A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 483 



fourth class that forest recreational lands may well be administered. 

 The Muir Woods near San Francisco and the Glacier Bay National 

 Monument in Alaska are splendid forests preserved in national 

 monuments from commercial exploitation. The national-monument 

 system of the Interior Department is capable of taking over further 

 primeval areas which it may be desirable to purchase, though on the 

 whole the administration of such areas would seem to be more the 

 function of the Forest Service. 



NATIONAL FORESTS 



The national forests are managed on the principle of providing "the 

 greatest good to the greatest number in the long run." Under this 

 policy the Forest Service recognizes that some lands are so valuable 

 for recreation that no commercial exploitation should be permitted 

 on them. Other lands are much more valuable for the timber, forage, 

 and water power which they can produce, and on these lands recrea- 

 tion receives no consideration. On still a third sort of area some of the 

 recreational values are safeguarded at the same time that the develop- 

 ment of commodities is permitted. 



In national-forest recreational development the stress is laid not 

 on preserving the primeval but in providing healthy outdoor recrea- 

 tion. Camping, the development of health resorts, and general frol- 

 icking are encouraged. As a result national forests, in addition to 

 providing some superlative areas and primeval areas, provide wilder- 

 ness areas, camp grounds, residence areas, and outing areas for 

 millions of people. 



OTHER FEDERAL LANDS 



Certain forest lands which could be used for recreation are found 

 on the public domain, naval reservations, military national forests, 

 and lighthouse reservations. The last three classes of lands embrace 

 less than 60,000 acres. They can well continue under their present 

 administration, with any recreational use they receive ranking dis- 

 tinctly secondary to their major purpose. Public-domain lands that 

 are chiefly valuable for recreation should be turned over to the national 

 parks, national monuments, national forests, or State parks, according 

 to which type of management is best adapted to administering them. 

 Provision has been made in the Recreation Act of June 14, 1926, for 

 turning over to the States or minor political units public-domain lands 

 of recreational value which seem better adapted to local than to 

 Federal administration. 



STATE PARKS OR FORESTS 



State parks and State forests which may be devoted to recreation 

 are supposed primarily to meet the recreational needs of the citizens 

 of the State in which they lie. They should generally be distributed 

 as evenly as possible throughout the State so that all the citizens may 

 have a reasonable opportunity of enjoying their benefits. "They 

 should be sufficiently distinctive and notable to interest people from 

 comparatively distant parts of the State to visit and use them, not 

 merely good enough to attract people from the region in which they 

 are situated and merely because of the absence of more interesting 

 areas within easy reach." 12 



Olmsted, California State Park Survey, California State Park Commission, 1929. 



