Outdoor Industry Association: Recreation participation up, diversity improving

BOULDER — More people than ever participated in outdoor recreation activities last year, according to the Outdoor Industry Association, and those participants came from an increasingly diverse array of backgrounds.

OIA, a Boulder-based industry advocacy group, found that “the (American) outdoor recreation participation base grew 2.3% in 2022 to a record of 168.1 million participants, or 55% of the U.S population over the age of 6.”

The participation rate for Hispanic people increased from 34% in 2015 to 56% in 2022, the association reported in its survey, and the year-over-year participation rate among Black respondents increased more than 5% in 2022 to…