396 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



breach in the progressive system ot road building inaugu- 

 rated by the Fotest Service and of systematic plans for 

 the scientific use of all resources would be confusing to 

 the general public. Two federal timber policies, two 

 grazing policies, two water resource policies, side by 

 side, handled by two sets of officials from different Fed- 

 eral Departments, would create an administration that 

 would be inefficient and costly, and it would be a situa- 

 tion wholly intolerable to the public. 



A natural query is why the various bureaus in charge 

 of the Federal reservations do not agree upon a common 

 policy regarding the points discussed in the foregoing 

 pages. Whatever the reasons, the fact remains that there 

 is not a common policy and that legislation is repeatedly 



tives of the federal bureaus have a single large objective. 

 They ought to have no difficulty in agreeing upon the 

 basis of a national policy. With the larger objectives 

 and principles in mind comprehending the whole field of 

 Government responsibilities taken together, the methods 

 of working out a program become questions of lesser 

 consequence, and would no longer tend to obscure the 

 main public issues. 



I have no doubt that if the President should request 

 the formulation of such a policy by the departments con- 

 cerned, it would be quickly worked out, with an agree- 

 ment as to organization, methods, and procedure. With 

 a basic policy which would become the policy of the 

 whole Administration to be followed by all constituent 



A MUNICIPAL CAMP IN THE ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST IN CALIFORNIA 



The city of Los Angeles has developed two public camp grounds in the nearby National Forest. Here, for a very small cost, people can 

 bring their families for a two week s vacation, to secure the refreshment of the high mountains and pine forests. It means health, content- 

 ment and increased efficiency to the citizens of that city. 



recommended to Congress by one department that is in- 

 consistent with that recommended by another depart- 

 ment, with resulting confusion to Congress and the gen- 

 eral public. This is due in part to faulty departmental 

 organization. A deeper cause is that there has been too 

 much attention given to forms of reservations, to names, 

 and to procedure, and not enough thought to the large 

 recreation problem which includes the activities of all 

 units of organization that are directly or indirectly con- 

 cerned. 



There is needed first of all a broad policy that sets 

 forth the large public objectives of national recreation, 

 the opportunities and needs of development, the basic 

 principles underlying the establishment and purposes of 

 the federal reservation and the functions of each in 

 working out the large national program. 



All friends of outdoor recreation, and all representa- 



members of the executive branch of the Government, 

 order could be brought out of chaos. 



Outline of a Recreation Policy. 



More specificially and in summary a national recrea- 

 tion policy should comprise the following points: 



i. The formulation of a comprehensive base plan for 

 all the Federal reservations, taken together, indicating: 



(a) The recreation opportunities. 



(b) The needs for the development of these opportunities. 



(c) The relation of the recreation objectives in the various 



reservations to each other, regardless of the class of 

 reservation, and the relation to similar points in State, 

 municipal, and private areas outside. 



(d) The relation of these to the plans for road and trail 



building within and outside the public properties. 



(e) The function of each class of reservation and federal 



organization in carrying out a progressive plan of 

 recreation development, with all working toward a 

 common objective and each supporting the other. 

 2. On public properties not closed to industrial use, 

 the correlation of the recreation development with the 



I 



