Does Biophobia Hurt Golf?

[iacas]

18 minutes ago, ScouseJohnny said:

The National Park data is interesting, when you look at it thoroughly. Yes, 2015 was a "record breaking year" for recreational visits, but the number of visits basically plateaued from around the start of the 1980s up until recently. Some years showed increases, others showed declines. I suppose if one considers that the US population in 1980 was 100 million people smaller than it is today, the plateauing is arguably represents a decline in use

1980 - 220,463,211
2015 - 307,247,252

Populations:

1980 - 226.5M
2015 - 318.9M

So…
220.4/226.5 = 0.973068433
307.2/318.9 = 0.963311383

Not much of a decline.  1%.

[nevets88]

I love the outdoors, I've been to most of the major national parks, they are nature's cathedrals but you'll have to pry my mobile device from my dead cold heads, what's wrong with co-existence of nature and technology?

Entrance prices might have gone up, but it's transportation and boarding expenses that effect whether I go or not. With gas prices lower, I bet more are going to National Parks this summer.

It would be more telling to get a breakdown of visits by area or even by park because the Lincoln Memorial (which is much more susceptible to economic downturns) for example is considered a national park, no? That's not exactly what you're think when you're thinking national park.

Yeah, the White House is considered a NP, look at its numbers post 9/11:

https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/SSRSReports/Park Specific Reports/Annual Park Recreation Visitation (1904 - Last Calendar Year)?Park=YOSE

And then look at Yellowstone:

https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/SSRSReports/Park Specific Reports/Annual Park Recreation Visitation (1904 - Last Calendar Year)?Park=YELL

I bet since a lot of DC's popular sites are NPs, that skews the numbers.

Golf has always and will always be a niche activity.

[Dave2512]

Anyone that lives in CO knows the parks are full. I'd like to fish this afternoon but the state park near the house will be jammed.

[JonMA1]

38 minutes ago, iacas said:

Populations:

1980 - 226.5M
2015 - 318.9M

So…
220.4/226.5 = 0.973068433
307.2/318.9 = 0.963311383

Not much of a decline.  1%.

And there are a bunch of possibilities that a 1% decline could be attributed to... many of which would be (in my mind) more feasible than a newly developed fear of nature among the population.

Now I suppose as technology changes and both accurate and inaccurate information is made more readily available, that could change our views on nature... slightly. But I doubt it.

This sounds too much like someone publishing an opinion based on his own experiences. James Campbell (the author) wrote a book about a trip to the Alaskan frontier with his family. While that sounds like fun to me, I'd guess that it was never something the typical American family would do during any generation of the last 100 years. So if this is his reference point to our modern culture and the great outdoors, it's a little skewed IMO.

In any event, I don't believe this has much to do with Golf. While the golf course has plenty of nature, getting bothered by gnats seems to be the most likely "danger" one might expect to encounter.

Edited August 6, 2016 by JonMA1

[WUTiger]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

If that's too small: "the sites hosted a record-breaking 307.2 million visits in 2015"

Good find, @iacas and @ScouseJohnny. Lots of up and down since 2001, with big jump from 2014 to 2015.

LA Times author had made this general statement, without citing specific data:

Quote

"Conservation ecologist Patricia Zaradic of the Environmental Leadership Program and conservation biologist Oliver Pergams of the University of Illinois at Chicago have documented a disturbing trend of declining per-capita visits to national parks and forests ...since the late 1980s."

I would have hoped the two scientists would have controlled for things like weather, and economic conditions such as gasoline shortages.

13 hours ago, Jeremie Boop said:

How anyone could have a fear of nature like that..... Just ridiculous, nature is beautiful.

Jeremie's hawk story reminded me of a wildlife adventure when playing in Ft. Sill Golf Club in Oklahoma. On the old No.14 hole, a par 4 over a lake, my partner and I had to wait to hit our approaches until we coaxed two deer out of the landing area. On the next hole, we heard a rustling down in the creekbed after we hit our tee shots. Up pops a large bobcat, which looked at us, sniffed the air, and then sprinted off in the direction of the deer. Never did find out if the cat had a venison lunch that day.

[ScouseJohnny]

39 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

Lots of up and down since 2001, with big jump from 2014 to 2015.

That's one of the really intriguing things about the data.

If we were having this conversation in 2013, and thinking about it in terms of use of National Parks per capita, it would look very different.

US Population in 1983: 252.92 million; National Park visits: 243,619,396

US Population in 2013: 315.8 million; National Park visits: 273,630,895

The population had increased by 24.86% in 30 years, but the number of National Park visits had increased by only 12.3%

But then there is a massive 12.3% increase in National Park visits from 2013 to 2015, even though the US population only grew by 1.6% in that time. Prior to 2014 there had been some fluctuations in the numbers of National Park visits, but the data was actually fairly static.

Assuming that the National Park data was still collected in the same way in 2014 and 2015, as had been the case for previous years going back decades, one thing is for certain! Today's Americans are not showing any new reticence to enjoy the outdoors via National Park visits. Quite the reverse, in fact.

Edited August 6, 2016 by ScouseJohnny

[Papa Steve 55]

It would be interesting to look at gas prices vs park attendance. Could be other economic factors also, if we were doing really well maybe the trip Disney or Europe looked better than a run to Yellow Stone.

[Gator Hazard]

18 hours ago, Jeremie Boop said:

I'm not saying it's not true, but the idea of fearing nature... It's just ludicrous to me, I love nature. They seem to come up with new stuff that people can be diagnosed with every day.

