Most of the more interesting blogs than this have already commented on the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study by Oliver Pergams from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
… Since the late 1980s, the percentage of Americans taking part in such activities has declined at slightly more than 1 percent a year. The total effect, Pergams says, is that participation is down 18 percent to 25 percent from peak levels. …
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.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }Lassen National Park in Northern California.
it’s not clear that the number of hikers has been reduced. But if they have, there’s more room in the wild for me. And you.
What’s the problem?
besthike.com 
Unfortunately that also means less votes for places to go hiking.
Good point. Politicians will use statistics like this to reduce funding for Parks.