Not
only are outdoor activities that embrace fishing, hunting, Rving and
other like pursuits important economic subjects for the United
States, they also are expanding at rates that exceed the nation’s
overall economic engine.
In
a much-detailed report called the “Outdoor Recreation Satellite
Account: Prototype Statistics for 2012-2016,” the U.S. Department
of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis says that
the outdoor recreation economy accounted for 2-percent
($373.7 billion) of current-dollar so-called “Gross Domestic
Product” for 2016.
Looked
at slightly differently,
the Commerce Department reports how the outdoor recreation economy
grew 3.8 percent in 2016 (the latest year for which complete data is
available). That figure is also one full point greater than did the
nation’s overall economic growth rate of 2.8 percent.
The
rates likewise saw a huge jump in 2015 at nearly six-percent before
settling back in
2016 to
levels more closely in line with those seen in 2013 and 2014.
Refined
further, the Commerce Department’s exhaustive report says that
outdoor recreation activities fall into three general categories.
These subsets include what’s officially known as “conventional
core activities” and which embrace such activities as bicycling,
boating, hiking, and hunting.
Another
subset of core activities including “agritourism”(a loosely
applied term that implies recreational visitation to farms and
ranches), and outdoor festivals, and supporting activities that
enfold construction, trips and travel, and government.
In
2016, conventional recreation accounted for 36.7 percent of total
outdoor recreation gross output, other recreation accounted for 22.1
percent, while supporting activities accounted for the remaining 41.2
percent, the Commerce Department says.
More
directly to individual components, the Commerce Department says that
motorized vehicle use was “the largest activity within conventional
outdoor recreation in 2016.”
This
outdoors market share accounted for $59.4 billion of gross output
with recreational vehicles “accounting for more than half of this
value at $30 billion,” the Commerce Department’s report states.
Boating
and sport fishing were not slackers, either, in helping fuel the
nation’s economic engine. These activities
were worth $38.2 billion in 2016, representing an increase of
4-percent from the previous year.
And
the combined hunting/shooting/trapping activities were valued at
$15.4 billion in 2016, with hunting accounting for over 60 percent of
this value, the Commerce Department said in its February 14th
report.
As
for the Commerce Department’s “multi-use apparel and accessories”
component which include backpacks, bug spray, and other
general-purpose gear and accessories that could not be allocated to
specific activities, this segment grew 7.2 percent in 2016 and
accounted for 35 percent of conventional outdoor recreation gross
output, the report says.
U.S.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says the data collected, analyzed and
subsequently made available to the public and – especially business
– can help the latter in hiring, investing and growth.
The
historical lack of detailed federal data regarding outdoor
recreational activities has handicapped both the private and public
sectors, Ross said as well.
“The
public will no doubt be surprised at the economic importance of this
industry as we release prototype statistics measuring the impact of
activities like boating, fishing, RVing, hunting, camping, hiking,
and more,” Ross said. “This release is a milestone and helps us
all gain new insights into this dynamic part of the U.S. economy.”
True
enough says the Washington D.C.-based Theodore Roosevelt Conservation
Partnership, a non-profit coalition of conservation and pro-sportsmen
organizations.
“It’s
an extraordinary step forward to be able to quantify exactly how much
America’s hunters, anglers, boaters, hikers, bikers, skiers,
wildlife watchers, and other outdoor enthusiasts are contributing to
a healthy economy and job market,” said Whit Fosburgh, the
Partnership’s president and CEO.
Fosburgh
said as well that the Commerce Department report does not even take
into account recreational trips of less than 50 miles; about
two-thirds of all outdoor recreation trips. Nor does the Commerce
report take into account he sale of imported recreational goods,
Fosburgh says.
Tally
it all together and the nation’s outdoor recreation economy is
worth $887 billion annually, Fosburgh also says.
“When
you consider that there are also many unquantifiable benefits of
getting outside, including fostering healthy bodies and minds, you
would think that growing this sector would be a top priority for our
national decision makers,” Fosburgh said, noting the importance of
the report in framing how the government addresses the topic of
public lands, their use and any possible disposal.
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
No comments:
Post a Comment