IV-323 



restriction of recreation resources, particularly those 1n the 

 estuarine zone, may well mean that some of the potential demand will 

 be cancelled by overcrowded, unattractive areas already much in 

 evidence. 



Although specific estuarine projections are not available, it has 

 been generally concluded by experts in the field that one indicator — 

 attendance in public parks -- has risen at about 10 percent annually 

 for many years. Thsi 1s a rate more than five times the rate of the 

 "population exDlosion" noted in Section 1. There are indications that 

 this comparative rate of growth for the outdoor recreation experience 

 in public Dark areas must level off, but the immediate future would 

 seem to maintain the trend toward more overcrowding and use and the 

 modifying pressures these entail as Figure IV. 4. 15 Indicates. 



Recreation demands are expressions of desire for certain activities 

 and thus are difficult to translate Into reguirements for particular 

 guantities of bay shoreline, acres of marsh, and so on. Thus the mag- 

 nitude of future demands and the conseouent requirements for associa- 

 ted estuarine resources 1s extremely difficult to DinDoint. 



Perhaps the most common Indicator of recreation qrowth is expressed 

 by "user days" of some particular activity. An example of this is 

 Drovided by the national trends and projections developed by the 

 Bureau of Outdoor Recreation. Figure IV. 4. 16 indicates the projections 

 for five outdoor recreation activities that occur in the estuarine 



