480 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



night time it sometimes seems almost as if every tree and every bush 

 sheltered a sleeping figure. Such heavy use does more than kill the 

 possibility of enjoying one of the chief recreational values of the 

 forest, its privacy and quiet. It threatens to destroy the forest itself. 



This damage to the forest comes from several sources. Small trees 

 are cut down for fuel and tent poles. Reproduction and underbrush 

 which gets in the way is removed. Trees and the lesser vegetation 

 are killed by abrasion. Gas and oil leaking from cars onto the forest 

 floor seriously injures all forms of plant life. Finally, the mere con- 

 stant tramping on the forest floor kills the moisture-absorbing, 

 nitrogen-providing ground cover, and packs down the soil so firmly 

 that proper areation for the roots of the trees becomes impossible. 

 Many much-frequented camp grounds originally laid out in beautiful 

 groves have become virtually deserts, with the few remaining trees 

 all sickly, with the undergrowth and reproduction virtually extinct, 

 and with the surface of the camp ground merely bare soil which in 

 wet weather becomes a slimy mud and in dry weather gives off a 

 constant cloud of dust. 



The remedy for such intolerable conditions is fourfold. It is first 

 of all essential to set aside a sufficient quantity of camping ground in 

 the vicinity of large centers of population that no camp site will be 

 overused. How many camp sites will be needed for each community 

 is a subject for individual study, involving a consideration of the 

 population, its present and probable future recreational habits, the 

 quantity of other types of recreational land accessible for use, and 

 finally 'the susceptibility to damage of each type of forest available 

 for camp sites. 



A second important remedy is to educate the public in the proper 

 use of camp sites. There is an immense difference between the dam- 

 age caused by careful, considerate campers and that caused by camp- 

 ers who appreciate nothing except their own immediate pleasure. 

 Lack of regard for social values is in most cases not willful but simply 

 thoughtless. Much of the misuse and destruction of public camp 

 sites could be eliminated by educating people in a consciousness of 

 the necessity for care with fire, prevention of needless damage to 

 trees and other vegetation, cleanliness in garbage disposal, and rea- 

 sonable consideration of the peace of neighboring campers. 



There is need also for careful planning of camp sites so that cars 

 may be parked, tents pitched, camp fires built, and meals eaten at 

 definite places instead of all over the camp ground. 10 In this way the 

 quantity of vegetation destroyed by camping can be greatly reduced 

 and much more efficient use can be made of the available space. 

 Enough well planned camp sites are already in use to indicate clearly 

 how much better the forest values are protected on such areas. 



Finally, it is desirable to have definite regulation of all camp 

 grounds. In the case of large, much-frequented camp-site areas this 

 will necessitate a resident administrative officer ; in the case of smaller, 

 less popular areas, an occasional visit by an inspector. The adminis- 

 trator will see that necessary regulations are enforced, he will help to 

 educate the camp-ground users as to the desirability of good camping 

 manners, he will assist them where they require help, he will build 

 fireplaces, garbage receptacles, driveways, he may in some cases even 



w A Camp Ground Policy, E. P. Meinecke, 1932. 



