News brief
Camping on public lands in the West has skyrocketed in recent years, according to from the conservation nonprofit Center for Western Priorities.
During 2020's peak season, 57% of all reservable campsites on federal lands in the West were occupied 鈥� an almost 18 percentage point increase compared to 2014. While the pandemic drove high turnouts last year, numbers were climbing even before that.
鈥淐amping on America鈥檚 public lands is on an astronomical rise,鈥� said Tyler McIntosh, conservation, policy and resource manager for the Center for Western Priorities.
He believes the data represents a shift in how people are thinking about the outdoors these days 鈥� they're seeking spaces beyond the country鈥檚 most popular national parks.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e getting out on Forest Service land, they鈥檙e getting out on Army Corps of Engineer land, much more than they did in 2014,鈥� he said.
McIntosh says this suggests the public has a greater appreciation for wild places. But it can also come with some downsides.
鈥淭here can certainly be negative impacts,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hether that鈥檚 in terms of trash or the way [campers] are having a footprint on the landscape.鈥�
The Center for Western Priorities produced the report by analyzing over 16 million campsite reservations over a six-year period. Montana, Idaho and Colorado saw some of the highest demand for reservable campsites in 2020. But Utah and Wyoming recorded some of the biggest gains in campsite occupancy since 2014.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, 九色网 in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the .
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