New Values in the Minds of Men 



535 



building their luncheon fires in safe 

 fireplaces. The more general recogni- 

 tion of the hazards of poor sanitary 

 practices, not only to the visitors but to 

 all users of the watershed, has popu- 

 larized areas that have good sanitary 

 facilities. Thus, this type of forest recre- 

 ational use, once so widely diffused 

 throughout the forest as to be a menace 

 to health and property, now largely is 

 concentrated, at least on those forests 

 under public management, in picnic 

 and camp grounds that are equipped 

 and developed to afford full protection. 



Scores of thousands of lakes and 

 ponds and miles of flowing streams 

 intersperse and thread the forests. In 

 them the fresh-water varieties of game 

 fish generally are more abundant than 

 elsewhere. Only in the forest environ- 

 ment have game animals and some 

 species of game birds been able to sur- 

 vive in material numbers. 



Despite the increasing popularity of 

 other types of forest recreation, large 

 numbers of forest visitors continue to 

 regard camping as the most enjoyable 

 form of summer outing. In part static, 

 in part peripatetic, its requirements in 

 equipment, supplies, effort, and cost 

 are not burdensome, while its compen- 

 sations are many. 



A variant is the organization camp, 

 a fixed group of structures and facili- 

 ties, created and sponsored by a public 

 or quasi-public agency and made avail- 

 able for fixed periods to associations or 

 groups which meet all costs of opera- 

 tion and maintenance during their oc- 

 cupancy. The primary objective of the 

 organization camp is to create condi- 

 tions under which children, youths, 

 workers, and other groups, for whom 

 summer vacations otherwise would be 

 impracticable or impossible, can be af- 

 forded vacations free or at low cost. 



The lakes, ponds, and pools of the 

 forests, relatively free of industrial 

 wastes and other major forms of pollu- 

 tion, present pleasurable opportunities 

 for swimming and annually attract 

 hundreds of thousands of visitors. 

 Thousands of miles of leafy roads and 

 trails lure the hiker and the horseback 



rider in corresponding numbers. A 

 great diversity and abundance of nuts, 

 berries, mushrooms, grapes, persim- 

 mons, barks, roots, and other edible, 

 medicinal, or ornamental products of 

 the forest are garnered each year by 

 scores of thousands who find pleasure 

 and benefit in collecting them for per- 

 sonal consumption or gratification. 



In the forest the botanist or plant 

 physiologist, naturalist, entomologist, 

 ichthyologist, and geologist can find 

 biological or geological patterns or 

 structures or associations quite differ- 

 ent from those with which they nor- 

 mally are acquainted. The person 

 whose hobby is collecting specimens of 

 plant, insect, bird, or animal life or of 

 minerals or examples of early cultures 

 can find in forest areas rich additions 

 to their collections or can explore new 

 fields of lore, tradition, and culture. 

 To every visitor the forest can offer a 

 new interest or idea or experience. 



The current and growing promi- 

 nence and significance of the forest as 

 a major field for the outdoor recrea- 

 tional activities of the people of the 

 United States was not inspired or 

 promoted by foresters. To the con- 

 trary, the trend initially was regarded 

 by many foresters as adverse, fraught 

 with many perils to sound programs of 

 forest management. Public careless- 

 ness with fire was a constant menace to 

 the forest. Public indifference to good 

 sanitation was a major hazard to the 

 health of the populations which drew 

 their water supplies from the forest 

 watersheds. Public sentiment prom- 

 ised to be, and it frequently was, an 

 obstacle to the harvesting of forest 

 crops, even though such harvest might 

 be dictated or demanded by sound 

 principles of forest management and 

 economy. 



Besides those major considerations 

 there were numerous minor irritations. 

 Public camping in close proximity to 

 springs, tanks, or troughs prevented 

 domestic livestock grazed under per- 

 mit from slaking their thirst and forced 

 them to congest in other areas. Forest 

 signs, erected at much effort and ex- 



