National Park Service Recreational Use of Land in the United States

1. HISTORY OF RECREATIONAL LAND USE IN THE UNITED STATES

The history of the public recreational use of land in the United States may be said to date from the earliest colonial settlement. In a modest way, and more often for general civic purposes than for recreation as known today, the early town planners and builders made provision for open spaces in their plans. The New England town common is a distinguishing feature of the New England cities of today; the bowling green of Dutch New Amsterdam was an active recreation center; the squares of old Philadelphia and Savannah were reservations for aesthetic, rest, and relaxation purposes; the plazas of the Spanish colonial towns were social, political, and cultural centers. The plans for the new capital city of the Nation, drawn toward the end of the eighteenth century, set a new standard in the number of open spaces or reservations for parks in cities of that time. A decision of the Boston Bay Colony in 1641, that all "Great Ponds" were to be forever open, free to the people for fowling and fishing, was the forerunner of the modern conservation movement for recreation purposes by States.

Unfortunately, from the close of the colonial period to the middle of the last century these excellent examples of town planning and building were not followed except in a few instances, as in Salt Lake City and other towns of Utah, California, etc. Old towns grew into cities, new towns and cities were founded and grew rapidly without any comprehensive planning of open spaces for adornment or recreation. Waterfronts in cites were appropriated for industrial, transportation, and commercial uses. No plans or policies were developed in the first seven decades of the last century by either the Federal or State Governments for the preservation of natural resources of land and water for recreation. About the middle of the last century a few people, noticing the tendency toward urban growth, began to write and speak of the individual amid social evils of crowding too many people on too small areas in cities, without making provision for the people to keep in frequent contact with the elements of a natural environment. They advocated the preservation of large areas within cities to serve as retreats for the people, for rest, in an environment of peace, quietness, and natural beauty, and for such forms of active recreation as would not destroy the essential quality of the areas as places of inspiration and enjoyment of the beauties of nature.

The first concrete result of this movement was Central Park in New York City (1852), followed in rapid succession by the establishment of similar parks in several other large cities of the United States.

From these beginnings during the last half of the last century, have evolved the elaborate systems of recreational areas providing for both active and passive recreations in the cites of today.

The establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872 marks the entrance of the Federal Government into the field of conservation of natural resources for recreation, from which has grown the magnificent system of national recreational areas comprised in the national parks and monuments.

Between 1870 and 1890 a few States (California, New York, Michigan, Minnesota) began to establish State recreational areas—a movement which has since spread to nearly every State in the Union.

In 1892-93 the Boston Metropolitan Park System was established as a special method of handling on a district basis the acquisition, development, and administration of recreational areas which it was not practicable for local, town and city, governments in the region to handle alone. The metropolitan district plan has spread to other sections of the country, as seen in Rhode Island, Ohio, Washington, and Illinois.

In 1895 the first county park system was established in Essex County, N. J. Within the past two decades the acquisition, development, and administration of recreational areas by counties have progressed very rapidly. The principal developments have been in counties in the metropolitan regions of large cities, serving practically the same functions as metropolitan park districts, although in a few counties the recreational service provided is primarily for rural and small rural-urban communities.

In all of New England and in some of the other States of the Union the acquisition, development, and administration of recreational areas by townships is authorized by law, powers which have been exercised by many such minor political divisions.

Supplementing areas which have been set aside far various kinds of recreational use by the Federal, State, county, metropolitan, municipal, and town Governments, there are other types of areas which have been acquired by one or more of these political agencies for other primary purposes, but which may have auxiliary recreational uses. Chief among such areas are public forests. The public ownership of forests to its present extent is a development of the past 50 years, although the inception of the movement was earlier. Classed according to ownership, there are National, State, county, municipal, and town forests, with the Federal Government controlling the bulk of such areas. The water reservations, controlled chiefly by cities, and a few metropolitan districts, for supplying potable water to the inhabitants of urban communities, constitute another type of publicly owned areas with a possible auxiliary recreation use. Sanitary considerations often limit the recreational use of potable water reservations, although there are many examples of such use; water reservations for the purpose of supplying water for irrigation, industrial, and power purposes have many possibilities as recreation areas, and are becoming increasingly so used.

The various forms of wildlife reservations set aside, chiefly by the Federal and State Governments, are primarily of recreational and scientific value.

