When the pandemic first hit in March 2020, 43% of Americans said they would be doing more outdoor activities than usual. That prediction proved accurate, and over the next few months, hiking participation rose by 8.4%, new campers increased fivefold, and backcountry ski and snowboard sales grew by 81% and 146% respectively. And it’s predicted that this increase in outdoor recreation will only continue. What does that mean from a sustainability standpoint? The reality of more people in the backcountry presents the problem of more trash, trail impact, and a lack of understanding on what to do about it. In fact, Leave No Trace estimates that 9 out of 10 people who visit the outdoors don’t understand the impact they have on the land they explore. That adds up, when you consider that Americans take an estimated 13 billion outdoor trips each year. Here are a few examples of that impact, as cited by Leave No Trace:
- It takes an ecosystem 10-30 years to recover when hikers or campers travel off well-established trails.
- Nearly 85% of wildland fires are caused by humans.
- Visitors generate 100 million pounds of waste in our national parks every year.
- Search and Rescue operations occupy thousands of hours of already strained National Park Service time.
Well, what can you do about it? One thing would be to get yourself a subscription to onX Backcountry, the powerful navigation app that helps inform, inspire, and empower outdoor recreationalists. For the month of June, onX is offering a one-year membership to onX Backcountry–its newest navigation app–on the onX website for the discounted price of $10 (a $29.99 value). onX Backcountry will donate all of June’s net online proceeds to the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics–a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the places recreationists love by teaching people how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly.
GET THE APP HERE
About The Author
stash member Teton Gravity Research
It all began with a dream and a little cash scraped together from fishing in Alaska... Since 1995, we've been an action sports media company committed to fueling progression through our ground-breaking films (37 and counting) and online content.