National Park Service A Study of the Park and Recreation Problem of the United States

THE EASTERN HALF of the State, where the geologic and climatic conditions are more suitable for agriculture, contains the major portion of the population. The rural population comprised 65 percent of the State's total in 1930. However, the urban population increase between 1920 and 1930 represented 90 percent of the total State increase.

Nebraska contains a number of sites of surprising natural beauty. Some of these should be set aside as State parks regardless of their location, in order to preserve portions of the original areas of the State. There is need for additional recreation areas for holiday, week-end, and vacation use of the average Nebraskan. These areas should contain recreational water, and adequate cover of trees and shrubs. Water is an all important resource in this State, where the summers are long and warm.

There are a number of water control projects, existing and proposed. Some of the existing impounded bodies of water have received considerable recreational use. Further planning and development of such projects should carefully consider their recreation potentialities.

The two major population centers, Omaha and Lincoln, should continue to give due consideration to the recreational requirements of the people. Omaha's park system might well be expanded outwardly. A parkway along the Missouri River from Omaha to Sioux City, Iowa, and hence to the lake district of Iowa, and the Minnesota River in Minnesota, could provide needed local recreation areas and a pleasant travel way for Nebraskans seeking the more favorable vacation areas in Iowa and Minnesota.

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¹ Area under Federal administration, June 1938.