Abstract: Outdoor recreation industry is the pillar industry of American economy. The study of its regional competitiveness evaluation (project structure analysis) and leading project selection is of great reference value to the healthy and sustainable development of outdoor recreation industry in China. Based on the data of 19 core outdoor recreation projects in 51 states (regions) from 2012 to 2017, this paper studies the regional competitiveness and leading project selection of outdoor recreation industry in nine regions of the United States by using the method of deviation share analysis (SSM). The results show that: 1) The overall development speed of Outdoor recreation industry in the South Atlantic and mountain areas is higher than the national average level; the structure of core Outdoor recreation projects in the five regions of the northeast, northwest, Atlantic, Southeast and southwest is reasonable, and the structural effect promotes the development of Outdoor recreation industry in the region; the Outdoor recreation industry in the three regions of the South Atlantic, mountain and Pacific The overall competitiveness of core projects is strong, and their position in the country is on the rise.2) The leading projects of Outdoor recreation industry in nine regions of the United States are screened out, and there are great differences in the leading projects among regions

Key words: outdoor recreation industry, Shift-share method, project structure analysis, US, outdoor recreation