You are here

Bringing Color to the Public Lands Landscape

Share

Wayne Hare

Well-familiar is the cry that our parks are in danger of losing mass appeal because visitation is flagging (this year seems to be bucking that trend, but that's fodder for another post). More serious, in my opinion, is that the diversity among park visitors seems to be lagging.

Park Service officials realize this, and are working on ways to boost the racial diversity in the visitorship.

But perhaps the best essay I've seen yet addressing this issue is one that surfaced today via the Writers on the Range syndicate. Written by Wayne Hare, a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger in western Colorado, the essay raises some thought-provoking issues tying diversity to the future of our public lands.

The most recent U.S. Census indicates that sometime around the year 2050, people of color in this country will outnumber the current white majority. If the emerging future majority doesn't find intrinsic value in our birthright of publicly owned lands, how much tougher will it be to fund and protect these special areas?

You can read Mr. Hare's essay here.

Comments

I think it's all pretty simple -- people with the means to get to the National Parks go visit the National Parks. Those who can't afford it generally don't and/or can't. Well surprise surprise -- the percentage of African Americans who fall into the group of "can't afford it" is higher than in the group of those that "can afford it." If something isn't accessible, you generally will look for other things to spend your money on for entertainment and relaxation. Where do the National Parks exist for the most part? -- about as far away from most African Americans as you can get -- not in the cities and suburbs. So the problem to solve, if anything, is getting more spending money in the hands of African Americans while at the same time fostering a culture of caring about the Parks in the first place. You can tell them they should care about the Parks, but if they can't get to them, why care at all? The question to ask is this -- do African Americans with the means to visit the parks actually do so?

Funny though, I don't hear anyone complaining that there aren't enough cowboys visiting New York City, Miami, or Detroit.

-- Jon Merryman


To say that this has been an interesting discussion to follow would be an understatement. It's also not a new discussion, but rather one that's been poked and prodded from various angles since at least 1963, as the following list of studies indicates:

Allison, M. T. (1993). “Access and boundary maintenance: Serving culturally diverse populations.” Culture, conflict, and communicationin the wildland-urban interface. A.W. Wert, D.J. Chavez, and A.W. Magill, ed., Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 99-107.

Bass, J. M., Ewert, A., and Chavez, D. J. (1993). “Influence of ethnicity on recreation and natural environment use patterns: Managing recreation sites for ethnic and racial diversity,” Environmental Management 17, 523-529.

Chavez, D. J. (1991). “Ethnic and racial group similarities and differences: A tool for resource managers.” Abstracts from the 1991 Symposium on Leisure Research. C. Sylvester and L. Caldwell, ed., National Recreation and Park Association, Alexandria, VA.

Chavez, D. J. (1993). “Visitor perceptions of crowding and discrimination at two national forests in Southern California,” Research Paper PSW-RP- 216, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, Riverside, CA.

Chavez, D. J. , Baas, J., and Winter, P. L. (1993). “Mecca Hills visitor research case study,” Report BLM/CA/ST-93-005-9560, Bureau of Land Management, Sacramento, CA.

Dragon, C. (1986). “Native American under representation in national parks: Tests of marginality and ethnicity hypotheses,” Unpublished M.S. Thesis, University of Idaho Department of Wildland Management, Moscow, ID.

Dunn, R. A. (1998). “African-American recreation at two Corps of Engineers projects: A preliminary assessment,” Natural Resources Technical Note REC-10, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS.

Dunn, R. A. (1999). “Asian-American recreation at two Corps lakes in California: A Hmong case study,” Natural Resources Technical Note REC-12, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS. View on-line or download nrrec12.exe.

Dunn, R. A. (1999). “Hispanic American recreation at two Corps lakes in Texas and California,” Natural Resources Technical Note REC-11, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS.

Dunn, R.A. (2002). "Managing for Ethnic Diversity: Recreation Facility and Service Modifications for Ethnic Minority Visitors," ERDC/EL TR-02-14. U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS. View Chapters 1-2 or Chapters 3-6 and Appendix A-D.

Dunn, R. A., and Feather, T. D. (1998). “Native American recreation at Corps projects: Results of six focus groups,” Natural Resources Technical Note REC-09, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS.

Dunn, R. A. and Quebedeaux, D. M. (1999). "Methodology for recreation data acquisition and evaluation for ethnic minority visitors to corps of engineers projects," Technical Report R-99-1, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS.

Dwyer, J. F. (1994). “Customer diversity and the future demand for outdoor recreation,” General Technical Report RM-22, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins, CO.

