LUTHER GULICK 125 



Because of these factors, and the now universal private automo- 

 bile ownership potential — based in considerable measure on high 

 general incomes and our extraordinary secondhand car market — 

 urban populations are now the great "consumers" of national parks, 

 seaside resorts, lakes and coastal waters, state parks and parkways, 

 and the "open country." The exodus by car from the cities to the 

 shore and mountains on every possible day, and during the vacation 

 and holiday seasons, is already a terrific factor in our national life.^^ 

 And no one knows how soon we wiU also take to the air in signifi- 

 cant numbers to reach for fun. The rural sportsman should also be 

 mentioned; the increased demand from nonmetropolitan folks also 

 for recreational resources, especially for fishing, hunting, swimming 

 and motoring, cannot be overlooked in this connection. But it is the 

 urban man added to the natural local recreational activity, that over- 

 fishes, overhunts, and overcrowds the facilities. 



I have never seen figures that measure a decent provision of sea- 

 side, mountain, lake, wilderness, country and open vistas as a recre- 

 ation resource and spiritual delight for urban denizens. But I do 

 know that we are already, at times, turning our great parks, like 

 Yellowstone and Yosemite, into crowded wilderness slums, and that 

 you can hardly hear the white-throated sparrow on the trails of the 

 White Mountains because of the babble of city voices! 



What will the situation be in 50 years, in 100 years, in 200 years, 

 the way things are going now? 



This is clear: the growing urban regions, with their expanding 

 economic activities, their millions of added homes and cars, and 

 their increasing leisure time, will need and demand more acres of 

 open space within easy reach, more resources for wide, uncrowded, 

 free re-creation of bodies, minds, and spirits. 



There is a special reason for thus stressing action now to reserve 

 open spaces for future use. That reason is democracy. Why do I say 

 this? Because dictatorships and strong class or bureaucratic govern- 

 ments can correct their errors as to the reservation of open spaces 

 later on. But in such a society as ours, built on private ownerships 



II Marion Clawson, Statistics on Outdoor Recreation (Washington: Re- 

 sources for the Future, 1958). 



