134 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



tains and their forest scenery. Neither is it a question of 

 protecting the forests and scenic wonders for a few wealthy 

 persons who can afford to take long trips on the railroad, 

 buy expensive pack outfits, and so on. We have a very 

 practical problem of opening up and making available 

 the public properties for as wide a use as possible by people 

 of little means as well as by 

 those better-to-do. 



The possibilities of pub- 

 lic benefits of the recrea- 

 tional use of the National 

 Forests and Parks was 

 never better illustrated than 

 during the past summer in 

 Colorado. It was a time of 

 great heat in the agricul- 

 tural regions of the Plains 

 States. Nearly seven hun- 

 dred thousand people vis- 

 ited the National Forests of 

 i Colorado alone. Trains 

 were crowded and hotels 

 filled to overflowing. But 

 thousands came in their 

 automobiles or other con- 

 veyances, from the cities 

 and farms, equipped with 

 tents and cooking outfits, 

 and camped in the Forests 

 a day or two here and there, 

 or often for a longer sojourn 

 near a stream, a lake, moun- 

 tain meadow, or other 

 attractive spot. 



The immediate service of 

 the public forests 

 for recreation is 

 just as conspicuous 

 in other portions of 

 the National For- 

 ests. It is a regular 

 thing for the people 

 living in the valleys 

 of California and 

 southern Oregon 

 and elsewhere to 

 take during the hot 

 summer frequent 

 camping trips in 

 the mountains, 

 sometimes for a few 

 days, sometimes for 

 several weeks. 

 Throughout the 

 National Forests 

 are found thou- 

 sands of such camp- 

 ers, a large major- 

 ity of whom are 

 local residents from 



A SUMMER CAMP IN A CALIFORNIA NATIONAL FOREST 



it is a regular thing for the people living in the valleys of California and southern 

 Oregon to take, during the hot summer, frequent camping trips in the National 

 Forests. Some of the Forests are visited by no less than fifteen or twenty 

 thousand people each year. 



ON A PACK TRIP IN THE FOREST 



These tourists were among the 700,000 who visited the National Forests of Colorado during the summer 

 of 1916. Trains and hotels were overcrowded and thousands traveled in their automobiles, or in wagons 

 or, like these campers in the Uncompahgre National Forest, with pack horses. 



the valleys below, seeking refreshment from the heat. Some 

 of the Forests already are visited by no less than fifteen to 

 t went y thousand people each year ; and I estimate that there 

 are at least one and a half million persons who use the 

 Forests in a single year, chiefly for recreation purposes. 

 In a very real sense the recreation attractions of the 



National Forests constitute 

 a natural resource that 

 must be safeguarded, util- 

 ized, and developed. It is 

 a resource of great economic 

 importance to the local 

 communities. By its de- 

 velopment every citizen in 

 the locality benefits directly 

 or indirectly. It is not only 

 through the added business 

 in furnishing accommoda- 

 tions, supplies, transporta- 

 tion, and so on, to the tour- 

 ists, but many persons 

 become regular visitors, 

 often building summer 

 homes and becoming perma- 

 nently identified with the 

 region. In a multitude of 

 ways the local industries are 

 stimulated. 



The recreation features 

 of the National Forests are 

 fostered in a variety of 

 ways. First, by protection 

 from defacement of those 

 sections of special value and 

 interest from a scenic and 

 recreation stand- 

 point. Systemat- 

 ically such areas, 

 both large and 

 small, are being 

 searched out and 

 designated so that 

 the cutting of tim- 

 ber and other uses 

 may not result in 

 their injury. Such 

 areas include 

 mountain peaks, 

 lakes, canyons of 

 special interest, 

 high mesas, road- 

 ways, and so on. 

 In effect these con- 

 stitute a multi- 

 tude of parks and 

 parkways within 

 the Forests, to 

 be used espe- 

 cially for recreation 

 purposes. 



