342 OUR FEDERAL LANDS 



dent, was to consider federal areas and functions, and 

 general legislation, from the same point of view. The 

 Council (through its executive committee) and the 

 President's Committee were to confer from time 

 to time, working together so far as practicable. 

 From time to time bills were to be introduced in Con- 

 gress, or bills introduced in Congress by component 

 organizations were to be supported; harmful bills 

 were to be opposed ; and it was hoped that in time a 

 well-studied policy would emerge which would com- 

 mand recognition by national and state administra- 

 tions, Congress and the legislatures. 



The original planners had expected that the 

 popular wing, the Council, and the governmental 

 wing, the President's Committee, would preserve 

 each its complete independence of the other. The 

 popular wing would preserve, as a most precious 

 possession, an uninfluenced attitude toward politics, 

 which of course might not always be possible with 

 the President's Committee. It was expected, also, 

 that the Council would not in the least interfere 

 with component organizations, but would remain 

 in the fullest sense the council body of all, retaining 

 only the function of policy formulation. 



To this end, the first act of the Council was to 

 assign fact-finding duties to various associations 

 looking to the bases for policy development. Those 

 on state parks by the National Conference on State 

 Parks, on playgrounds by the National Playground 

 Association of America, and on recreational oppor- 



