Quality outdoor recreation is key to the economy and character of rural New England.

Recreation helps sustain many rural families and their local economy. But it’s more than the economy; diverse recreation opportunities are a vital part of living in rural New England. It’s about quality of life.

But recreational opportunities and publicaccess can’t be taken for granted. Private forestlands historically have provided much of the land for recreation. Changing forestland ownership is calling into question whether open land access will continue. And, as the human population keeps growing and open space is lost to development, recreational pressure on lands that remain open to access is intensifying.

Relatively new types of outdoor recreation, such as ATV use, are adding to the public’s demand for recreational access.On public lands, the environmental community is concerned about how recreation might affect plants and animals, and water quality. On private forest lands, landowners who are legally obligated to protect streams and water are concerned about irresponsible recreation use. Without a way to address these issues landowners may decide to simply restrict access.

At the heart of all these conflicts lies a broad concern about recreational impacts, but there is little hard data to justify or refute these concerns. That’s why Manomet is developing the Recreation Stewardship Scorecard (RSS).

The RSS will be a science-based tool to quantify recreation trail impact on the environment. The RSS will be used to assess any type of recreation trail—snowmobile, mountain biking, hiking, ATV, cross-country skiing, etc. With an objective assessment system, recreation user groups can demonstrate responsible use to the public and to private landowners, and measure and manage their impacts.

To provide an objective tool to help recreation users be good stewards of all lands.