THE rORESTEB. 195 



district^ which does not have some features of recreation interest. 

 Sometimes it is the mountain scenery, sometimes the beauty of 

 forests, lakes, and streams, sometimes the opportunities for sport in 

 the form of fishing, hunting, or mountain climbing, and sometimes 

 it is still other kmds of attractions which lead yearly increasing 

 number of visitors to the Forests for recreation and health. 



Because of this expanding use adequate administration of tliQ 

 recreation resource has become of marked importance. The western 

 National Forests are, by virtue of their location and character, the 

 natural public playgrounds for most of the country west of the 

 Mississippi, and they also draw many thousands of visitors from tha 

 East. They must De handled with full recognition of their recrea- 

 tion values, present and future. Tliis requires careful and forward- 

 looking plans providing both for the protection and the development 

 of this important resource. 



Protection of the recreation resom*ce involves measures that will 

 safeguard for the use and enjoyment of the public the natural attrac" 

 tions which appeal to visitors and cause them to seek the Forests 

 and also measures that will reserve for their use adequate supplies 

 of wood and forage and afford pure water. Development of the 

 resource is a still larger matter. It involves many things, but the 

 most urgent primary need is provision of facilities for traversing 

 the Forests and for living while in the Forests. 



All these matters received attention. In cutting timber, opera- 

 tions are adjusted to protect scenic features, roads, camping place:-j 

 and the like against loss of attractiveness. Forage is reserved for 

 the horses of recreation pai'ties. Water protection is looked aftei 

 through sanitary regulations, the provision of hotel and other accom 

 modations is encouraged, information of various kinds supplied, and 

 in general the convenience and comfort of visitors promoted. 



Of particular importance for the increase of use is the systematic 

 and progressive development of roads and trails by which the Forests 

 are being made more generally accessible. Every road and trail, 

 whether it is built primarily for protection or for the development 

 of some material resource, opens up new features of scenic interest. 

 In a variety of other ways also development to meet the increased 

 demand for recreation use is being undertaken. A number of rec- 

 reation centei-s are being made ready for the public under plans 

 carefully worked out by recreation engineers. Various such centers 

 are already in use, such as the Red Fish Lake and Wood River 

 recreation areas in the Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho, Eagle 

 Creek on the Columbia River Scenic Highway near Portland, Oreg., 

 Denny Creek on the Sunset Highway near Seattle, Huntington Lake 

 in the Sierra National Forest, the Los Angeles Municipal Camp in 

 the Angeles Forest, and the Laguna Mountains recreation area be- 

 tween San Diego and the Imperial Vdley. At many other points 

 the Forest Service is constructing shelter houses, improved camping 

 places, etc. 



It is becoming manifest, however, that an adequate policy of rec- 

 reation involves still more. The services which can be rendered the 

 local and general public, on the one hand, and the resources available 

 for meeting these needs, on the other hand, need to be studied in 

 the most comprehensive and thorough-going manner to the end that 

 coordinated development of all these resources whether found within 



