161 



RECREATION 



Six categories of activity are considered : swimming, boating, sport- 

 fishing, waterfowl hunting, scuba and skin diving, and summer 

 residences. 



SwiTmning 



There are State, municipal, and private beaches on the 31 miles of 

 sandy beach in Narragansett Bay, Table IV.3.9 shows the estimated 

 maintenance costs and intensity of use for each kind of beach, 



TABLE IV.3.9.-SWIIVIMING BEACH USE IN NARRAGANSETT BAY, 1967 



State Municipal Private i Total 



Length of beach (feet). 3,829 16,150 19,979 



Annual expenditure by owner. $100,741 $164,979 $119,574 $385,294 



User-days 624,000 642,000 465,000 1,731,000 



Expenditure per user-day $0.16 $0.26 $0.22 



User-days per foot of beach 163 40 87 



1 Value estimated from municipal. 



The estimated annual maintenance cost of $385,000 is the only 

 economic indicator available to show the value of this type of recrea- 

 tional use. 



Public beach use in Narragansett Bay appears to be heavily concen- 

 trated in a few State beaches, and other beaches seem to have adequate 

 space to support the swimming demand. 



Boating 



Estuaries favor recreational boating because of the relatively pro- 

 tected waters and variety of activities possible. Narragansett Bay, 

 with its deep embayment and many protected waterways has been 

 a historically prominent recreational boating area. Not all boats are 

 registered, so that the total numbers of boats actually using the estu- 

 arine system cannot be obtained directly. In 1965, however, 10,175 

 recreational boats were registered in the State of Rhode Island. In 

 addition many out-of-State boats use the Bay. 



Surveys of boat owners as well as boatyard and marina operators 

 give an estimate of annual expenditures for boating of $5.2 million 

 based on boat operating and maintenance costs. Table IV.3.10 shows 

 the estimated participation in boating in Narragansett Bay. This num- 

 ber of user-days appears excessive since it would require 25 trips of 

 each 15,000 boats with at least five persons on each trip ; it is included 

 to show the difficulties of assembling data to establish economic values 

 for recreational pursuits. 



TABLE IV.3.10.— ESTIMATED PARTICIPATION IN BOATING, NARRAGANSETT BAY, 1965 



Based on estimates of a 600,000 population over 12 years of age in Rhode Island. 



Source: "The 1965 Survey of Outdoor Recreation," Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, U.S. Department of the Interior, 

 October 1967, pp. 45-52. 



