A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 471 



TYPES OF RECREATIONAL FOREST AREAS 



The varied purposes of those who seek recreation in the forest, 

 and the different forms that the realization of these purposes assumes, 

 necessitate recognition of several distinct types of recreational forest 

 areas. Since each of these types has its special standards of size, 

 beauty, and administration, and since therefore a separate recre- 

 ational program must be developed for each, it is well to explain 

 their character and function. 



SUPERLATIVE AREAS 



"Superlative areas" are localities with unique scenic value, so 

 surpassing and stupendous in their beauty as to affect almost every- 

 one who sees them. Examples of such superlative areas are the 

 Grand Canyon, Crater Lake, the Canyon of the YeUowstone, the 

 mountains of Glacier National Park or the Teton Range, the Valley 

 of Yosemite, and the Big Trees. This category includes also natural 

 features of exceptional scientific interest such as the geysers of the 

 Yellowstone and the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. If any of 

 these areas should be destroyed or seriously injured there would be 

 no substitutes. 



Most American citizens are enthusiastically convinced of the 

 importance of thoroughly safeguarding the inspiring beauty of these 

 areas. Even those least appreciative of recreational values are 

 generally willing to admit that we should reserve our relatively few 

 superlative areas. Consequently it will not be necessary here to 

 justify the retention of such tracts for recreational purposes. Already 

 most of them have been set aside in national parks. A number are 

 located in national forests, national monuments, and State parks, 

 where their unique values are adequately safeguarded. A few 

 remain in private ownership. The last mentioned should be ac- 

 quired by public agencies. 



No maximum or minimum size can be assigned to superlative 

 areas. Each superlative feature is a law unto itself, demanding 

 preservation of the entire area which it occupies and of a certain 

 terrain from which it may be viewed. 



PRIMEVAL AREAS 



"Primeval areas" (sometimes called natural areas) are tracts of 

 virgin timber in which human activities have never upset the normal 

 processes of nature. They thus preserve the virginal growth con- 

 ditions which have existed for an inestimable period. 



Primeval areas have two different values. First, they are of 

 great scientific significance. They are an absolute necessity for any 

 future studies of the natural distribution of the flora and fauna of 

 the world. Further, in trying to plan methods of cutting which 

 will assure the perpetuation of the forest, it is of utmost importance 

 to have various unmodified stands with which to compare the results 

 of human modification. Innumerable laws of nature can never be 

 thoroughly understood without some access to the conditions of the 

 primeval. These scientific values are quite generally recognized, 

 and both the Forest Service and the Park Service are making pro- 

 visions for preserving them. 



168342 33 vol. 1 31 



