre.html) both provide reliable data on these activities, but neither survey identifies whether these activities take place on grasslands or shrublands, in forests, on farmlands, or elsewhere.

Adequate reporting would require modification of existing surveys to elicit information either on the location of recreational activities or on the amount of recreation in grassland/shrubland areas.

See also the indicators of recreational activity in farmlands, forests, and fresh waters, as well as the core national recreation indicator.