A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 1207 



which it comes and sometimes even more through sanding and silting 

 of the region in which it is deposited. If, therefore, through depletion 

 of forest cover erosion is accelerated, damage arises to the public to 

 the extent that it is interested either in soil productivity or in the 

 navigability or purity of streams. 



The interstate interest in forested watersheds from these various 

 points of view is fully discussed in another section of this report. 

 For the purpose of illustration here it will be sufficient to call attention 

 to the vast territorial range of only three of our major drainage sys- 

 tems. The Mississippi system drains all or parts of 31 States, and its 

 watersheds include about one fourth of the total forest land of the 

 country. The watersheds of the Columbia and the Colorado each 

 include nearly one tenth of the total forest land. The Columbia 

 drains parts of 6 States, and the Colorado parts of 6 States. Control 

 of floods, erosion, or any other problem of such river systems is a 

 matter of Federal no less than State and local concern. And it is a 

 fundamental premise of forestry that every successful effort made by 

 the public toward restoring, maintaining, and protecting forest and 

 vegetative cover is directly reflected in better control of floods, 

 erosion, and run-off in general. 



SCENIC AND RECREATIONAL INTERESTS 



The interstate use of forest land for scenic and recreational pur- 

 poses depends on a proper combination of natural features to appeal 

 to the outdoor interests of the American public. As a rule, the most 

 popular vacation areas are to be found in mountainous or lake country 

 with a cool summer climate. 



It is not believed that interstate as against State use of forest land 

 for recreation should be given too serious weight in determining a 

 Federal aid policy, particularly if the Federal aid is largely compensat- 

 ing through similarity of State situations. The relative value of 

 resources to the State as compared to their value to the Nation as a 

 whole is particularly difficult to estimate, and the interests of both 

 parties should be given fair consideration. Some light is thrown on 

 this aspect of the case by a United States Bureau of Biological Survey 

 report showing that of some 7 million State hunting licenses issued for 

 the 1929-30 season, only about 55,000 were to nonresidents. A 

 prominent example of nonresident recreation is seen in Colorado, 

 where, according to estimates of the " Colorado Association," 790,000 

 summer visitors in 1931 spent $72,396,000, paying to the State 

 $436,142, in gasoline tax alone. A similar report from the "New 

 England Council" estimates that over $500,000,000 is spent in that 

 region annually by recreationists, many of whom, of course, cross 

 State boundaries on the way. 



On the other hand, while each national park is visited by people 

 from every State each year, Park Service reports indicate a relatively 

 much greater use by people residing near them. For example, about 

 20 percent of the annual visitors to Yellowstone Park are residents of 

 the three States surrounding it, although the combined population of 

 these States is only 1 percent of the total population of the United 

 States. Of the visitors to Rocky Mountain National Park more than 

 50 percent are Colorado residents, and at Yosemite more than 90 

 percent have registered as Californians. 



168342 33 vol. 2 11 



