A CRISIS IN NATIONAL RECREATION 



395 



Recently, however, a new situation has been develop- 

 ing. The growth of the movement to visit our western 

 mountains and the development work in the parks, ac- 

 companied by wide advertising of their attractions, have 

 brought these areas into great prominence and popularity. 

 This has stimulated the movement greatly to enlarge the 

 National Park system, with many proposals to transfer 

 large areas from the National Forests. At the same 

 time the industrial 

 development of the 

 West has gone for- 

 ward with in- 

 creased intensity. 

 Much of this de- 

 velopment depends 

 upon raw resources 

 in the mountains, 

 and within the last 

 few years the de- 

 mand for timber, 

 forage, and water 

 for power and irri- 

 gation on the prop- 

 erties owned by the 

 Nation has in- 

 creased with great 

 rapidity. It is no 

 longer possible to 

 segregate great 

 areas of mountain 

 land without in- 

 cluding natural re- 

 sources that very 

 soon will be needed 

 by our industries. 

 This industrial pro- 

 cess has already 

 reached a point of 

 causing strong 

 pressure for the 

 use of economic re- 

 sources exist ing 

 within the bounda- 

 ries of the present 

 National Parks. 

 This is expressing 

 itself in measures 

 in Congress for the 

 opening of the Na- 

 tional Parks for economic development, measures which 

 are finding very considerable support. 



In most cases the proposals for new parks involve 

 areas within the present National Forests. Some of the 

 proposals have been presented in the form of bills in 

 Congress ; in other cases they have been agitated by 

 local organizations looking to later petitions to our 

 National Legislature. Already proposals have been made 

 for more than 30 new National Parks to be created from 

 lands now within the National Forests, involving many 



FISHING IN $NQWMASS LAKE, COLORADO 



In our federal forests and parks there are thousands of lakes and streams that are the objective 

 of fishermen and campers. The stocking of these waters by the Bureau of Fisheries is a valuable 

 service in encouraging out-door recreation. Snowmass Lake is in the Sopris National Forest. 



millions of acres. Some persons have even gone so far 

 as to advocate that practically the entire crest of the 

 Sierra Nevada and of the Cascade Mountains and other 

 extensive areas be incorporated in National Parks. The 

 movement has already reached a point when the policy 

 as advocated by many would, if carried out, result in 

 the practical partition of the National Forests, the effect 

 of which would be very serious from the standpoint 



of public interests. 

 The movement 

 for a great expan- 

 sion of the Nation- 

 al Parks, to be 

 carved out of the 

 National Forests, 

 immediately raises 

 the question of in- 

 dustrial develop- 

 ment within the 

 parks. The with- 

 drawal of large 

 areas of land from 

 industrial use re- 

 sults in a great deal 

 of local opposition. 

 Thus, when a new 

 National Park is 

 proposed there are 

 usually two local 

 factions developed : 

 those urging the 

 park, often with 

 the idea that the 

 name will adver- 

 tise the country and 

 with the mistaken 

 belief that there 

 will be a larger 

 develop ment of 

 scenic highways 

 than if retained in 

 the National For- 

 ests ; and on the 

 other side those 

 who oppose the 

 park because they 

 prefer to see the 

 timber, forage, 

 water, and other 

 resources utilized under proper restrictions. Very com- 

 monly a compromise proposal is the result; namely, to 

 create a park, but with provision for the utilization of 

 the economic resources where this does not conspicuously 

 deface the country or otherwise injure the value of the 

 area for recreation purposes. 



This sort of compromise is well illustrated in some of 

 the bills now before Congress. Already several measures 

 creating National Parks from National Forest areas 

 would permit the use of the lands for the grazing of 



