534 



pact on nature extended far beyond 

 their legal limits. To link them to- 

 gether, networks of highways came 

 into being, fringed, often, with garish 

 structures that closed off the fields and 

 woods from the roads. Within the 

 zones tributary to roads, nature was 

 subdued until it offers little appeal 

 and no challenge other than the walk 

 to the nearest filling station when one 

 runs out of gas. 



Only three major land classes had 

 escaped even partly such modifica- 

 tion the shores of the oceans and 

 lakes, the great mountain masses, and 

 the forests. Of the three, the forests 

 are of the greatest extent and the wid- 

 est geographic distribution; they also 

 are of the greatest variety and diversity 

 of natural interest the major area in 

 which future needs of the American 

 people for essential outdoor play can 

 be met in properly balanced coordina- 

 tion with the needs of commerce, in- 

 dustry, and other elements of the eco- 

 nomic structure. 



PERHAPS IT is THE INFLUENCE of 

 atavism that makes trees appeal so 

 strongly to human emotions. The forest 

 is the antithesis of the city, from which 

 a respite is desired. Within the forest 

 confines peace and calm normally pre- 

 vail. The play of shadow and sunlight 

 on majestic columns, the response of 

 leaf, twig, branch, and trunk to the 

 movement of the air, the complexity of 

 the biological pattern, the myriad 

 forms of plant, insect, bird, and animal 

 life, the placid or turbulent flow of 

 waters, the variations in topography 

 and geology, all combine to stimulate, 

 yet soothe, the senses and rid the body 

 and mind of their adversities. In this 

 effect lies the general charm of the 

 forest ; but beyond that is its illimitable 

 capacity to gratify the individual in- 

 terests and cravings of each visitor 

 within its precincts. 



One visitor may desire no more of 

 the forest than to traverse it in a fast 

 automobile over a high-speed highway, 

 but only if his eyes can be gladdened 

 by long tangents closely margined by 



Yearboo\ of Agriculture 1949 



stately ranks of trees or by vistas that 

 reveal constantly changing expanses or 

 perspectives of thrifty and beautiful 

 tree growth against the majestic back- 

 grounds of slope, canyon, or peak. 



There is, however, a less numerous 

 type of motorist whose greatest pleas- 

 ure is in exploring areas accessible only 

 by dim and difficult roads, that lead 

 into distant and primitive reaches 

 where his comforts will depend on his 

 own skill and where his normal world 

 temporarily is remote. 



Beyond the latter class is the visitor 

 who travels on foot or with saddle and 

 pack horses or by canoe. He seeks quiet 

 glades fringed with aspen or birch and 

 watered by a trickling spring, or some 

 little meadow where the eventide clang 

 of horse bells will be music to his ears, 

 or some tree-crowned point from which 

 he can watch the golden birth of a new 

 day or the descent of dusk and dark- 

 ness upon a lake. Complete detach- 

 ment from the throng is his purpose 

 and his reward. 



But most visitors to forests love na- 

 ture too greatly to be content to expe- 

 rience it only at a speed of 60 miles an 

 hour, but not enough to enjoy its close 

 intimacy at a speed of 3 miles an hour. 

 They are gregarious and have no desire 

 to detach themselves completely from 

 the crowds. They are comfort loving, 

 with no inclination toward forms of 

 subsistence, habitation, and transport 

 that entail discomforts and depriva- 

 tions. They have a love for nature in 

 general and for the forest in particular, 

 but they see no inconsistency in a rea- 

 sonable intermixture of modern facili- 

 ties and techniques. 



Second in numbers are the visitors 

 who frequent forest areas only between 

 dawn and dusk of a single day, to lunch, 

 play, ramble, and relax. Over the years 

 their habits in the woods have been sub- 

 ject to drastic changes. Knowing more 

 about the widespread pollution of 

 streams and springs, they prefer loca- 

 tions where water of assured purity is 

 available. With responsibility for fire 

 damage now more rigidly attached and 

 enforced, they see the advantage of 



