Distinction Between Forest and "Park." 



The national parks of the West are generally in the same 

 regions as the national forests, which often surround them, 

 but they are under the charge not of the forest service, but 

 of the Department of the Interior. There are also various 

 national monuments which have been set aside by presiden- 

 tial proclamation to protect "historic landmarks, historic and 

 prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scien- 

 tific interest;" some of these are under the jurisdiction of 

 the forest service, some of the Department of the Interior, and 

 some of the War department. The main distinction between 

 a national park and a national forest is that, while the latter 

 is created primarily for conservation of economic resources, 

 the first is created for esthetic purposes and recreation use. 

 Legislation providing for the more systematic care of na- 

 tional parks has been before congress in the form of a bill 

 to establish a Bureau of National Parks in the Department of 

 the Interior. National parks are given greater legal safe- 

 guards than those which apply on national forests, and there 

 is a strong feeling that full protection of the public in their 

 use and enjoyment calls for a better organized system for 

 their administration. 



Provides Camping Grounds. 



There are many notable natural wonders and scenic at- 

 tractions in the national forests which might well be segre- 

 gated into national parks, care being taken to discriminate 

 between lands valuable primarily for economic use and those 

 on which such use should be made subordinate. Where the 

 need exists, however, for merely local recreation grounds the 

 forest service provides for such needs through reservation 

 of public camping grounds and the issuing of special use per- 

 mits for occupancy of land upon which summer camps, cabins, 

 cottages, and boathouses may be erected. Similar provision 

 is made for hotels. Great care has been taken to see that 

 adequate recreation facilities are provided for the public and 

 to prevent monopoly of the best places by a few persons, 

 either to the shutting out of the many or with the possibility 

 of a toll being levied upon them by the holders of an exclusive 

 privilege. 



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