138 



AMERICAN FORF.SI^RY 



BOY SCOUTS IN THE NATIONAL FOREST 



In such regions the boys find everything needed to amuse and interest those who love the outdoors, 

 and in camps and traveling they acquire much-needed instruction regarding nature. 



leased and developed for this purpose in a plan-wise fash- 

 ion, public camp grounds are being improved by the 

 Forest Scr\-ice, maps and circulars are furnished to visit- 

 ors, and all are given a cordial and cooperative welcome 

 to use the public facilities. 



A rapid development for recreation is following ihe 

 building of roads and trails that has for its purpose the 

 general opening up 

 of different parts of 

 the Forests. Al- 

 ready there have 

 been built about 

 25,000 miles of 

 trails and some 

 3000 miles of roads. 

 Most of the trail 

 work has been done 

 for fire protection 

 or general cormnu- 

 nication. But many 

 of the trails pass 

 through sections of 

 surpassing scenic 

 interest. 



At the last ses- 

 sion of Congress 

 there was appropri- 

 ated a special fund 

 of ten million dol- 

 lars to be available at the rate of a million a year, which, 

 added to the quarter of a million now annually available 

 from the receipts of the Forests, will result in opening 

 up many regions now inaccessible. While the selection 

 of the roads may be primarily for general development 

 purposes, nearly every new road will greatly add to the 

 recreational use and development of the Forests. 



Of great importance as a recreational feature to at- 

 tract the visitor is the wild life of the National Forests. 

 Through the help of the Bureau of Fisheries and the state 

 hatcheries a great deal is being done to maintain the fish 

 in the numerous mountain streams, and with excellent 

 results. The game problem is a more difficult one. The 

 game is far less than shovild now be produced in the For- 

 ests. Restricted authority has prevented the Govern- 

 ment doing what is obviously desirable and necessary in 

 order to restock depleted areas. There is still, however, a 

 good deal of game at certain points, and I hope that it 

 may be possible to secure authority to go forward with 

 the plans which have already been formulated to increase 

 the game supply. Of special interest are the elk herds in 

 the Yellowstone region and the Olympics, and the re- 

 markable moose of the Kenai Division of the Chugach 

 Forest in Alaska. Other elk herds occur in Montana, 

 Colorado, and Arizona. Small bands of sheep range the 

 rugged portions of many of the Forests, and in some places 

 they are increasing under prohibition of hunting; and at 

 numerous points deer and other game are still fairly plenti- 

 ful. But we hope that the opportunity may be given us 

 to take the steps necessary to restock the depleted areas 

 that could carry abundant game (and that is possible 



without interfering with the livestock industry'), so that 

 practically all the Forests will produce both big and small 

 game. These would be an added resource valuable in 

 itself, and a special attraction to the visitor, to the real 

 sportsman and to the increasing number that now hunt 

 with the camera. 



In considering the recreational features of a large for- 

 est tract one is apt 

 to think first of the 

 points of special 

 scenic interest, such 

 as lakes, mountain 

 peaks, a certain bit 

 of forest, and so on. 

 Of course such areas 

 will be central 

 points of attraction 

 and perhaps visited 

 more than any other 

 portions of the For- 

 est. At the same 

 time every portion 

 of a public Forest 

 furnishes some rec- 

 reational feature 

 which must be con- 

 sidered in a broad 

 plan of recreational 

 development. As 

 soon as the visitor enters a Forest he encounters some 

 activity of interest from the public standpoint. It may 

 be the protective system, with its roads and trails, tele- 

 phones, lookouts, tool and food caches, etc. ; or nurseries, or 

 plantations ; or timber sales in actual operation ; or mines ; 

 or water-power development. The Forest system is a 

 great public enterprise, and the \asitor is almost invariably 

 interested in seeing how the Forest activities are being 

 conducted and what public results are being secured. 



In working out the recreational development there are 

 involved many technical problems. In our road building 

 we have the servace of the engineers of the Office of Public 

 Roads. In the game problems, the Biological Survey ex- 

 perts are available for advice and assistance. Problems 

 of landscape and sanitary engineering present themselves 

 in large numbers, and we have associated with us a dis- 

 tinguished landscape engineer to guide our work, each 

 stc]) in which counts large and must be taken right. 



An important aspect is the correlation of the work on 

 the several Forests with that of the National Parks, which 

 in many cases are surrounded by National Forests or are 

 adjacent to them. We seek to coordinate the Forest road 

 and trail systems with those in the Parks. The systems 

 of scenic highways should be comprehensive in character. 

 They should comprise the National Parks, the scenic 

 points in the National Forests, and the scenic points in 

 the forest and park systems of states and municipalities, 

 and even those privately owned. It is all a part of the 

 broad policy of making the public recreation resources of 

 real service to the people. The returns of such service 

 are very real and greater than can be measured. 



