‘Competing for attention’ A worrisome trend at Acadia, Allagash and Baxter

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As another robust tourist season draws to a close, Maine’s status as “Vacationland” appears secure.

But recent trends have observers wondering why some of Maine’s best-known natural wonders seem to be losing their allure?

Statistics from the past decade show that fewer and fewer vacationers are choosing to spend their time and money inside Maine’s three best-known natural playgrounds: Acadia National Park, the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and Baxter State Park.

While not unique to Maine, the declines have state and park officials worried about the public’s connection to not only some of the state’s “crown jewels” but to the natural world as a whole. The situation also has prompted new thinking about how to turn generations of young technophiles into outdoor lovers.

“Long term, if you have fewer people interested in the out-of-doors and fewer people interested in the environment or visiting national parks and other lands, then obviously there is going to be less … support for those lands. And that, in my opinion, is not in the best interest of society,” said Sheridan Steele, superintendent of Acadia National Park.

Nationwide, visitation at national parks has been sliding since the late 1990s. Maine’s state park system is also attracting less tourist traffic today than five years ago.

But the declines in arguably Maine’s three flagship parks – Acadia, Baxter and the Allagash – over the past decade are striking.

The number of people using the Allagash declined nearly 70 percent between 1999 and 2005. Much of that drop is attributable to fewer day users of the wilderness waterway – a situation that has sparked several recent political and legal battles. But the number of total paid camping days slid roughly 33 percent during that period.

Visitation at Acadia dropped 23 percent between 1996 and 2006.

And while the number of people making the trek into Baxter appears to be inching back up or plateauing, last year’s figures were still 25 percent lower than a decade ago.

Shifting preferences

National and local experts offer a bevy of theories for the apparent waning interest in visiting natural areas. But many say the declines are evidence of shifting recreational preferences, demographics and the ever-increasing role of electronic entertainment in modern society.

Americans are busier than ever, experts said. Combine that with rising gas and travel prices and many families – especially those with young children – may be less willing to use scant vacation time and money in the woods or on the water far from home.

“Maine is not alone in dealing with the fact that society is so overbooked and going so fast that they are not getting out and visiting the special places that they used to,” said Eliza Townsend, deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Conservation.

Consumers also are bombarded with advertisements for theme parks, resorts and family-oriented destinations. State and federal park systems, on the other hand, often have little to no money for marketing.

Aging baby boomers who were once gung-ho about a week in the woods may find their definition of a relaxing vacation changing.

“People may be looking for a softer landing at the end of a day than what a lean-to or a tent site offers,” said Baxter director Jensen Bissell, who openly refers to his wilderness park as being “on the extreme end” of the recreational spectrum. “A hot tub or a glass of wine is perceived to be a good thing.”

And then there are the theories on the way electronic media are changing our pastime habits.

In a study published last year in the Journal of Environmental Management, two researchers said the rise of electronic entertainment is “significantly correlated” to the decline in per capita visits to national parks.

The researchers used federal census figures and other data to estimate that the average American spent 327 more hours in front of a television, video game system, computer or other electronic media in 2003 than in 1987. All of this is contributing to a shift toward a more sedentary lifestyle, the researchers said.

“This suggests that even if our rising love of electronic media is not directly responsible for keeping us away from national parks, both are a manifestation of an ongoing cultural change in values,” wrote the researchers, Oliver Pergams with the University of Illinois at Chicago and Patricia Zaradic with Pennsylvania’s Stroud Water Research Center.

Acadia’s Steele said he has witnessed this disconnect between young people and nature firsthand, such as the recent youth playing video games while on a boat trip with his family around the park’s islands or others he has seen listening to iPods while touring scenic carriage trails.

“We are competing for their attention even when we get them here, and that’s new,” Steele said.

In response, Steele organized a forum earlier this year with representatives of the health, tourism, outdoor recreation and education communities to brainstorm ways to captivate young people. The forum was in part inspired by a 2005 book by Richard Louv titled “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.”

One off-shoot of the forum was “Take it Outside,” an initiative unveiled by Gov. John Baldacci earlier this summer designed to encourage Mainers – and especially young ones – to spend fewer hours on the couch and more time enjoying the state’s natural offerings.

Steele said he and other park managers around the nation also realize that they must do a better job incorporating technology into the park experience.

One current example is an electronic scavenger hunt of Acadia using handheld GPS units that teaches participants about the park’s geology. And in the future, visitors to the summit of Cadillac Mountain may be able to use their cell phones to dial into an interpretive message, Steele said.

State parks as getaways

Maine officials, meanwhile, said not all of the trends are negative when it comes to state parks.

While camping figures remain down, day use of Maine’s state parks has consistently fluctuated between 1.8 million and 2.3 million annual visitors since 1997. The DOC’s Townsend said weather plays a huge role in turnout, but she said the trend indicates that many people continue to regard state parks as options for a quick getaway that’s close to home.

As for the Allagash, Townsend said the dramatic drop in visitation is not surprising given the national trend away from camping and backcountry trips. She also pointed out that the Allagash is even more remote and hard to reach than both Acadia and Baxter.

“It’s not a place you go willy-nilly. It takes proper planning,” Townsend said.

But DOC officials have said they are pleased with the initial response to the release earlier this year of the video “Northrunner – The Allagash Wilderness Waterway,” which was designed to spur interest in the 92-mile corridor of rivers and lakes.

Advertising is less of an option at Baxter, which despite its name is financed and operated separate from the DOC’s state park system. The late Gov. Percival Baxter, the park’s founder, wanted news of his “forever wild” sanctuary to spread through word of mouth.

Still, Bissell is optimistic.

In 2006, the number of summer visitors rose to more than 58,000 after a six-year slide, and early indications are that trend will continue this year, Bissell said. The current foot traffic through the park is also more manageable than levels seen in the early- to mid-1990s, when 80,000-plus annual visitors were taking a toll on trails and park facilities.

“So there are some silver linings to this,” Bissell said. “Now, at these levels, we feel like we are catching up on trail maintenance and park maintenance.”

Other observers believe park visitation will creep upward again in the near future.

John Daigle, who heads the University of Maine’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism program, said he believes the declines are due to a mix of social and economic factors, ranging from the shifting interests of young people to the fact that many families have less expendable income.

But Daigle, an associate professor of forest recreation management, does not believe the current trend is a long-term one. As the economy improves and areas become more developed, residents will seek out more natural settings in which to enjoy their free time.

“I do think there is going to be a resurgence, but it’s not going to happen right away,” Daigle said.