A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 477 



justify protection of roadside areas. Therefore, wherever State 

 highways pass through forest lands, it is recommended that strips 

 of land at either side of the roadway be preserved on which scenic 

 values will not only be safeguarded where they already exist but also 

 restored through planting, the elimination of billboards, the tearing 

 down of ramshackle houses, and cutting to open attractive vistas. 



About a quarter of the land area of the United States is covered 

 with forest, but roads do not sample all this territory equally. They 

 are much more apt to lead through fields and clearings. It would be 

 liberal to estimate that one sixth the State highway mileage, or about 

 54,000 miles of such road, leads through forests. If there were added 

 to this figure a nearly equal mileage of county and local roads having 

 particular recreational value it would mean that a maximum of 

 about 100,000 miles of roadside strips should be retained to give 

 scenic protection to the highways. 



The width desirable for these strips varies with the density of the 

 forest, the topography, and the danger of windfall. Along roads that 

 are used chiefly in summer, when forest visibility is much less than in 

 winter, the strips can be narrower. In most cases the width of the 

 strips on each side of the road should probably range from 125 to 250 

 feet, which would be sufficient to hide any impairment of the scenery 

 behind them. 



CAMP-SITE AREAS 



For the benefit of the many automobilists and boat travelers who 

 spend their nights in camp, it is important to provide " camp-site 

 areas." These will not only make camping more comfortable and 

 convenient for the travelers, but will also curtail the very serious 

 damage to forests which results when the hordes of tourists who 

 throng many popular highways camp chaotically through the sur- 

 rounding woods. 



The minimum area desirable for individual camp grounds is difficult 

 to determine precisely. Probably one-quarter acre is about the least 

 size to which a single tent site ^could be contracted and still retain 

 reasonable isolation for the camping party which occupies it, though in 

 many cases isolation is what the campers do not desire. However, too 

 great crowding also tends to deteriorate the camp site. The number 

 of tent sites on a camp ground may vary from one to upwards of a 

 thousand. 



Jn general it is desirable to locate camp-site areas some distance 

 back from highways. This spares the camper the continual dust 

 cloud raised by passing automobiles, and spares the tourist constant 

 interruption in his enjoyment of the forest. To a certain extent the 

 location of camp grounds will be determined by the occurrence of 

 water, though wells and preferably piped water will make almost any 

 area available for this use. In many populous parts of the country 

 practically every possible camp ground should be developed. The 

 laying out of camp-site areas calls for landscape architecture and 

 recreational planning of high quality. 



Camp-site areas may sometimes be necessary along much- 

 frequented trails in order to avoid a haphazard camping which would 

 seriously mar scenic beauty and wildness. The State of Maine has 

 found public camp sites in the interior of the forest most desirable from 

 a fire-prevention standpoint. In most cases, however, camp grounds 



