A worrisome trend: kids are forsaking the outdoor

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - Cooper Saunders is your typical 12-year-old.

He plays basketball and soccer, he likes video games, he talks on his cell phone and he goes to movies.

But in his circle of friends, one thing sets him apart.

He loves to fish.

"A lot of my friends haven't even tried fishing," said Saunders, a sixth-grader who lives in Parkville, Mo. "Either their parents don't have a boat, they don't have a place to go or they don't have the time.

"But fishing's my favorite thing to do. It's not like team sports. It's just you against the fish. That's what I like about it."

Fisheries officials, conservation groups and the fishing industry wish there were more kids like Saunders.

In an era when kids' interests are being tugged at from many directions, fishing is losing out. Statistics show that the number of youngsters involved in the sport is dropping _ and at an alarming rate.

Conservation leaders say that drop in the number of young anglers is just part of a bigger problem. They say the technological age is increasingly keeping children indoors.

Too many demands for time, the appeal of everything from computers to video games to iPods, the lack of adult mentors _ they all play a part.

The result? Conservation leaders are having to fight to introduce kids to fishing _ and the outdoors _ as never before.

Take a look:

_The number of kids ages 6 to 15 who participate in fishing has fallen to 12.3 million, according to a survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That's the lowest total since 1980.

_A national study by the University of Maryland found a 50-percent decline from 1973 to the early 2000s in the number of children ages 9 to 12 who spent time in such activities as fishing, hiking and even playing on the beach.

"A lot of kids would rather catch fish on a computer or a video game than out in nature," said Travis Mills, a conservation agent for the Missouri Department of Conservation in Texas County. "And that's sad.

"It's our responsibility to show these kids how much fun fishing can be. A lot of them have never had the chance to get out and even try it.

"Once they do, they usually come back. But it's not like it was before. We have to compete for their interest.

"It's not a given anymore than most kids will just naturally take to fishing."

Mason Homoly, 13, of Parkville, can verify that.

He has grown up in a fishing family. His mom, Cathy, has fished since she was a young girl. And his dad, Andy, also enjoys casting for bass.

The family even owns 55 acres near Farley, Mo., and has two farm ponds that are teeming with fish.

Mason has fished there with his family and even caught some big bass. But he admits that when it comes to fishing, he can take it or leave it.

"We've had times when he would catch a big bass and we'd think he'll get interested in fishing. And the next thing we know, he's paddling a canoe out to the middle of the pond so that he can jump out of it," Cathy said with a laugh. "He's just really not that interested in fishing, even though he's been exposed to it.

"He would rather be doing other things, and that's fine."

Mason agreed.

"For me, fishing just isn't that exciting," he said. "After not catching anything for a while, it can get boring. Then, it's not as much fun to go out the next time.

"When I'm on our land, I'd rather be riding dirt bikes or going out in the canoe. That's what is fun for me."

Mason isn't alone. Conservation officials recognize that his feelings are becoming increasingly common.

In a fast-paced society, kids and their families are accustomed to being on the go. To get them to slow down, enjoy nature and go fishing can be a challenge.

And that trend isn't just confined to the city. Even in rural areas, conservation leaders are seeing disturbing trends.

"It's not just city kids," said Mills, who works in the Ozarks. "What's surprising is that we're seeing it even with the kids who live in the country.

"There are so many pulls on the kids these days. And parents are so busy.

"We have the perfect situation down here. It's just a short drive to one of the river access points (on the Jacks Fork River). Still, a lot of these kids have never been fishing."

Studies show that a child's interest in fishing often is proportional to his or her parents' interest.

That's certainly the case with Cooper Saunders.

His father, Andy, has long been lured by the values of the outdoors. He was exposed to the enjoyment of fishing by his father, Tom, who was an area manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

He remembers hiking to a scenic lake in the Colorado mountains with his dad, and catching rainbow trout. No, the fish weren't huge, but the experience was.

So powerful were the memories of those outings that Andy returned to that spot last year and climbed onto the rock where he and his dad once launched their casts.

