CURRENT STATION NOTES 



THE NATIONAL OUTDOOR RECREATION 

 CONFERENCE 



The pioneer spirit of Americans and their love of the outdoor life 

 has given us an interest and a tradition which has been of the greatest 

 National importance. To foster this spirit and to encourage intel- 

 ligent coordinated leadership in these matters was evidently the 

 primary aim of President Coolidge's Outdoor Recreation Conference. 

 The field is so vast and the number of organizations concerned so 

 great that it is almost impossible to keep abreast with the move- 

 ment. To facilitate the interchange of ideas, to formulate broad 

 general policies, and to develop harmonious relations was thus the 

 logical need championed by the President. The Conference met at 

 Washington May 22, 23 and 24, 1924. and was composed of delegates 

 representing 128 organizations. 



The Conference was a great success and the President and his 

 associates are to be congratulated most heartily indeed for its out- 

 come. The Executive Chairman, Col. Theodore Roosevelt, handled 

 the situation admirably and was ably assisted by Mr. Charles Sheldon, 

 a Washington sportsman-naturalist, who seems to have been a mov- 

 ing spirit in initiating this good work. 



Eighteen committees were in session, covering important aspects 

 of the field, including fish, game and fur-bearing animals, birds, 

 parks, forests, pollution, lands, and other topics. These committees 

 were called upon to summarize present conditions, and to present 

 constructive recommendations. 



The outcome of the Conference is a permanent Advisory Council 

 of 100, which will cooperate with the President's Committee. 



Some of the outstanding resolutions deserve mention. One sup- 

 ported the ideal that our National Parks must be completely pro- 

 tected from economic use, and preserved in a "condition of un- 

 modified nature." The National Forests are set aside for permanent 

 forest uses on the non-agricultural land, including recreation, and 

 attention was called to the fact that the U. S. Forest Service is par- 

 ticularly qualified to administer the wild life of these forests. The 

 importance was stressed of the basic need for surveys and inventories 

 as a means of determining bag limits of birds, and the need of 



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