A Review of Trends and Knowledge Gaps in Latinx Outdoor Recreation on Federal and State Public Lands

The Latinx population in the United States, estimated to compose 28% of the country's population by 2050, has a long history of public land use. Yet while research on Latinx outdoor recreation in urban green spaces has increased over the past 20 years, research on Latinx outdoor recreation on federal and state public lands has waned. A scoping review was conducted to identify the literature around Latinx recreation on federal and state public lands in the United States. We sought to synthesize our findings on four theories (marginality, ethnicity, discrimination, and assimilation and acculturation) to explain the lower participation of minorities in outdoor recreation; and to identify emerging areas of research related to Latinx public land use and outdoor recreation. We reviewed more than three decades of research of Latinx recreation on public lands and found a total of 64 publications on the subject. Our analysis reveals that although institutional barriers such as policies, practices, and procedures that favor some ethnic groups over others continue to exist, barriers to access (such as distance to sites, available free time, and knowledge about how to use public lands) may be shifting; offering clues that may help guide informed approaches to outdoor recreation management. Future research may need to focus on diversification in study sites, as most of the research on Latinx visitation to federal and state public lands has taken place in Southern California. Research in other areas with high Latinx populations could be useful in understanding the recreation behavior and preferences of a growing Latinx community.