"I didn't fish," said Andy, a financial adviser. "I just sat there and reminisced.

"That was a great part of my childhood."

The elder Saunders died several years ago, but Andy is determined to see that his father's legacy lives on. That's one of the reasons he wants to make sure that his son at least has a chance to experience the outdoors.

Cooper has taken to fishing much more than even dad expected. When the family moved to the Riss Lake subdivision about eight years ago, the Saunders family got a boat. They've been fishing the private lake avidly ever since, and Cooper has caught some bass that would impress even the most grizzled veteran.

He has become so passionate about the sport that he even wrote a brochure about fishing, which father and son titled, "Bass Fishing According to the Saunders Family."

In it, Cooper wrote, "I'll never forget those nights waiting to fall asleep, knowing when the alarm clock rings, it was time for fishing.

"My dad always said, 'A summer only lasts 90 days. Make sure you get in plenty of fishin'."

Kevin Bolling doubts he will ever forget a special fishing trip he took last summer.

He and others played host to 30 inner-city kids _ many of whom had never even been out of their neighborhoods _ on a trip to Roaring River State Park, where Bolling had once worked as superintendent.

The children got to sleep in a cabin, eat special meals, see the fish in the hatchery raceways and go hiking.

But best of all, they got to fish for the first time.

"For a lot of these kids, this was a new experience," said Bolling, who is now the Kansas City-area operations manager for the Division of State Parks. "At first, some wouldn't even try the fishing. They didn't want to get embarrassed.

"But it wasn't long before they were out there. There were a lot of smiles that day. One little girl even caught a 6-pounder."

Bolling and others recruited some anglers that day. But they aren't the only ones finding success.

Each summer, Wayne Hubbard, star of the award-winning television show "Urban American Outdoors," brings fishing to the inner city.

He and his wife, Candice Price, and the rest of their team stock city ponds and lakes with thousands of channel catfish, sponsor several fishing derbies and attract hundreds of minority children to try the sport.

"A lot of these families can't afford to go to places like Lake of the Ozarks or Truman," said Hubbard, who lives in Kansas City, Kan. "But we can still introduce kids to the outdoors through fishing derbies right in their own neighborhood."

But it's the second step that has many conservation leaders concerned. That is, retaining the fishermen they recruit.

National surveys show that the number of fishermen 16 and older who were still active in the sport after being introduced as a youngster dropped 8 percent from 1990 to 2005.

"A lot of our fishermen are very casual," said Mike Kruse, a fisheries official for the Missouri Department of Conservation. "Surveys have shown that 60 percent of our fishermen will buy a license only one or two times in every six years.

"We need to do a better job reminding them about the opportunities available. We need to reinvigorate them."

Richard Louv is convinced that the declining interest in fishing is just part of a bigger overall problem.

In his bestselling book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, he contends that today's children are being desensitized to the outdoors.

Because of everything from the technological age to parents' fears of letting their children wander on their own, kids no longer enjoy the outdoors as much as they used to.

Louv says that has contributed to childhood obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder and "a culture of depression."

It also has brought up the worrisome thought that as children are further removed from the outdoors, there will be fewer allies to fight for clean water, preservation of wildlife areas and strong fish and wildlife management.

"There will always be conservationists and environmentalists, but if we don't turn this trend around," Louv said, "they'll increasingly carry nature in their briefcases, not their hearts. And that's a very different relationship."

Still, many organizations are battling the trend and making efforts to get children involved in fishing and the outdoors.

The Missouri Department of Conservation and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks have programs to introduce kids to fishing and see that mentors give them inspiration to go on.

The American Sportfishing Association has established a Future Fisherman Foundation that includes a phys ed program in schools. And the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation has its "Take Me Fishing" program and Anglers Pledge, in which fishermen promise to introduce those who haven't fished to the sport.

But there is much work still to be done, officials say.

"This disconnect with the outdoors is a huge concern," Kruse said. "We're operating in a completely different world, full of technology and other competing interests.

"But we still think fishing has a lot to offer. We just have to work harder than ever to get that across."

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© 2009, The Kansas City Star.