STORY OF OUR NATIONAL FOREST 145 



$25,000 in 1925, and $25,000 in 1926. The appro- 

 priation of 1926 amounted to a tenth and a half of 

 a cent per visitor to National Forests as against nine- 

 ty-nine cents per visitor to National Parks. The total 

 cost of all recreational undertakings handled by the 

 Forest Service from the beginning was calculated 

 by Associate Forester A. E. Sherman in 1925 at 

 $131,472, of which $27,644 had been contributed in 

 cash by citizens. The sum included the proportion 

 of rangers' and supervisors' salaries for the hours 

 devoted to recreational work, incidental hired labor, 

 and the estimated value of materials and contributed 

 improvements. The total cost to the government 

 was $103,828. 



It was in 1912 that campers first appeared in 

 National Forests in sufficient numbers to attract the 

 attention of rangers. Thereafter, summer after 

 summer they increased with remarkable speed. 

 Knowing nothing of woodcraft, careless about their 

 fires, and destructive of young tree growth which 

 they cut and trampled, they soon inspired rangers 

 and supervisors with dread, even some with enmity. 

 It is not surprising that a sentiment arose to exclude 

 tourists from the forests. But Forester Graves saw 

 it differently. To him, another new public duty was 

 being offered to the Forest Service, one which, after 

 studying the situation thoroughly in the field, he 

 early predicted, as we have seen, would grow to very 

 large proportions. 



Even before this policy was announced, the ne- 



