COVID-19 and outdoor recreation in the post-anthropause

The lockdown measures instituted during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a moment of restricted human activity and mobility that researchers have called the 'anthropause'. Along with accounts of the widespread suspension or disruption of various industries, including sport, recreation, and tourism, media reported on the anthropause's positive impact on wildlife and environments, evidenced by accounts of animals returning to their previously displaced habitats and thriving in spaces typically marked by human activity. However, the period following these lockdown measures witnessed the re-opening of disrupted industries, and also a marked increase in outdoor human activity, particularly via engagement with forms of outdoor recreation at national and state parks and other protected areas. This analysis asserts that during this post-anthropause, the renewal and increase in outdoor recreation practices within protected areas re-demonstrated the ecological impacts of human activity within those spaces. Utilising media reports regarding outdoor recreation and US national and state parks during the pandemic, this essay explores the implications of leisure after lockdown, arguing that the post-anthropause represents an important conceptual tool for better understanding the complex relations between physical cultures, environments, and the anthropocentric dictates of contemporary 'burnout society'.