Dwyer, J. F., and Hutchison, R. (1990). “Outdoor recreation participation and preferences by black and white Chicago households.” Social science and natural resource recreation management. J. Vining, ed., Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 49-67.

Floyd, M. F. (1991). “Ethnic patterns in outdoor recreation participation: Effects of cultural and structural assimilation.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Texas A&M University Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Science, College Station, TX.

Floyd, M. F. (1998). “Getting beyond marginality and ethnicity: The challenge for race and ethnic studies in leisure research,” Journal of Leisure Research 20(1), 3-22.

Floyd, M. F., and Gramann, J. H. (1993). “Effects of acculturation and structural assimilation in resource-based recreation: The case of Mexican Americans,” Journal of Leisure Research 25, 6-21.

Floyd,M.F., Shinew,K.J., McGuire, F.A.,and Noe, N.P.(1994).“Race, class, and leisure activity preferences: Marginality and ethnicity revisited,” Journal of Leisure Research 26, 158-173.

Frey, William H. (1998). “The diversity myth.” American Demographics 6/98, 39-43.

Glazer, N., and Moynihan, D. (1963). Beyond the melting pot. MIT and Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA

Gobster, P. H., and Delgado, A. (1992). “Ethnicity and recreation in Chicago’s Lincoln Park: In-park user survey findings.” Managing Urban Parks and High-Use Recreation Settings. P.H. Gobster, ed., General Technical Report NC-163, USDA Forest Service Northcentral Forest Experiment Station, St. Paul, MN, 75-81.

Gomez, E. (1999). "Reconceptualizing the relationship between ethnicity and public recreation: A proposed model." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Michigan State University, Department of Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources and Urban Affairs Programs. Short version.

Gordon, M. (1964). Assimilation into American life: The role of race, religion, and national origins. Oxford University Press, New York.

Gramann, J. H. (1996). “Ethnicity, race, and outdoor recreation: A review of trends, policy, and research,” WES Miscellaneous Paper R-96-1, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS.

Gramann, J. H., and Floyd, M. F. (1991). “Ethnic assimilation and recreation use of the Tonto National Forest,” Technical Report on file with the Wildland Recreation and Urban Culture Project, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, Riverside, CA.

Gramann, J. H., and Floyd, M. F. (1991). “Ethnic assimilation and recreation use of the Tonto National Forest,” Technical Report on file with the Wildland Recreation and Urban Culture Project, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, Riverside, CA.

Gramann, J. H., Floyd, M. F., and Ewert, A. (1992). “Interpretation and Hispanic American ethnicity.” On interpretation: Sociology for interpreters of natural and cultural history. G.E. Machlis and D.R. Field, ed., Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, OR, 161-177.

Gramann, J. H., Floyd, M. F., and Saenz, R. (1993). “Outdoor recreation and Mexican American ethnicity: A benefits perspective.”Culture, conflict, and communication in the wildland-urban interface. A.W. Ewert, D.J. Chavez, and A.W. Magill, ed., Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 69- 84.

Henderson, J. E. (1995). “Plan of study for the Ethnic Culture and Corps Recreation Use Work Unit,” Unpublished Manuscript Prepared for Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Laboratory, Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS.

Hutchison, R. (1988). “A critique of race, ethnicity, and social class in recent leisure-recreation research,” Journal of Leisure Research 20, 10-30.

Irwin, P. N., Gartner, W. G., and Phelps, C. C. (1990). “Mexican American/Anglo cultural differences as recreation style determinants,” Leisure Sciences 12, 335-348.

Knowlton, C. S. (1972). “Culture, conflict, and natural resources.” Social behavior, natural resources and the environment. W. Burch, Jr., N.H. Cheek, Jr., and L. Taylor, ed., Harper and Row, NewYork, 109-145.

Lee, R. G. (1972). “The social definition of outdoor recreational places.” Social behavior, natural resources, and the environment. W.R. Burch, Jr., N.H. Cheek, Jr., and L. Taylor, ed., Harper and Row, New York, 68-94.

Lynch, B. D. (1993). “The garden and the sea: U.S. Latino environmental discourse and mainstream Environmentalism,” Social Problems 40, 108-124.

Market Opinion Research. (1988). “Participation in outdoor recreation among American adults and the motivations which drive participation,” Report prepared for the President’s Commission on American Outdoors.

McDonald, D., and McAvoy, L. (1997). “Native Americans and leisure: State of the research and future directions.” Journal of Leisure Research, 29(2), 145-166.

McLemore, S. D. (1991). Racial and ethnic relations in America. Allyn and Bacon, Inc., Boston

Outley, C. W. (1995). “The influence of perceived discrimination in determining recreation behavior of African Americans in Southern Illinois,” Presentation at the 19th Annual Graduate Research Symposium of the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.

