486 A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



there remains a total of 10 million acres of forest land which will 

 probably be reserved primarily for wilderness recreational use. 

 Some grazing will occur on much of this area. 



ROADSIDE AREAS 



It was estimated that a maximum of 100,000 miles of road leading 

 through the forest should be protected by scenic strips on either side 

 of the right of way. The width of these strips would range from 125 

 to 250 feet, with an average of perhaps 175 feet. Two strips 175 feet 

 wide and 100,000 miles long would involve an area of approximately 

 4 million acres. 



CAMP-SITE AREAS 



It may reasonably be estimated that not more than one tenth of 

 the American population is likely to go camping in the forest at one 

 time, or in other words a maximum of 16} million people out of an 

 estimated stabilized population of 165 million. If the average area 

 required by each camping party is about one third acre, and if, as 

 the American Automobile Association has calculated, touring parties 

 include an average of 3K people each, each camper would require 

 about one tenth of an acre. This would make the total camp-site 

 area, in round numbers, \% million acres. 



RESIDENCE AREAS 



The acreage required for residence areas is even harder to estimate 

 than for other recreational land. There were in 1930 about 30 million 

 families in the United States. If the stabilized population of the coun- 

 try is one third greater than the present population, it may be ex- 

 pected that the number of families will increase by at least that ratio, 

 making the stabilized figure not less than 40 million. It does not seem 

 unreasonable to expect that one tenth of these families, or in other 

 words, 4 million, will have forest residences. If the average area for 

 each residence were 1 acre, the total area would amount to 4 million 

 acres. In addition it seems reasonable to calculate at least 100,000 

 group camps, hotels, and resorts, with an average of 20 acres of forest 

 for each, making an additional 2 million acres. Thus the total area 

 required for residential use might be calculated very roughly as around 

 6 million acres. 



OUTING AREAS 



By far the larger share of those who make use of the forest for 

 recreation do not demand the unusual qualities which characterize 

 superlative, primeval, and wilderness acres. Their demands are satis- 

 fied by any land which retains a considerable growth of timber and has 

 not been recently scarred by logging. Consequently, a goodly frac- 

 tion of the forest recreationists can obtain the values they seek on any 

 well-managed forest lands which have had sufficient time to recuperate 

 from the effects of logging. 



Theoretically, if the population of the United States were equally 

 distributed, there would be no necessity for special outing areas. 

 People might take their ordinary forest outings on lands which are 

 being properly managed for the production of commodities. How- 

 ever, in the vicinity of certain centers of population the value of forest 

 land for recreation may be so great that there will be no social justi- 



