482 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



To illustrate this principle specifically, let us suppose that it is 

 desired to set up a primeval rotation in the western white pine type. 

 This type does not reach its finest development before 200 years. 

 By 300 years the white pine elements of the stand begin to dis- 

 integrate rapidly. Thus the 200-year-old primeval stands which we 

 set aside today at their most beautiful stage of development will be 

 considerably less splendid in 2032. Consequently it is desirable to 

 reserve mature stands of aJbout 100 years which today lack much of 

 the beauty of the older forests but in a century will have ^surpassed 

 them in aesthetic value. Similarly it is desirable to set aside stands 

 of present reproduction which will grow into the primeval forests of 

 the twenty-second century. 



In actual practice the first necessity is to preserve the virgin areas 

 of the present. This action cannot be postponed. If many of the 

 present overmature forests are not set aside as primeval areas within 

 the next few years, they probably never will be set aside. The ac- 

 quiring of the mature and immature age classes can safely wait in 

 most cases, but sooner or later it will be desirable, in all except a few 

 uniformly uneven-aged types, to make provision for preserving the 

 important stages in the life cycle of the forest. 



ADMINISTRATION 



It will be well to consider briefly the different agencies which control 

 forest land, to mention the theory under which their administration 

 functions, and to point out which types of recreational land each 

 ownership is adapted to handle. 



NATIONAL PARKS 



National parks are supposed to be confined to areas which remain 

 essentially in their primitive condition, which are sufficiently inspira- 

 tional to attract visitors from the entire country, and which are the 

 finest samples in the United States of the particular types of natural 

 phenomena which they exemplify. All commercial exploitation is 

 barred. They are maintained as outdoor museums of the superlative 

 and primeval. They are intended to serve chiefly as sources of 

 inspiration, education, and aesthetic enjoyment, rather than as play- 

 grounds, health resorts, or week-end camping sites. They include 

 most of the superlative areas, are peculiarly well adapted for main- 

 taining primeval areas, and owing to a recently formulated policy of 

 keeping roads out of most of their territory they include splendid 

 possibilities for wilderness areas. 



NATIONAL MONUMENTS 



The national-monument system of the United States is administered 

 by the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and War. The num- 

 ber of monuments administered by each of these agencies is respec- 

 tively 38, 16, and 24. The Agriculture Department monuments are 

 included in national forests. The War Department monuments em- 

 brace barely 1 square mile altogether. National monuments ad- 

 ministered by the Interior Department are of five classes : (1) Remains 

 of prehistoric civilization, (2) historic relics, (3) geologic examples, (4) 

 botanic reservations, and (5) wild-animal reservations. It is in the 



