Recreational activities can be classified into four different categories as to who or what has organized those activities:
public institutions, voluntary groups, private groups and the commercial sector.
Public institutions are those areas set aside and funded by the government through taxation. National Recreation Areas are looked after, depending on the circumstances of their creation, by the Dept of the Interior, the Dept of Agriculture, the National Parks Service or the US forest service. They are often set around areas of natural beauty, such as forests or beaches.
Voluntary groups are funded by fees (for one-off lessons or extended training courses), membership charges, grants from charities or foundations, legacies or donations, or corporate sponsorship. Such groups often center around hostels, physical exercise and improving communities through individual self-improvement.
The recreational private groups are often civic, professional or fraternal non-profits organizations, hoping to improve the life of citizens along a preordained agenda. Examples include Rotary International, the Marine Corps Foundations (an example of a services private group, Knights of Columbus and college honor societies such as Phi Theta Kappa.
Finally, commercial sector recreational activities organized by those not covered above - in short, profit-making concerns who charge people a fee to use their services, anything from a video game arcade to amusement parks like Disney World.
