In the financial climate of the economy, the U.S. House of Representatives has published a report detailing the rising costs of higher education. They note that this financial burden is caused by the expansion of college administrations as well as a lack of state funding (“The Rising Costs…”, 2015). A recent USA Today article that was published on September 12th claims that “Americans hold roughly $1.5trillion worth of student loan debt” (Dunn, 2018). This financial pressure may lead many to opt out for less expensive hobbies. Since outdoor recreation activities may not be the cheapest options for spending free time, this is a reason to foresee a stunt in growth of the outdoor industry that was mentioned before.

Looking at economic trends in a broader context, the world is in the midst of a Fourth Industrial Revolution, as explained by business expert Charles Franklin. (Franklin, 2017) This period is marked by the increasing speed of networks to communicate and produce as well as the rise of automation. Looking forward, he writes that wealth gaps will remain unstable, with the looming prospect of a major imbalance due to the unknown future of automation (Franklin, 2017). In an article published by The Financial Express, economists also note that automation is looking to replace many human workers, which is likely to result in increase financial inequality. (The Financial Express, 2018) The Bangladeshi news agency also writes that the Fourth Industrial Revolution will result in much more efficient logistics and supply-chains as a consequence of automation. They say that the rapid growth and innovation that comes about as a result of such technological advancements may leave behind many companies that rely on only human brain-power (The Financial Express, 2018). The evidence behind a Fourth Industrial Revolution suggests that an increase in future standards for efficiency will push a portion of companies out of business as a consequence of competition. Earlier this year, Rebecca Rasch, a social scientist at the U.S. Forest Service, published a paper reviewing studies in, “An exploration of intergenerational differences in wilderness values”. (Rasch, 2018) This source points to several factors that may contribute to the differences between generations in how they feel about wild environments, resulting in both positive and negative impacts on people’s perception of such environments. As the United States develops and towns and cities encroach on what otherwise would be wild territory, the scarcity of natural environments has resulted in increased value by younger generations (Rasch, 2018). It looks as though this inverse relationship will continue to exist well into the future, or as long as the population of the country continues to grow. The paper also points out negative trends on people’s perception of the natural environment. As the prevalence of technology has habituated humans into a lack of outdoor exposure, it has been shown that people are losing the capacity to connect to natural places and attribute meaning to experiences and things in the natural environment (Rasch, 2018). In a paper published by the Vanderbilt University Law School, it