Schreyer, R., and Knopf, R. C. (1984). “The dynamics of change in outdoor recreation environments—some equity issues,” Journal of Park and Recreation Administration 2, 9-19.

McGuire, F. A., O’Leary, J. T., Alexander, P. B., and Dottavio, F. D.(1987). “A comparison of outdoor recreation preference and constraints of black and white elderly,” Activities, Adaptations, and Aging 9, 95-104.

Scott, D. (1993). “Use and non-use of public parks in Northeast Ohio: Differences between African-Americans and whites.” Proceedings of the 1993 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. G.A. Vander Stoep, ed., General Technical Report NE-185, USDA Forest Service Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Radnor, PA, 224-227.

Shaull, S. L. (1993). “Family-related and nature-related recreation benefits among Anglo Americans and Hispanic Americans: A study of acculturation and primary structural assimilation,” Unpublished M.S. thesis, Texas A&M University Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, College Station, TX.

Simcox, D. E., and Pfister, R. E. (1990). “Hispanic values and behavior related to outdoor recreation and the environment,” USDA Forest Service Contract Report, USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, Riverside, CA.

Taylor, D. E. (1989). “Blacks and the environment: Toward an explanation of the concern and action gap between blacks and whites,” Environment and Behavior 21, 175-205.

Washburne, R. F. (1978). “Black under-participation in wildland recreation: Alternative explanations,” Leisure Sciences 1, 175-189.

Washburne, R., and Wall, P. (1980). “Black-white ethnic differences in outdoor recreation,” Research Paper INT-29, USDA Forest ServiceIntermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Ogden, UT.

West, P. C. (1993). “The tyranny of metaphor: Interracial relations, minority recreation, and the wildland-urban interface.” Culture, conflict, and communication in the wildland-urban interface. A.W. Ewert, D.J. Chavez, and A.W. Magill, ed., Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 109-115.

Williams, D. R., and Carr, D. S. (1993). “The sociocultural meanings of outdoor recreation places.” Culture, conflict, and communication in the wildland-urban interface. A.W. Ewert, D.J. Chavez, and A.W. Magill, ed., Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 209-219.

That this subject has held some fascination for the better part of the past half-century would seem to indicate that while there's a concern over recreation trends, no one has come up with a satisfactory cause and effect. Is it race, is it culture, is it the price of gas, is it the latest video game? Could it be as simple as the fact that kids and families can watch 40 hours of television a week and not see one commercial about the parks nor one program about the parks unless they have cable or satellite?

Why are foreign cultures (Germans, Japanese, French, etc) seemingly so enthralled with America's national parks, while our own melting pot indifferent to a certain degree? And are those overseas cultures actually so enthralled, or is it just a minority of them who have the desire and the financial wherewithal to go abroad? Is this discussion as over-stoked as are those over park visitation trends?

Perhaps the solution is best addressed from the inside out, by bringing more diversity to the National Park Service, and letting it trickle down. But that, I'm sure, is too simplistic as well.


What I absolutely do NOT want to see is the National Park Service advertising or marketing itself to attract visitors. The parks are what they are -- and it should be a timeless attraction, not whatever this- or that-generation thinks is hip or chic at the moment.

-- Jon


Kurt Repanshek asked me to read the comments and write a response. I don’t want to get involved in an on-going discussion. I’m not an expert on this. I’m just an outdoor guy who made some observations and commented on those observations. Regarding empirical data versus hard science: Many have had the same observations as I. On August 3rd, 2005, Fran Mainella, past Director of the National Park Service wrote a memo to all “Employees, Stakeholders, and Partners” recognizing the lack of both employee and visitor diversity within National Parks. Bob Stanton, NPS Director immediately prior to Ms. Mainella was vocal and committed to the Park Service reflecting the “Face of America.” In the spring of 2006 Director Mainella’s office released a study highlighting the poor performance of the Park Service in hiring and promoting ethnically diverse staff. The National Parks and Conservation Association, http://www.npca.org/, a non-profit Park Service partner and watchdog so greatly recognizes this lack of diversity among staff and visitors to National Parks that the organization has a director of diversification, Iantha Gantt-Wright. Frank and Audrey Peterman, after an extensive recreational tour of National Parks in all corners of the country were so struck by the lack of diversity started Earthwise Productions, http://www.earthwiseproductionsinc.com/index.html, a successful environmental education and travel company to introduce a more diverse audience to our National Parks. Earthwise has become an official partner with the Park Service. When I was kayaking the White Salmon River in south central Washington state about 18 years ago, an Asian boater approached me with a smile and a handshake, saying, “It’s great to see another boater of color out here.” So, many people and organizations seem to have been able to observe this situation without the benefit of studies. The need and ability to ignore what one sees and rely on studies always amazes me. When I was young and single, I observed, as all single young outdoorsmen have, that a lot more men participate in outdoor recreation than woman. None of us needed the validation of a study. However, for those who do need the validation of studies, I have sent a list of some 47 relevant studies to this web site in the hope that National Park Traveler will make it available to its readers. Doctor Nina Roberts, a professor at San Francisco State University, has partially made a career out of passionately studying the issue, and I’ll certainly ask Doctor Roberts to respond to this site with more scholarly information than I have. So if you really need a study to validate what is easy to see, there you go.

