Do people Still Care About Nature

Do people Still Care About Nature

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Do People Still Care About Nature
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/a7b38e97cbddab07?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 4 ==
Date: Thurs, Mar 6 2008 6:14 pm
From: "Edward Frank"

ENTS:

The Nature Conservancy:

http://www.nature.org/tncscience/misc/art23800.html

Nature recreation worldwide - from camping, hunting and fishing to park visitation - has declined sharply since the 1980s, and the negative consequences for nature and conservation could soon be profound, says a new study sponsored by The Nature Conservancy.

The study examines data from the United States, Japan and Spain on everything from backpacking to duck hunting. It builds upon earlier Conservancy-funded studies by Oliver Pergams of the University of Illinois-Chicago and Patricia Zaradic of the Environmental Leadership Program that correlated a decline in visits to U.S. National Parks with an increase in television, video game and Internet use.

Nature.org talked with Pergams and Zaradic about their latest study - and whether their findings mean that people no longer care about nature.

Ed Frank

== 2 of 4 ==
Date: Thurs, Mar 6 2008 7:22 pm
From: Gary Smith

Damn sure hope so, but have my doubts.

O

== 3 of 4 ==
Date: Thurs, Mar 6 2008 7:37 pm
From: "Ariel"

I'd respectfully suggest that that finding reflects more a rise in the
amount of spare time we spend on the computer rather than a lack of interest
in nature. Just MHO, though.

Lin

== 4 of 4 ==
Date: Thurs, Mar 6 2008 8:03 pm
From: "Edward Frank"

Lin,

Actually I think I have taken away from my TV time to play computer rather than outdoors time. There always has been something that took up peoples time. I don't think it is correct to blame it on computers, TV, Cell phones. It is to my way of thinking a result of a more hectic lifestyle, where we are driven to do everything, and don't have time to anything outside our overly scheduled existence. IMHO

Ed

== 2 of 3 ==
Date: Thurs, Mar 6 2008 9:29 pm
From: JamesRobertSmith

Personally, I spend more time hiking and camping and backpacking now
than at any time in my life (I'm 50). But I hit my teens during the
days when environmentalism and backpacking were beginning to hit a
fever pitch. While I do encounter a lot of people in particularly
popular spots, some areas I can hike in and encounter not a single
person. For instance: Shining Rock Wilderness is like a crowded mall
on weekends. But I can wander into the Middle Prong Wilderness (just a
mile away from Shining Rock) and have the place seemingly to myself
for days.

From my hiking and camping trips last year which ranged from Key West
in Florida to Mount Washington in New Hampshire, I have to say that
outdoor activities based around a love of nature seem to be pretty
darned popular. It could be that the corporate press wants to push an
anti-environmental agenda so that it makes it politically easier for
them to rape the Earth. That would be my take on such stories in the
corporate-owned mass media propaganda machine.

== 3 of 3 ==
Date: Fri, Mar 7 2008 4:51 am
From: "Joseph Zorzin"

I bet it hasn't declined in the advanced nations of Europe with their progressive governments, superior education and health systems, and leaders with brains.

Joe

== 2 of 3 ==
Date: Fri, Mar 7 2008 6:18 am
From: Larry

Ed,Gary,James,Joe,Ariel,JamesRobert,et,al:
I agree with James Smith, whenever I travel to a scenic or known Park,
Forest, etc., there are always people visiting. Most City folks are
the ones not into Nature not the rural folks. Go to the beach and see
if there are any people there. Every State Park in America is loaded
with Nature Lovers!
Larry

== 3 of 3 ==
Date: Fri, Mar 7 2008 8:08 am
From:

James,

I think that I know why the decline started in the early 1980's: Cable T.V. came into our neighborhood around 1980-1981. We went from 4 VHF and 2-3 UHF network and publi t.v. channels to around 100 channels of junk overnight, including MTV. Around the same time, Atari Pong was developing into better video games on the Amiga, starting the video game age. Then, in the late '80's, PC's, which ahd been picking up steam since the early '80's, were starting to get popular. By 1990, you could play decent video games on the PC. The result was that you weren't tying up the t.v. with a game console so that your siblings could watch junk on cable t.v. At the same time, more families had both parents going to work, so the t.v.'s and video games became the baby sitters at home so that kids didin't have to go outside in a world full of Son of Sam Killers and other evils. Then along came Lyme disease - we should never leave our homes. Now there is West Nile disease and others. Oh no!! Don't walk in the woods, if a serial killer doesn't get you, some bug will bite you and then you will die. I regularly see people that actually fear the outdoors and natural environments.

The new generations have even more options and distractions than we did. Don't worry, we take my son on "Nature Hikes" all the time. I hope that he won't fall into that urban indoor trap.

Paul Jost

Home