

Fun in the Forests 



NEW VALUES IN THE MINDS OF MEN 



L. F. KNEIPP 



f f -pECREATION" and "recreate" 

 JV mean refreshment, to give 

 fresh life to, reanimate, revive, divert, 

 amuse, gratify. The terms apply to 

 mind and spirit and body. The ways 

 in which the forests of the United 

 States serve these purposes are many. 

 Years ago, for recreation, most peo- 

 ple oftener went away from the forest 

 than toward it. But as the country set- 

 tled, as industry and commerce gained 

 ascendancy over rural activities, as the 

 population concentrated in cities, the 

 forest gained increasing significance as 

 the scene of wholesome recreation. 



New living conditions modified nat- 

 ural forces and elements. New forms 

 of economic activity, highly mechani- 

 cal and monotonously repetitive, were 

 established. New tempos of thought 

 and action gave birth to new tensions 

 and nervous strains. Time brought in- 

 creasing realization that physical and 

 spiritual well-being required periodic 

 escape from the strains of the new 

 modes of daily life. 



Above: A scene typical (except, perhaps, 

 for the size of the fish) of many parts of 

 the country. 



The qualities with which their fore- 

 bears met the challenge of nature be- 

 gan to assume new values in the minds 

 of men who felt a desire to revert to 

 more primitive conditions under which 

 such skills and qualities could be re- 

 gained. A major contributing cause 

 was probably the changes that were 

 occurring in working standards and 

 habits. As the average working day 

 dropped from 12 hours to 10 and then 

 to 8, as the average workweek dropped 

 from 6 days to 5, as the practice of 

 vacations ceased to be the privilege of 

 a few, both the time and the physical 

 energies requisite to the return to na- 

 ture became increasingly available. 

 Then automobiles overcame handicaps 

 of distance and immobility, and many 

 an American enthusiastically became 

 outdoor-minded. 



But while nature was regaining a 

 hold on the minds and affections of 

 people, it coincidentally was losing 

 dominance over the land. Farms and 

 fields had occupied all land suitable 

 for such use and much that was not 

 suitable. Hamlets grew into villages 

 and villages into cities, and their im- 



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