24 Recreation Uses on 



ing, hiking, etc. As the investigation was new, the specifications 

 somewhat vague, and the census officers were preoccupied with 

 other duties, the results when compiled could not be too freely 

 accepted as decisive. Personal examination convinces me that 

 the numbers reported were generally too low. Nevertheless, the 

 summary figures indicated that approximately two and a half 

 million persons during the summer of 1916 entered upon the 

 National Forests for some kind of recreation. 1 During the summer 

 of 1917 the census, which it had been planned to continue, was 

 seriously impaired through the depletion of the Forest staff by 

 enlistment in the Army. However, a certain number of Forests 

 were able to report the count of recreation visitors for the year, 

 and these reports indicate very clearly a substantial increase over 

 the year 1916. A conservative estimate for 1917 would place the 

 total of recreation visitors at 3,000,000. 



If these figures seem large it must be remembered that the 

 National Forests are large. They cover three and one-half times 

 the area of all New England. There are 151 different Forests, 

 with an area of about 156,000,000 acres, occupying territory in 22 

 different States and Territories. 



A further estimate made by the forest officers on the ground 

 indicates that the average stay of these visitors was two and one- 

 half days. This gives us a basis for a more accurate measurement 

 of the total recreation product, since students of this subject 

 generally agree that the hour is the proper unit by which to measure 

 recreation. If, then, the average visitor spent two and one-half 

 days on the Forests, and if we call these lo-hour days, thus con- 

 verting the time per person to 25 hours; and if we multiply this 

 factor by the number of visitors (3,000,000) we reach the con- 

 siderable total of 75,000,000 recreation hours. While the factors 



1 It seems probable that in these totals a good many individuals were counted twice. Thus a single 

 person might pass through 10 different Forests and be separately counted in each of them. This fact, how- 

 ever, does not affect our computation. 



