222 





A CAMPGROUND SIGN 



Signs are necessary to direct recreational 

 use. Without them the average tourist is 

 a stranger in a very unfamiliar location. 



shelter with a travelers' register in it 

 and if the view overlooks several 

 mountain peaks a dial to point them 

 out and name them should be in the 

 shelter. The recreational return 

 from the outlook is thus enhanced a 

 thousand fold or more for everyone 

 stopping. The road cost tens of 

 thousands of dollars to reach thi.s 

 point. The outlook was one of the 

 reasons for building the road. It was 

 to produce inspiration, love of coun- 

 try, joy in living, reverence of God 

 and many of the other intangible 

 products of play in the open. Rut it 

 fell short of the real ])roduction about 

 ninety-five per cent because two or 

 three per cent of the cost of the road 

 to that point was not spent to actu- 

 ally take the final step in the install- 

 ing of recreation producing machin- 

 ery. This hap])ened because ])roper 

 landscape j)Ianning was lacking. 



Every trail and road in the west, 

 south, north and east presents the 

 same problems. Millions are spent 

 on construction of traffic lines which 

 are often built in scenic locations 

 .solelv for recreational use. But be- 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



cause there is no one who knows how 

 to build this production phase into 

 the mechanically engineered traffic 

 line it is overlooked or bungled and 

 the road which should produce rec- 

 reational values on the hundred per 

 cent basis is falling short of that ideal 

 in an appalling manner. 



Is it not folly to build roads de- 

 signed to produce the recreational 

 values, so called scenic roads, without 

 making them function? They prac- 

 tically all need this "turning on of the 

 power" as one might put it, and is it 



THE COOKING FIREPL.-XCE 



This simple structure not only guards 

 against fires spreading but it also produces 

 recreational qualities. Its cost two years 

 ago was around si.x dollars. 



not folly to build more roads that arc 

 10 be sc'jnic highways without mak- 

 ing our i)resent roads recreation pro- 

 ducing units? A tenth or even a 

 twentieth of the cost of such a road 

 would develop the recreation machin- 

 ery to the full. 



There are other pieces of recreation 

 machinery which are needed on roads. 

 Properly ])laced sanitaries are essen- 

 tial to comfort and health. Signs are 

 needed. Little side trails to scenic 

 jjoints are a part of good road de- 

 velo])ments. Many a scenic gem is 

 l^assed because there is not a parking 



place near it and a short stub trail ' 

 pointed out by a sign to invite tlie 

 traveler to behold its offerings. 



Beyond the development of the rec- 

 reation machinery on existing roads 

 there lies the whole field of road and 

 trail development designed primarily 

 to produce recreation. Most often 

 roads built primarily for recreational 

 purposes also serve commercial uses. 

 There is a field for work in every 

 scenic section of the country on new 

 traffic lines designed primarily to pro- 

 duce the recreation commodity. There 

 are few such highways. ^lany roads 

 which were planned for this fall short 

 of it because designed and built by 

 someone more qualified to run a rail- 

 road grade than to determine what 

 constitutes a recreational road. 



In campground development there 

 is need of shelters, community houses 

 and other human use structures. Bul- 

 letin boards giving camp rules, dis- 

 tances to nearby camps, notices of the 

 day and a map of the campground 

 serve the public but are lacking on 

 nearly every camping place. Short 

 trails for foot travel, foot bridges 

 over streams, camp tables, and many 

 other things are in the catalog of ma- 

 chinery for recreation, but they are 

 not now installed on the machinery 

 ])ases of our producing plant. 



The recreational use of forest lands 

 is a fundamental one. It is not arti- 

 ficially created by propaganda nor 

 transient conditions. People instinc- 



A PICNIC-PARTY FIREPLACE , 



In the fireplace shown, a portion of the 

 top is covered with a sheet metal cover. 

 The remaining part is covered with bars. 

 It will serve fifteen or twenty people. 



