for enjoyment of the recreational and esthetic values of the 

 region, of which the chief are the Appalachian Club and the 

 Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, have 

 been greatly heartened and strengthened by the creation and 

 administration of the National Forest. In short, community 

 participation in the project is a growing reality, and promises 

 much for the welfare of the region. 



The influence of the enterprise is felt far afield. Late in 

 191 6 the various trail-building organizations of New England 

 met in conference and decided to correlate their efforts with a 

 view to developing a trail system under a general plan of wide 

 scope. It is proposed to link up in this way the lake region 

 of Maine, the White Mountains, the Green Mountains, and 

 even the Adirondacks and the Palisade Park and New York 

 City. Thus the pedestrian, whose simple pleasure in explor- 

 ing the shady by-ways of rural New England has been largely 

 taken away by the march of progress in the form of road im- 

 provement and whirring automobiles, may once again come 

 into his own. 



The fish and game resources of the White Mountains will 

 under national management undoubtedly be markedly aug- 

 mented. The streams are already stocked to some extent with 

 trout, and deer and grouse are fairly abundant in certain 

 localities. But the control of hunting and fishing is at present 

 inadequate, governed as it is solely by the general game laws 

 of the State. Development of the wild life of the Forest as an 

 integral part of its value to the public calls for carefully planned 

 and close co-operation between the State and the Federal 

 Government, to the end that the woods and streams may 

 again abound in their natural denizens. 



The history of what has taken place in the forests of the 

 White Mountains epitomizes in a broad way the history of 

 the movement for forest preservation in the United States. 

 Beginning with the first appearance of white men and the 

 contact of civilization with the primeval wilderness, there 

 was begun a struggle for subjugation of the forest in order 

 to make room for settlement and community life. 



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