lion will also have a significant impact on inter- 

 national tourism in the future. It is expected that 

 relative prices in other countries will rise, with an 

 accompanying relative decrease in prices in the Uni- 

 ted States; as a result, Americans will spend less 

 money traveling abroad and more on vacationing at 

 home, while the opposite will occur in other countries. 

 Projections by the U.S. Travel Service support this 

 trend: An 8 percent increase in foreign visits to the 

 United States is projected during the next decade, 

 while only a 3 percent increase in U.S. travel to other 

 countries is expected. One result of such a situation 

 would be an increase of about 1 percent in the total 

 demand for recreational opportunities on U.S. forest 

 and range land. 



Outdoor Recreation Supply 



Forest and range lands provide a broad spectrum 

 of opportunities for recreational experiences. At one 

 end of the continuum is the opportunity for primitive 

 experiences, which require little or no modification of 



the natural environment. These experiences can be 

 characterized by limited or difficult access, the 

 absence of convenience facilities, low and relatively 

 dispersed use densities, and the absence of on-the- 

 ground controls. At the other end of the spectrum are 

 highly developed opportunities, which are distin- 

 guished by easy access, highly developed facilities and 

 user conveniences, high and relatively concentrated 

 use densities, and highly visible visitor controls.'' 



Although nearly all of the Nation's 1 .7 billion acres 

 of forest and range lands and the associated waters 

 are capable of supporting some types of outdoor 

 recreation activities, currently only a small propor- 

 tion of that acreage is being intensively managed for 



"Brown, P. J., B. L. Driver, and C. McConnell. Opportunity 

 spectrum concept, behavioral information in outdoor recreation 

 resources supply inventory: Background and application. Paper 

 presented at National Workshop of Integrated Inventories of 

 Renewable Natural Resources, Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 8-12, 1978. 

 Also Clark, R. N. and G. H. Stankey. The outdoor recreation 

 opportunity spectrum; A framework for management planning 

 and research. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 

 Pacific Northwest Forest Exp. Sta., Portland, Ore. (In process). 



Scenic beauty attracts many visitors to the U.S. from other countries. 



The lake. Spirit Lake, and forest in this picture were 



ravaged by an eruption of Mount St. Helens (in the background) in Ma\ 19S0 



72 



