240 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



signs indicate the direction and distance to attractive points, and 

 public convenience is given tliouglitful consideration. Similar im- 

 pi-ovcnionts are made by the Forest SorNice when funds are available 

 and local cooperation can not be obtained to meet a real pul)iic need. 

 These camps are made available to the public without charge of any 

 kind by the Forest Service. The vacation camps, such as those main- 

 tained by Los Angeles, require a charge merely sufficient to cover 

 the expense of feeding and caring for the successive groups of city 

 patrons wlio enjoy its privileges under municipal direction. 



The appeal for local recreational facilities and the demand for 

 summer-home sites are growing so rapidly that there is need for men 

 of special training to direct and plan for the most effective develop- 

 ment of this service. Many communities are subscribing liberally 

 for the erection of improvements upon the National Forests for pub- 

 lic convenience. To bring about the fullest use of the National For- 

 ests and contribute their proper cpiota to the Jsation's health, there 

 is needed a special fund of §50,000 for recreational development. 

 This will permit the employment of several trained landscape en- 

 gineers, more rapid and at the same time more careful development, 

 the improvement of additional camp grounds and provision of other 

 public facilities and conveniences, and enlarged cooperation with 

 local communities. This is certainly good business policy; the in- 

 creased receipts from individual home sites, Avhicli is only one by- 

 product of our recreational work, will return to the Treasury much 

 more than the total amount to be expended for recreational develop- 

 ment. 



Closely related with the development of our recreational resources 

 is the use of the National Forests as the habitat of fish and game 

 and the protection of wild life as a great public resource. Game pro- 

 tection is one of the regular activities of the field officers of the Forest 

 Service. Cooperation with the State and local authorities in en- 

 forcing the game laws has contributed in no small degree toward 

 making our National Forests more attractive to visitors and con- 

 serving one of their most valuable resources. This Avork Avill be 

 continued in the future along the same broad lines. 



To make this work most effective and to secure better development 

 of the fish and game resources of the National Forests, Congress 

 should make provision for the establishment of game sanctuaries 

 within which wild life may find securit5^ These should be rela- 

 tively limited in area, but should be established in considerable num- 

 ber. Their location will require careful preliminary field investiga- 

 tion and close cooperation with the State authorities. A favorable 

 report has already been submitted to Congress upon one such meas- 

 ure, which would empower the President to establish such game sanc- 

 tuaries within the National Forests of any State where their estab- 

 lishment is sanctioned by the State legislature. 



In this connection special mention should be made of the necessity 

 of additional protection for the harassed and decimated herds of elk 

 using the Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding Forests. 

 Famine and cold last winter took an unusually heavy toll from their 

 number. Driven out of the high country by starvation and early 

 deep snows, the northern herd suffered from hunters along the 



