AMERICAN HUNTING, FISHING & CAMPING DOWN SHARPLY

PETER GORRIE, TORONTO STAR - A new study suggests Americans increasingly prefer to cozy up to video games, the Internet or movies than to romp with nature. . .
The U.S. study - by researchers Oliver Pergams, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Patricia Zaradic, at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania - found that per capita park visits, applications for hunting and fishing licenses and camping permits have dropped by 18 to 25 per cent in the past two decades.

The number of hikers grew but, since the average American goes for a walk on the wild side just once every 10 years, that increase wasn't significant, Pergams said in an interview yesterday.

Meanwhile, the average time spent on "videophilia" increased by nearly an hour a day. That and gasoline price hikes appear to account for almost all the decline in outdoor activities, Zaradic said.

The results are troubling since they suggest support for preserving natural areas will decline, said the researchers, whose study, published in the Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences, was partly funded by the Nature Conservancy. . .

In Canada, per capita visits to national parks have been stable for five years, said Marc Gregoire, Parks Canada's director of visitor experience. Numbers using Ontario's provincial parks have climbed faster than pop

NATURE CONSERVANCY