It's getting tougher to introduce outdoor activities to kids in general, and national surveys show the trend.  This bodes poorly for future support of preserving wildlands and open spaces in the US.

There are SO MANY distractions for kids these days, and most folks live in urban/suburban areas where access to nature is sporadic, at best.  I see it in with my own relatives.

I have two teenaged boys, and they get to go on two or three canoe trips a year with me, but it's my older boy that has really gotten into the tripping mode.  I took him to Quetico last summer for a quick, 8-day paddle, which covered about 100 miles of water.  He ate it up, and became a portage machine, despite initial complaints about the trails being tougher than those in the BWCA.

Both boys are under the obligation of taking me canoe tripping when I get old.

I hope that everyone who loves wild places and has the opportunity to introduce kids to the joys of nature -- whether it be hunting, fishing, canoe tripping, or whatever--
takes the time to do so.