accommodations. Many commercial and civic or- 
ganizations spend large sums to attract forest rec- 
reationists to their communities. These expendi- 
tures spell jobs for many rural people. 
Recreation values on private forest lands are as 
yet far from fully utilized. Some of the private 
forests’ in New England, the Lake States, the Ap- 
palachians, and other sections include superb scenic 
resources and support flourishing recreation indus- 
tries. But a limiting factor is that recreational 
uses are mostly confined to those yielding the 
owner a money return. 
Most people look to public forests for recreation. 
Of these, the national, State, and municipal parks 
are dedicated exclusively to recreation use. ‘The 
national forests—of major importance by virtue of 
their size, distribution, and character—as well as 
most State and community forests, are administered 
under multiple-use policies that give due weight 
to recreation. In large part, management prob- 
lems on all public lands are similar, but this dis- 
cussion focuses on national-forest recreation, for 
which detailed information is at hand. 
People enjoy many kinds of recreation on na- 
tional forests (fig. 20).27 In 1941, the peak year 
before the war, recreational areas received 10.75 
million visits, and the other national-forest lands 
7.5 million. Recreation uses, which fell off during 
the war, are now sharply on the upswing. They 
should about double in volume in the next 10 
years (fig. 21). 
National-forest. recreation has generally devel- 
oped without serious conflicts with other uses. 
Mainly this is because many forms of forest recrea- 
tion—camping and picnicking, swimming, winter 
sports, and the like—though they involve exclusive 
use of the land, do not require a large acreage. 
In the aggregate these uses, present and potential, 
will require only about 300,000 acres—less than 
1 percent of national-forest lands: 
National forest lands re- 
served or needed for 
recreational use (1,000 
acres) 
Class of area: 
Camp and picnic 44 
WAN LEYS POLES aha wait ey an: pete na nln Aee 77 
Special GUSesp erect chines fy eae ehe | Noro ane ob son 26 
A OtalsMO4 bits aden ele | IEEE a nies Se ob 147 
Additional area needed, 1946-55 o.oo. 150 
ROCA yp rch RNS OOS ct oA SIE OT RRS, 3 ace A 297 
**Charted data based on visitor’s expressed reasons for 
visiting national forests; these data are not comparable with 
those in figure 21, which shows actual use of recreational 
areas. 
74 
Wilderness travel____ 
Canoeing-_ _-_-------- 
Scientific study 
and hobbies --~---~ 
Gathering forest 
products for pleasure- 
Organization camping] 
Hiking and riding ----. 
Swimming____--------- 
Camping === 
Fluntings22 sees 
Winter sports _-____. 
Fishings=2teesee es 
Picnicking===<--=---=2 
Sightseeing________-- 
Other activities.____- 
VISITS (MILLIONS) 
FIGURE 20.—Primary purpose of national-forest visits, 1941. 
An additional 14 million acres is set aside as 
wilderness areas, but only about one-third is com- 
mercial forest, most of it remote and economically 
inoperable; and 1.5 million is reserved in road- 
side strips. 
National-forest recreation facilities include some 
4,200 camp and picnic grounds, 254 winter-sports 
areas, 201 swimming areas, and 54 organization 
camps. Before the war, these facilities were nearly 
meeting the demand and were in reasonably good 
shape, as a result of Civilian Conservation Corps 
work. They deteriorated greatly during the war 
for lack of maintenance. Even when fully restored, 
they probably will not match the growing de- 
mands which now tax available facilities to the 
utmost. 
If the demand of the next 10 years on national 
forests is adequately met, the capacity of winter- 
sports areas and organization camps will need to 
be doubled, according to Forest Service estimates; 
‘and the area devoted to swimming, camping, and 
picnicking increased more than twofold.?§ 
* Private facilities, which supplement and increase na- 
tional-forest recreational use, include some 500 resorts, 300 
organization camps, and about 13,000 summer homes con- 
structed under special-use permit. Capacity of the resorts 
will perhaps have to be increased about two-thirds in the 
next 10 years to meet the demand. 
Miscellaneous Publication 668, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
