We're Good Spenders

As I noted in the previous post, fishing season is here and so was my trip to my local outdoor shop. I went to get some new lures and other miscellaneous items and when I checked out it provoked me to think;

If I just spent $80 on my stuff just for fishing, I wonder what outdoor enthusiast's spend on an annual basis?

Let's take a look at how the outdoor enthusiast helps our economy:

• We contribute $730 billion annually to the U.S. economy
• We support nearly 6.5 million jobs across the U.S.
• We generate $88 billion in annual state and national tax revenue
• We provide sustainable growth in rural communities
• We generate $289 billion annually in retail sales and services across the U.S.
• Our recreation touches over 8 percent of America’s personal consumption expenditures—
more than 1 in every 12 dollars circulating in the economy

Wow! That's impressive. Check out the jobs that are created by the following outdoor activities:

Bicycling  - 1,135,000
Camping - 2,334,000
Fishing - 587,000
Hunting - 323,000
Paddling - 308,000
Snow Sports - 567,000
Trail -716,000 
Wildlife Viewing - 467,000



 
Indeed, the outdoor enthusiast's passion for the outdoors helps in more ways than one!





 

Don't Think

Ahhh, springtime is here and so is the opening of fishing season, in particular trout season. Since I was a kid, on opening day, I always loved to play hooky from school then as I got older, from work. I would head out at day break, sometimes with a buddy, but most years by myself to explore a stream to find a catch to brag about.

I can remember years where I would be fishing in a foot of snow because of a tough winter, yet the brook trout would still be bite'in. Then other years I would have an old pair of sneaks on with shorts and not think twice about jumping in so I could get to all the "good" spots, so I thought.

What's humorous is how excited I was this year to sneak out and fish one of my favorite brookie streams that I fished when I was a kid. It's been years since I walked back in to my "secret" holes (they aren't that secret). When I got there I was struck with a thought, that I wasn't really thinking about anything. Huh, what a great day!

In this blog, there are so many experiences and examples to write about because of the subject...the outdoors. And one of my favorite things I love about the outdoors is that everything slows way down when your enjoying your favorite outdoor activity. Work gets lost, stress gets lost, the run, run, run mentality is lost. You fall back into a place that is so peaceful, sounds weird, but it's because you don't need to think about anything.

Whether its a day on the lake, a bike ride down a back road, a run through the park or watching a sunset at the beach, you'll find that one thing is not required.....a thought.

Adirondack Park & Resilence

One of my favorite things to do is read about the history of places. I look at old pictures and wonder what it was like to live back then. One place in particular that is close to my heart is the Adirondacks. For all of us here in the Northeast, we are privileged to be within a few hours drive to the oldest forest preserve in the US.

Little did I know that the Adirondacks, the original 7 million public acres (the park is now 6 million acres), was sold by the government for pennies on the dollar to pay debts for the Revolutionary War. Lumberman came in and logged the trees in the park and then let the land revert back to the state for unpaid taxes. By 1850 you began to see extensive destruction to the park through erosion and flooding.

One guy had a huge hand in getting Legislation to pass a bill to preserve the Adirondack Park....Verplanck Colvin. Colvin spent 20 years from 1872 to 1892, when the bill was passed, gathering information about the park by hiking and exploring, then putting his findings in annual reports, to then send to the Legislation. These reports were to show if they did not pass a bill to protect the park, the park would be lost. Thank God for people like Verplanck!

This is one of the very reasons I love the outdoor enthusiast, more times than not, people who love the outdoors have such a passion for the outdoors that they will set a goal, and will not stop until they reach that goal! Imagine being Verplanck, sending annual reports for 20 years til he got the bill passed?

Wow!