26 TH ESA U:D*URBIO NBO Eee ae 
Department of Conservation Recreation Needs 
By Seymour M. Gold, State Recreation Planner 
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article was originally presented at the Annual Conference of the 
Natural Resources Council of Illinois on October 3, 1965 at Palos Park Forest Preserve south of 
Chicago. Mr. Gold's discussion is given in liev of a delegate’s report. —P.H.L. 
By this time any conference with the theme, “Population Pressures and Con- 
servation,” has or should have identified, developed and acknowledged the 
rising demands for outdoor recreation in Illinois, It should have used the 
available wealth of concepts and statistical measures to convince all present 
of the need for more outdoor recreation opportunities. Based on these assump- 
tions, I shall give a brief and frank statement of this State’s outdoor recrea- 
tion needs as seen by our Department. 
Existing and projected population, leisure time, and mobility have and 
will continue to create a demand for outdoor recreation in Illinois far beyond 
the State’s current capacity to serve this demand with existing facilities. Need 
is evident especially at the State level, where Illinois has the dubious distinc- 
tion of having the lowest number of state park acres/1000 population of any 
state in the nation. Illinois state recreation acreage of 154,464 acres as of 
June 30, 1964, was approximately 1/18 of Wisconsin’s, 1/10 of Missouri’s, 
1/7 of Indiana’s and only 1/3 that of the state of Iowa. See the graph 
of recreation acreage. 
RECREATION ACRES/ CAMPING 
POPULATION ILLINOIS STATE PARKS 
ACRES / 1000 POPULATION 
THOUSANDS OF CAMPERS 
1960 61 62 63 1964 
Oe ORE) CaM eno © aS 
= = oS Ol Ge 
273335858 
=) § < £ 3 = = rd SOURC * . . . 
=x e ¥ € 3 E: State Outdoor Recreation Statistics 
g 1962, Bureau of Outdoor Recreation 
a 
In 1960, with a population of 10,081,000 persons, Illinois needed 201,620 
acres of land for state parks to meet a nationally accepted minimum standard 
of 20 acres/1000 population. This does not include fishing and hunting lands, 
where a conservative standard of 40 acres/1000 persons might be applied for 
an additional need of 403,240 acres. Existing state park lands in 1960 totaled 
approximately 90,000 acres, for a 150,000-aere deficiency. By 1970, a pro- 
jected population of 11,618,000 will create a need for a total of 232,360 
