The Wilderness as a Source of Recreation and Renewal:

. Data from a National Endowment for the Arts survey done by the U.S. Bureau of the Census in 1982 and 1985 (n = 2,678) reveal the modern wilderness lover is better educated, more affluent, and more heavily engaged in leisure activities than the less frequent visitor to the wilderness. Today's frequent wilderness user is also more likely to participate in out‐of‐home activities including movies, sports events, museums, and amusement parks, than is the generally less active infrequent visitor. Frequent users are almost exclusively white; with nearly equal participation rates for men and women; they reside in the suburbs and work as professionals. They are better educated and pursue more intellectual leisure‐time interests such as reading, reading poetry, and attending cultural events. Less educated infrequent users were poorer, participated in less challenging pursuits, and were predominantly male. However, the two groups exhibited only minor differences in their preference orderings, suggesting that the groups may move towards similarity if their opportunities change.