City or Locality. Acres Outlying Parks. 



i Boston 9,935 



2 Los Angeles 3,015 



3 Newark, New Jersey, and environs 2,500 



4 San Francisco 2,000 



5 Washington i,775 



6 New York 1,212 



7 Meriden, Conn 1 ,000 



8 Lynn, Mass 802 



9 Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn 554 



Records of Outer Park Work. 



Boston, Essex 

 county, Lynn, 

 etc. 



Localities plan- 

 ning outer parks. 



Work for New 

 York. 



Awake to recre- 

 ation needs. 



The records of the work done for outer parks in each of these localities 

 have been procured for this Commission. I would call attention especially 

 to the superb system Boston has created, to the notable development in 

 Essex county, New Jersey, to the great woods of Lynn, Massachusetts, and 

 to the mountain park of Meriden, Connecticut. 



The localities sustaining outer park systems have set a pace for other 

 American cities. As a result the following municipalities are perfecting, 

 or considering, plans for outer preserves and parkways. 



Baltimore, Providence, Louisville, Seattle, Portland, Oregon ; Fall 

 River, Harrisburg, and Cook county, Illinois. 



While New York has no outer reservations under its government the 

 palisades preserve is so near at hand that I have included it as a part of the 

 New York system. The Essex county, New Jersey, parks also are near 

 enough to be of service to the people of the Eastern metropolis, but they are 

 treated separately. 



That New York recognizes the need of acquiring wooded land for 

 recreation needs is shown in the report of the New York Commissioners of 

 Parks for 1902, under the heading "Richmond County Parks," as follows: 



" With the general idea of acquiring considerable areas of land for 

 future development as public parks, attention has been drawn to the 

 Borough of Richmond. Within the boundaries of Richmond County there 

 are many tracts of land that could be acquired at a reasonable value and 

 which are especially fitted for development as public parks. These tracts 

 include some of the higher lands of the island, some very fine forest lands, 

 and, in addition, the stretches of land along the seashore. The city of New 

 York has been extremely backward in the development of public seaside 

 parks." 



Facts established 

 by the Gov- 

 ernment. 



Practical Benefits of Forests upon Populations. 



While the public recognizes the practical value of forest preserves, per- 

 haps this Commission desires information as to the provable benefits which 

 wooded areas afford city populations. There are many popular beliefs 

 regarding forests which are not provable, but some of the facts established 

 by the experts in the employ of the United States government are : 



That forests have a beneficial effect on local climate ; that forests have 

 a local effect on rain fall and upon vegetable growths, although as to rain 

 fall this is disputed in Germany; that forest floors are regulators of local 

 water flow, preventing alike flood and drouth, and also reducing the 

 amount of wind-blown dust ; that forests, like lakes, cause air to circu- 

 late; and that forest soil conditions are unfavorable to the existence of 

 disease germs. 



