New Forest Service Report Shows Decline in ORV Sales and Use

In February the Forest Service released a report titled, "Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation in the United States and its Regions and States: An Update National Report from the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment (NSRE)." (http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/ohv/IrisRec1rpt.pdf).

The numbers for this report come from the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment and was generated through a collaborative effort between the USDA Forest Service’s Southern Research Station and its Forestry Sciences Laboratory in Athens, Georgia; the University of Georgia in Athens; and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee.

This is notable since the USFS Southern Research Station released a national report in 2004 titled, "Off- Highway Vehicle Use on National Forests: Volume and Characteristics of Visitors," which was based on the National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) program. This report is specific to Forest Service Regions and individual National Forests, while the newer report uses a more generalized survey sample: "NSRE is a general population, random-digit-dialed household telephone survey designed to measure participation in outdoor recreation activities and people’s environmental behaviors and attitudes."

The difference between these reports is significant since the newest one does not track where the use occurs, rather it just measures use levels and demographics. The result is that the numbers in the 2008 report indicate a higher overall level of ORV use than the 2004 report. The discrepancy is due to the fact that the 2004 report only shows use levels on National Forest lands. The new report may be used by some ORV proponents to show that ORV levels are higher than what the Forest Service reports, so it is important to keep in mind that the 2008 report does not ask where ORV users recreate.

Still, the new report is useful because it indicates ORV use levels and sales continue to decline in recent years.