258 FOREST OUTINGS 



Shady dance halls may spring up on private land near the national forests, 

 and there may be in other ways as well a destruction of solitude and of 

 cherished, settled qualities. 



Scarification of roadside landscapes by shrieking billboards and by 

 blatantly tasteless structures has been sufficiently emphasized, perhaps, in 

 previous chapters, especially in the section on camps. On public land 

 within the national forests this is not permitted. But about one-quarter of 

 all the land within national-forest borders is private land; and the only 

 authority forest officers may exert there is by power of persuasion. 



A more general display of resentment against roadside desecration has 

 lately become evident and has produced in many places a remarkably 

 prompt response. The American Automobile Association, the Garden 

 Clubs of America, and other organizations in many States have moved to 

 rid existing highways of billboards and defacing structures, and to keep 

 new highways free of them. 



The public is by no means helpless in such matters. Bidders for public 

 favor respond at once to expressions of public anger, if it is solidly and 

 forcibly expressed. A great many of the aesthetic drawbacks and spiritual 

 losses which follow the tourist swarm are entirely uncalled for. They need 

 not be suffered if the people of the communities affected will only get 

 together on the question, take a stand, speak out. 



If the visiting tide is decently and sensibly handled, in the light of an 

 awakened local consciousness, outdoor recreation can be made to con- 

 tribute substantially to the development of generally better and more per- 

 manent rural communities. It can lead to an expansion of existing local 

 businesses with more varied stocks, and to a refreshing pick-up in the pur- 

 chasing power of local residents. It can lead to better train and bus service, 

 to improved telephone and mail facilities, to better roads and schools, to 

 improved medical and dental services. And it can bring rural and urban 

 peoples together, democratically, decently, to visit with one another, and 

 weld their spirit as Americans. 



It all depends on how it is handled, and that depends, more than 

 anything else, on resolute local defense of native values, aroused and 

 expressed in local action. 



