Recreational Land Use: Perspectives on Its Evolution in Canada

L.T. Foster was a member of the Treasury Board staff, Government of British Columbia.

From the late 1800s onwards, Western lifestyle has given an increasing emphasis to leisure-time pursuits as automation in the home and workplace provided more discretionary time to individuals to participate in recreation activities. This volume, edited by two geographers, provides a sampling of some of the recreation developments and changes that have occurred in Canada during the last 100 years. Specifically, the volume’s objectives are to describe the evolution of recreational land use in Canada and to document the changes in relationships between man and the environment, as revealed through outdoor recreation. In total, 26 papers, half of which have been previously published, deal with such varied topics as recreation resource evaluation, pioneer recreation, public provision of recreation opportunities, tourism, urban recreation facilities, and the development and evolution of specific recreation activities.

Although the volume provides unusual insights into certain recreational developments in Canada, such as the evolution of Niagara Falls, Banff, and Glacier National Park, it does suffer from several shortcomings. While most people have some idea as to what recreation is through their own experiences, it is only in the final chapter that the reader is treated to a discussion of the concept of recreation. Given the dynamic nature of the distinction between work (economic activity) and some recreation activities (e.g., hunting), such a discussion is needed in the introduction. In addition, distinctions between outdoor and other types of recreation should be made more explicit. A further problem, common to collected readings of this nature, is the amount of repetition among papers, especially those previously published, which results from a desire of editors to leave papers intact.

The papers vary in scope from semi-popular to mechanically academic, and, as such, a strong introduction and conclusion are required to give a sense of cohesion to the volume. Unfortunately, cohesion is lacking and the volume’s readership is likely to be restricted to the academic market. Despite these criticisms, the concept behind the volume is fascinating and perhaps a future work might be anticipated for a wider audience. Such a volume, however, should not be restricted to outdoor recreation; it should include both home-based and urban recreation and their effects on land and building use.