That said, I had a pretty awesome experience today with nature. Right behind the school where I work there was a hawk just chilling eating a mouse. He started off facing away but saw a bunch of us gawking at him and started showing off, throwing his mouse in the air and picking it back up.

How anyone could have a fear of nature like that..... Just ridiculous, nature is beautiful.

Nice. I think I mentioned once before I saw the most insane thing ever:. A dead hawk right next too a dead squirrel. No idea how it happened. I love nature as well. Nothing is better than spending some time outdoors where there is more trees, green and water than concrete and cars. 

[Jeremie Boop]

7 minutes ago, Gator Hazard said:

Nice. I think I mentioned once before I saw the most insane thing ever:. A dead hawk right next too a dead squirrel. No idea how it happened. I love nature as well. Nothing is better than spending some time outdoors where there is more trees, green and water than concrete and cars. 

The coolest part of that whole thing was he was legitimately showing off for us once he saw we were watching him. He just kept picking up that mouse and tossing it in the air then walking over to it and doing it again. We all walked away finally and I went outside to go back to my building. While I was walking across the parking lot I looked back and could see him. He took one last look at the window we were in, could see we weren't there anymore, picked up the mouse and flew into the tree to eat it. 

[Patch]

5 hours ago, ScouseJohnny said:

That's one of the really intriguing things about the data.

If we were having this conversation in 2013, and thinking about it in terms of use of National Parks per capita, it would look very different.

US Population in 1983: 252.92 million; National Park visits: 243,619,396

US Population in 2013: 315.8 million; National Park visits: 273,630,895

The population had increased by 24.86% in 30 years, but the number of National Park visits had increased by only 12.3%

But then there is a massive 12.3% increase in National Park visits from 2013 to 2015, even though the US population only grew by 1.6% in that time. Prior to 2014 there had been some fluctuations in the numbers of National Park visits, but the data was actually fairly static.

Assuming that the National Park data was still collected in the same way in 2014 and 2015, as had been the case for previous years going back decades, one thing is for certain! Today's Americans are not showing any new reticence to enjoy the outdoors via National Park visits. Quite the reverse, in fact.

One of my NPS volunteer duties is to collect visitor data at what ever park we are at. Pretty sure I saw a number that 417 million people visited U.S. national parks in 2015. Some parks lost visitors, while others gained visitors over the prior years.  

[nevets88]

Ah, that explains the uptick. NPS celebrating centennial. Also noticed after Burns' documentary was released in 2009, attendance went down. So much for the influence of tv. I have to think "cheap" gas has something to do with it.

Quote

As the National Park Service celebrates its 100th birthday Aug. 25, visitors are about to break attendance records at Yosemite and other parks for the second year in a row. More than 4 million people visited Yosemite last year, the highest total ever, and the number of visitors through June of this year eclipsed last year’s total for the same period. Likewise, more than 307 million people visited Park Service properties last year, and this year’s figures suggest another record in the making.

http://www.sacbee.com/entertainment/living/travel/article94020687.html

Quote

Today, some of the most overwhelmed places — like Zion, Acadia, Grand Canyon and Yosemite — are encouraging (and in some cases, requiring) visitors to park their cars near the entrances and tour the park in shuttle buses. Other approaches to limiting daily visitors, from increasing entry fees or requiring reservations, may be considered at some parks, but will need to be balanced against the founding idea that these parks exist for the public’s benefit and enjoyment.

A recent park service report estimated that national park visits last year contributed $32 billion to the nation’s economy (including $16.9 billion of tourist spending in gateway communities) and supported 295,000 jobs. That represents a $10 return on every dollar appropriated to run them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/07/opinion/sunday/are-we-loving-our-national-parks-to-death.html?_r=0

[nevets88]

A little off-topic, but glamping, luxury camping, especially near National Parks is getting more popular. Biophobic? Bring civilization to nature.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/14/travel/glamping-national-parks-camping.html

[WUTiger]

3 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

... Biophobic? Bring civilization to nature. ...

Caution: That's how the buffalo herds almost got wiped out.

[Kalnoky]

My home course is near a National Wildlife Refuge. I get the best of both worlds.

I photographed these two guys just oob past the #12 tee box.

[Valleygolfer]

I live in a national park and geezo I haven't seen so many people here since I moved here 7 seven years ago. Traffic all week long with no let up...

[No Mulligans]

After a bone marrow transplant with dangerously low white cell counts the Doctors told me... Avoid bacteria, fungus, viruses.  I was told not to air travel, no restaurants, don't shake hands, bleach the kitchen counters, no left-over meals, no vegetables (!) unless canned or frozen, no dirt (i.e. gardening) etc.  

This all forced me to become a bit of a germaphope.  My counts are good now but I continue to be on immune suppression medicine so there still is a risk, and I'm still a bit careful.  I was allowed to take a local flight, (San Diego to Santa Rosa,) for the first time since the transplant last month, it's been over 5 years.

Yet, I've gotta golf.

 

[Brad W]

I think, as already stated by several others, that cost and time are bigger factors when it comes to golf.  I have to admit, I'm a little shocked at the cost to play... this being by first season back to golf since the mid 80's, I really had no idea what I was getting into when I agreed to start playing with my wife (she too has had a 30+ year sabbatical).  

[Buckeyebowman]

I think it's a contributing factor, but by no means the sole reason.

And, at times, there are very good reasons to fear nature. Old Ma Nature is an unforgiving bitch who will kill you if you confront her while being ignorant or unprepared! As someone who has fished and hunted for half a century, I can attest.

But, I think the overarching reasons are simply the cost and time involved. We're a "microwave" society, and we don't like to wait. How long did TST take to load on your computer? If it took longer than 10 seconds you'd be screaming!