AMERICANS NEED OUTINGS 31 



It is quite a problem. Even so, when it conies to national-forest recreation 

 the Jeffersonian tenet that "the best government is the least government" 

 still stands. 



OBJECTIVES . . . The first objective is to provide a natural and simple 

 environment. This calls for such simple and human administration as will 

 encourage individual enjoyment of the forms of recreation natural to the 

 forest; as will maintain as much as possible of the native simplicity of the 

 forest; as will avoid man-made refinements not required for the protection 

 of the health, safety, and reasonable convenience of users, or for the pro- 

 tection of the forest property. 



A second objective of national-forest policy is to provide graded steps 

 through which the individual may progressively educate himself from en- 

 joyment of mass forms of forest recreation toward the capacity to enjoy those 

 demanding greater skill, more self-reliance, and a true love of the wild. Most 

 men or women previously unacquainted with the forest in its natural state 

 would experience discomfort and fear, and might even be in serious danger 

 if moved in a single step from the accustomed city to the unaccustomed 

 wilderness. But if progressively they may experience the urbanized forest 

 park, the large forest campground, the small camping group, the overnight or 

 week-end hike, and so gain a sense of confidence in their own resourcefulness 

 and lose the fear of wild country, then the final step is simple and natural. 



A third major objective is protection of the resource against the added 

 hazards introduced by recreational use. Protection of forest land involves 

 not only extension of the customary protective machinery against fire and 

 other enemies of the forest, but also the institution of administrative measures 

 needed to prevent the destruction of recreational values. 



The values to be defended are not only quantitative values, such as size 

 and density of timber stands; but qualitative also. Each forest type has its 

 individual scenic possibilities, variety of vegetation, contrasts between open 

 and closed forests, patterns of color, ever-varying natural composition of 

 the scene. These combine to produce a composite quality, ranging from the 

 uninteresting and monotonous to the wild and majestic, and all in basic 

 contrast to the environment in which most people live. 