The studies themselves are diverse and include blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Native Americans. The studies include not only the Park Service, but the BLM, the Forest Service and the Army Corps of Engineers as well and includes large national parks as well as small state parks in such places as southern Illinois and Northern Ohio.

I’ve talked to hundreds of individuals and maybe a dozen or so groups - both as a private citizen and as a representative of different organizations - about diversity in the outdoors, and I’ve noticed a couple of things. People have an extraordinarily difficult time talking about race, and almost always need to alter the focus and talk about kids, or socio-economic status, or something other than pure race. It’s just a bad subject with uncomfortable connotations. I’ve noticed that it is difficult for people to not feel somehow blamed – if they’re white. To not go to what they might have to give up if more diversity were to exist in the outdoors. I’ve noticed that people immediately assume the discussion is about some kind of entitlement program, such as affirmative action. I’ve observed that people want to know whose fault it is that more people of color aren’t out in the backcountry. People often need to bring in diversity other than ethnic – to include religion, or Europeans, or financial diversity – as though that’s what we’re talking about and to prove that diversity in the backcountry certainly exist. (hey, I saw a GERMAN out there!!) And I guess if that’s what you’re talking about, than yes, diversity in the backcountry exist. So…I want to be as clear as I can be: Yes, the discussion is about ethnic diversity…the kind that comes with dark skin color. No, it’s not a secret code word. Yes, more kids should get outdoors. But when I go into the backcountry, I am happy to see quite a few children and I am gratified that their parents are exposing them to something they can healthfully enjoy their entire lives. But those kids that I see are almost always white. Somebody else can focus a discussion on urban youth not being in the outdoors, because that’s an issue as well. Yes, National Park issues of climate change, invasive species, environmental degradation, and excessive development are more important than the issue of ethnic diversity – but within our lifetime, as that pendulum swings and the majority of people in this country are people of color who may not have a positive attachment to nor any involvement with the land, ethnic diversity/ethnic affinity for the backcountry will take on a whole new and important meaning.

I’m not blaming anybody. I don’t buy into “white male disease.” Lack of diversity in the outdoors is not the intentional fault of any living person. And if a discussion of anything to do with race is a difficult discussion to have – well – I asked the question, “What can diversity do for all of us?” And I did have a short answer having to do with the difficulty of garnering support for our wild places and public lands when the majority population is comprised of people of color.

But how about…the great outdoors serving as a classroom of people just getting along without race being a factor at all? What better classroom? After all, if it rains we get wet, and when the temperature dips we get cold. If we flip our kayak in a class 4 rapid, we swim like heck and think about drowning. Nature doesn’t care what race you are, and for the most part, the folks that I’ve met out there don’t care either.

Race - how about…if we used the great outdoors to just get over it? Is it always going to be an uncomfortable topic? People don’t always have to feel blamed, to figure out who’s at fault, to rebel against a perceived entitlement program, to pretend that they lost their job because of somebody else’s need to hire a diverse staff.

How about…if we used the naturally occurring egalitarian nature of nature to just get over it, and in so doing began to truly live up to the national potential that our forefathers envisioned by using and involving all of our citizens? Nobody looses. Nobody gives anything up. Nobody gets blamed. Well, a person might have to give up their excuse for loosing their job.

People like to invoke, “It’s culture, not color.” I hear that all the time. But we’ve been together over six hundred years! Do we really have different cultures? Or is that a myth? When famed cowboy singer/songwriter Michael Martin Murphey played a concert in Moab, Utah a few months ago he lamented that if he’d been holding that concert a hundred years ago, 25% of his audience would have been people of color. He knows. Grant-Kohrs National Historic Ranch in Montana, a National Park Service site, right on their web site at http://www.npca.org/nps.gov/grko, exposes the lie that in the days of the old west, all cowboys were white. Grant-Kohrs knows.

