Those who heed the President’s call to action will find much to 
be done and much to work with. Well-managed forests and range- 
lands can be the rule. Scenic and esthetic qualities of outdoor 
recreation areas can be improved. Highway corridors, structures, 
and trails can be made attractive through design, plantings, and 
maintenance. New travel routes can be located to display the 
most interesting features of the land and its use. Streams, lakes, and 
waterfront areas can be managed to preserve and enhance their 
natural attractiveness. And people can learn to understand and 
appreciate their outdoor environment in terms of beauty and use. 
CONCEPTS OF BEAUTY FOR LAND USE 
John Ormsbee Simonds, in his book “Landscape Architecture— 
the Shaping of Man’s Natural Environment,” says “There are 
relatively few areas that can be reserved in their pristine state or 
developed solely to display the most of their natural beauty. Man 
generally considers land in terms of use.” 
As part of our Nation’s heritage, several million acres of wilder- 
ness, with their spectacular beauty, have been and will be set aside 
and maintained in their natural state for man’s enjoyment. How- 
ever, the present uses of other, more intensively managed lands may 
need to be altered to provide for beauty. In the future of forests 
and rangelands, their trees and other vegetation can play a signifi- 
cant role in the achievement of beauty. Their uses will have to be 
managed so that they function in an orderly and appropriate 
manner, and still remain a delight to the eye. 
Those who would seek to capture or enhance natural beauty in 
the countryside can call upon three basic concepts often used by 
the environmental-planning professions: 
WM Variety.—Variety produces that changing quality of the 
landscape that captures and holds one’s interest. A continuing 
diversity or change leads one to anticipate something different 
and delightful around the next bend in the trail or beyond the 
next ridge. In planning for variety one should ask, “How will 
people use or view this?” Is it both functional and interesting, 
or is it too much like that which has gone before? Variety is 
truly the spice of life, but it must not be allowed to run wild. 
It must be balanced with just the right amount of repetition 
to prevent chaos and confusion. 
@ Harmony.—tThis may appear as a blending of natural or 
natural and man-induced features, a continuity of complementary 
shapes, textures, and colors, a smooth flow from one part to an- 
other. Harmony is that which is right, which fits, which belongs. 
When establishing a harmonious environment we must preserve 
the best parts of the existing, remove those items which are conflict- 
ing or incongruous, and sometimes introduce appropriate foreign 
materials to relieve dullness or monotony. 
Berle 
: F—408228 
Variety. 
