Table 3.6 — Number of recreation visitor days of 

 outdoor recreation activities on National For- 

 ests in tfie United States by types of activity 

 and area, 1978 



(Thousands) 



Activity group and 









type of activity 



Total 



Developed 



Dispersed 



Land: 









Bicycling 



434.2 



11.5 



422.7 



Camping 



59,902.6 



41,539.8 



18,362.8 



Motor bike 



4,520.7 



2.8 



4,517.9 



Hiking' 



10,925.6 



196.8 



10,728.8 



Horseback riding 



3,038.3 



31.5 



3,006.8 



Hunting 



14,946.2 



13.9 



14,932.3 



Nature study 



1,257.3 



205.9 



1,051.4 



Picnicking 



8,762.8 



6,094.1 



2,668.7 



Pleasure walks 



1,587.0 



132.8 



1,454.2 



Sightseeing^ 



52,387.5 



4,851.3 



47,536.2 



Other^ 



16,028.0 



12,395.9 



3,632.1 





173,790.2 



65,476.3 



108,313.9 



Water: 









Canoeing 



1,099.7 



209.6 



890.1 



Sailing 



261.1 



76.1 



185.0 



Other watercraft" 



6,286.7 



1,416.3 



4,870.4 



Fishing 



16,559.1 



581.2 



15,977.9 



Svi/imming 



4,441.8 



1,790.1 



2,651.7 



Water skiing 



983.0 



65.4 



917.6 





29,631.4 



4,138.7 



25,492.7 



Snow and Ice: 









Cross-country skiing 



760.5 







760.5 



Downhill skiing 



9,335.7 



9,335.7 







Ice skating 



67.8 



27.8 



40.0 



Sledding 



107.9 



107.5 



.4 



Ice and snowcraft 



3,439.0 



118.2 



3,320.8 



Snowplay 



1,361.8 



426.3 



935.5 





15,072.7 



10,015.5 



5,057.2 



Grand Total 



218,494.3 



79,630.5 



138,863.8 



' Includes mountain climbing. 



^Includes viewing outstanding scenery, auto driving, aerial trams and lifts, 

 viewing works of man, and VIS related, 



' Includes spectator sports and activities, team sports, games, other accommo- 

 dations, gatfiering forest products, and acquiring general knowledge and 

 understanding 



'Includes stiip, yacfit, ferry, and powered boats. 



Recreation Area. With primary management direc- 

 tion in National Recreation Areas centering on out- 

 door recreational opportunities, management of such 

 other resources as timber, range, and minerals may be 

 secondary, depending upon the use restrictions 

 imposed by the administering agency. The concept of 

 these areas has grown to encompass a wide variety of 

 lands and waters set aside by Congress for recrea- 

 tional use, especially around major urban areas. The 

 acreage of these lands has grown from 1 16,000 acres 

 in 1962 to more than 3 million acres by 1977. Pres- 

 ently. 17 National Recreation Areas are administered 

 by the Park Service and seven by the Forest Service. 



Other systems established by Congress to promote, 

 preserve, and protect recreation and other resources 

 across the Nation include the National Wilderness 

 Preservation System, the National Wild and Scenic 

 Rivers System, and the National Trails System. These 

 systems will be discussed later. 



Many of the problems associated with providing 

 outdoor recreation opportunities on public lands 

 arise from the uneven geographic distribution of Fed- 

 eral lands. Although Federal units are represented 

 throughout the United States, over 90 percent of the 

 forest and range lands in Federal ownership are 

 located in the western United States, including 

 Alaska. This means that for every individual living in 

 the western United States, there are 16 Federal forest 

 acres. In contrast, the northern States have 1.9 per- 

 cent of the Federal forest and range land or 0. 1 acre 

 per person, and the southern States have 2.4 percent 

 or 0.3 acre per person. 



To some degree. Federal agencies can offset 

 regional acreage limitations by expending more funds 

 and committing available acres to outdoor recrea- 

 tion. However, it appears that even these actions cur- 

 rently reflect geographic differences. For instance, 

 there are 16 National Recreation Areas located in the 

 western United States, while there are only four in the 

 southeast and four in the Northeast. Similarly, the 

 distribution of expenditures for outdoor recreation 

 by Federal Government agencies on a per capita basis 

 is largest in the western regions (fig. 3.4). 



The geographic balance of public lands is more 

 evenly distributed, however, if the 6 percent of the 

 forest and range lands owned by State and local 

 governments is also considered. Although States own 

 only 1.6 million acres in the southeastern and 3.3 

 million acres in the South Central regions. States in 

 the Northeastern region own 9.6 million acres and 

 those in the North Central region own 11.8 million. 

 Noteworthy examples of State-owned tracts are the 

 Adirondack (2.5 million acres) and Catskill (259,000 

 acres) State Parks in New York, and Baxter State 

 Park (200,000 acres) in Maine. The addition of State 

 lands more than doubles the per capita availability of 

 public forest and range lands in the North to 0.3 acre 

 per person. 



State and local lands thus constitute an important 

 supply of outdoor recreational opportunities which 

 can complement those provided on Federal areas. 

 Many State parks, forests, and wildlife areas possess 

 significant scenic, historical, cultural, and other 

 recreational features. Others provide outdoor recrea- 

 tional opportunities to metropolitan centers. States 

 reported that their parks had more than 565 million 



78 



