256 FOREST OUTINGS 



Association is authority for the statement that vacationists traveling in auto- 

 mobiles spent 4% billion dollars in 1936. Glover and Cornell estimate 

 tourist expenditures at 5 billion dollars in prosperous years. Weinberger 

 places the total expenditures for vacation travel in the United States at 2 

 billion dollars for 1939; and a number of other estimates of outdoor recre- 

 ational expenditures have been made, most of them around 4 or 5 billion 

 dollars. 



New Mexico estimates that her tourist crop produces more revenue than 

 does the State's mining, agriculture, or livestock industries. California con- 

 siders tourist travel next in importance to her great petroleum industry. 

 In Michigan, tourist money is exceeded only by the money brought in by 

 automobile makers. In Florida, vacation travelers as a source of revenue 

 are said to be several times more valuable than the State's entire citrus crop. 



For the whole United States, Roger Babson estimates the monetary value 

 of the tourist business is 11 percent greater than the clothing business, 45 

 percent greater than the printing and publishing business, 60 percent 

 greater than the lumber business, 185 percent greater than the banking 

 business, 222 percent greater than the shoe industry, 518 percent greater 

 than the cotton crop of 1933, and equal to the giant steel and iron industry. 

 According to the American Express Company, serving pleasure travel is 

 edging toward second place among the leading industries of the country. 



Just how much of these impressive totals for all forms of outdoor recrea- 

 tion can be claimed for forest recreation in general or for national-forest 

 recreation in particular is not exactly known. A single trip often includes 

 visits to many kinds of recreational areas. The closest possible estimates, 

 based on all known figures, indicate that for all classes of national forest 

 visitors, total expenditure was certainly no less than 224 million dollars in 

 1937. Not included in this total are other local or semilocal expenditures 

 such as taxes on summer homes, permit fees for summer homes, taxes and 

 license fees for automobiles and trailers, automobile insurance, winter 

 sports equipment, and hunting and fishing licenses. Expenditures by tran- 

 sients numbering 106 million who passed through the national forests on 

 main highways are not included in this estimate, although it is obvious 

 that such forest users often stop en route to purchase food, souvenirs, and 