As far as financial: Ahhh, myths die just sooo hard. I don’t know what the overall financial status of black Americans is. I’ve been to quite a few wealthy black suburban neighborhoods. I ski patrolled in Aspen for 6 years. The largest ski club in the country is the Brotherhood of Skiers. Skiing ain't cheap. I patrolled at Aspen for 6 years. A day pass for one person cost $78 dollars (more now), skis, bindings, and boots, with my deep ski patrol discount, cost me maybe $1,400.00 a crack. Meals at Aspen - where the Brotherhood likes to convene every few years and where the club was founded, are easily $75.00 per person, and quickly and easily go up from there. Rooms can go for $1,000's a night, but several hundred per night is standard. Plane fare to get to Aspen? And when the Brotherhood is in town, they party hearty and dress to be noticed!

What can diversity do for all of us of? It’s a real question. And it has real answers. Backed up by real studies. We can stop squandering so much time, energy, goodwill, and money on the myth of race.

I’m glad folks are in this discussion. Thanks.


Ranger Hare, your comments are well taken...good input! Your comments have become a beacon light towards the issue on diversity in the National Parks.


Wayne,

Thanks very much for adding to the discussion on the website! I've been thinking about this topic all day. Your questions are good and worth exploring, specifically, what can racial diversity in the outdoors do for all of us?

But the question -- why aren't there more dark-skinned folks in the backcountry -- leads to a discussion of race that, in my opinion, misses something. As you address in your response, black folk cannot be pigeoned holed into any single stereotype (nor should they). Just like the rest of Americans, black folks are rich, poor, young, old, men, women, craftsman, outdoorsman, lawyers, bankers, ... you get where I'm going. And so, the question needs refinement, how about, why aren't there more dark-skinned families of means, like the Brotherhood of Skiers, present in the backcountry?

I know lots of white folks of means who would rather avoid the outdoors too. Like Ranger X, I've got friends who just don't get why anyone would spend a night in a tent. I have wondered today, why is it that outdoor lovers of all colors love the outdoors? In my case, I was introduced to the wonders of the outdoors by my parents, and on vacations as a kid. And so, because I know no different, perhaps to get a more ethnically diverse crowd in the backcountry, we must concentrate on the kids! Yes, the conversation does come back to kids and the outdoors. I'm not trying to avoid the issue of race (indeed, a delicate subject), it just seems to me race is far to broad a metric to ask specific questions and hope get meaningful answers in return.


This is per capita income for Boston in 2005. Just a single example but fairly consistent with most samplings from most metro areas I've seen. I'd wager that here in Baltimore or DC it's the same if not worse.

White $41,194
Asian American $20,350
Hispanic or Latino $14,104
Black or African American $16,553

Not a pigeonhole, nor a stereotype. Just plain unvarnished statistics. Call it what you want. It's a factor. And this is the problem that needs addressing first if there's any attempt to address the secondary issue of why "people of color" generally don't travel great distances to visit national parks or play golf or go on African safaris or anything else that requires a serious outlay of cash. I'm glad some people are getting out to ski. It's too expensive for my tastes. So is golf, for that matter!

People with lesser-paying jobs are more likely to NOT have health insurance, probably don't have paid vacation time, probably need to work MORE hours to keep the bills paid, and don't have many options when a family crisis comes up. How can you relax at all when the bills keep coming, you have little or no savings, and little nor no job security?

Check out these stats from Annapolis where the US Naval Academy is located here in Maryland. For black families, just under 50% are single parent families. Of those, 85% are female-led single parent families, and of those, about 40% are living in poverty. Would you agree that single parents are less likely to take the kids camping or go to Mount Rushmore? That females are statistically less likely to have an interest in the outdoors and as a result less likely to take the kids to a National Park? And those in poverty are lucky if they get to walk by the park on their way to the bus stop?
I'm not judging people that wound up on this crappy rung of society, but there they are and we're worried about whether they enjoy the parks? Let's get them to learn English and finish high school and stay together as a two-parent family, and I truly believe the rest will follow. Google on "Maslow's hierarchy of needs"...

-- Jon


I don't pretend to be a statistician, so no worry there about how I apply them. I live in a part of the world where white people live in the big homes and black people generally don't. The dumpy part of town is 70% black and the nice areas are 90% white. I don't need any numbers to tell me that's former injustices still having a negative effect on people's lives. I've lived in California too, and yes things are a bit different there in SOME places and your neighborhood certainly varies from the next and from mine. I'm not saying there are bigger problems with the parks that need addressing first, but there are definitely bigger social issues that I see as more important to us as a country. Visit any school redistricting hearing in my area and you'll KNOW what I'm talking about.

-- Jon Merryman


Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.