Fad or Renaissance? Motivational and demographic characteristics of USDA Forest Service recreationists during and after the pandemic

While there have been a host of studies investigating the COVID-19 pandemic's influence on outdoor recreation, few have investigated the socio-demographic composition and motivations of visitors who increased their outdoor recreation during this period and if these users will continue recreating at the same level as the pandemic wanes. This study surveyed visitors to the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests (NPNF) within the US state of North Carolina to identify if rising outdoor recreation participation is solely a result of the pandemic or more indicative of a renaissance. Demographic and motivational differences between those whose recreation decreased, stayed the same or increased during the pandemic were also analyzed to see if these patterns remain stable one year after the pandemic. The sample of 1594 visitors from Georgia (n = 483), South Carolina (n = 682), and North Carolina (n = 429) indicate growth in visitation to the NPNF is not just a fad but more of a renaissance with continued high levels of visitation forecasted after the pandemic. Results also show that outdoor recreationists characterized as more ethnically diverse with lower income and educational levels had visitation levels to the forest that increased during the pandemic compared to the outdoor recreationists who were White, more affluent, and highly educated. However, these changes appear to reverse moving out of the pandemic as these more diverse users mention having greater structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal constraints. Managers who seek social and environmental justice with the provisioning of outdoor recreation should follow-up with these more diverse users to better understand their satisfaction with the FS experience during the pandemic and identify strategies to help them negotiate constraints limiting their outdoor recreation.

Management implications

For public land managers, these findings suggest that increased visitation levels are here to stay. The results also suggest that the pandemic provided users with more diverse backgrounds the space and time to recreate during the pandemic. Unfortunately, it appears that the challenges of everyday life may limit this group from continuing to recreate at the level they did during the pandemic. Managers should take advantage of this opportunity to try to understand these more diverse users and why they anticipate their participation in outdoor recreation dropping as we move out of the pandemic.