The vast system of National, State, and local highways which cover the country like a network, while not originally created for recreational use, have become of primary importance recreationally, since the invention and widespread ownership of the automobile.

During the past decade attention has been directed to planning of metropolitan regions, and in all such plans a prominent position has been given to conservation of lands and waters for recreation.

FIGURE 11.

A little over half at the land in the Nation is in farms. Of this land in farms, 38 percent was in crops in 1929 (including crop failure), 37 percent was in pasture (excluding woodland pasture), and 15 percent in woodland, the remainder being crop land lying idle, farmsteads, lanes, and waste land, All crop land is in farms, but the acreage of pasture, including range land outside of farms, exceeds that in farms. About 60 percent of this pasture land not in farms is publicly owned and 40 percent is privately owned. Nearly all this land is in the western half of the country and consists of range, mostly native, short-grass and bunch-grass vegetation adapted to the semiarid or arid conditions, in addition, much forest and woodland (over one-half) is grazed, particularly in much of the west and portions of the south, where the forest is quite open, permitting sunlight to reach the soil. The carrying capacity of this woodland pasture, like that of range pasture, is generally low. The 53 million acres of land used for nonagricultural and nonforest purposes is small, but its value is great, particularly the urban land. Finally, there are about 77 million acres of absolute desert, bare rock, certain marsh lands and coastal beaches which are now valued at almost nothing, but have a social utility for wildlife and recreational use.

Looking to the future, it appears that the estimated prospective increase in population is likely to involve a slight increase in crop land, a decrease of pasture land and of forest in farms, if past trends continue, and increase in forest not in farms, more and more of which seems likely to pass into public ownership, and a notable increase in land devoted to recreational purposes. The increase in crop land will be the net result, as in the past, of decreases in some areas, mostly hilly or eroding lands, or sandy or infertile soils and increases in other areas inherently more fertile or less exhausted of their fertility, or otherwise more productive, or which can be made productive by reclamation.

Within the past 2 years interest has centered on National and State planning through the creation by President Roosevelt of the National Planning Board, later reorganized as the National Resources Board. This organization has stimulated the organization of a large number of State planning boards. Practically all of these State planning organizations have either actually undertaken or contemplate a thorough-going recreational survey and plan for their respective States.

These various public administration agencies have been the primary factors in the evolution of the various systems of National, State, metropolitan, county, and municipal recreation areas, supported, inspired, and sometimes prodded by powerful private organizations of citizens interested in different phases of the conservation of national resources for recreation.

Early in this century the general city planner and the city planning board became another important factor. Planning land utilization for recreation in cities is universally recognized as a fundamental part of general city planning.

Coincident with the establishment of the first municipal parks, an administrative agency was desired in each city to have charge of the acquisition, development, maintenance, and operation of lands for recreational use. This agency universally took the form of a board of citizens, a plan of government still widely prevalent in cities today, although changed in many by the institution of new forms of municipal government (city manager, strong mayor, and commission form of government). County and metropolitan park systems are almost universally governed by boards of citizens, and many of the States have adopted this method of administering recreation areas.

The public recreational movement in America represents a conscious cultural ideal of the American people, just as the great system of public education represented such an ideal. It takes rank with the system of public education as the necessary addition to the cultural equipment of the Nation. Its supreme objective is the promotion of the public welfare through the creation of opportunities for a more abundant and happier life for everyone. The conservation of the resources of the Nation to this end is a most fundamental and important phase of the recreation movement.

2. RECREATIONAL NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE

Physiological and Moral Aspects

Man is essentially an outdoor animal as far as his biological and physiological needs are concerned. Some of the fundamental requisites for his well-being are an abundance of fresh, pure air and sunlight, pleasurable physical activity—especially out of doors—and periods of rest, relaxation, and repose in environments of natural beauty, free from too close human contacts, and from the harsh noises and the high-speed tempo of this machine age. These needs are common to all ages and to both sexes. The supplying of means for the satisfaction of these needs where people are highly urbanized is one of the fundamental reasons for the reservation of lands and waters for recreational use.

It is one of the laws of the growth of human beings (whether growth refers to physical development, mental expansion, cultural enrichment, or social adjustment) that a considerable measure of activity is required in forms expressive of age-old urges, impulses, and instincts. Fullness and richness in living come only when there can be satisfying expression of the natural qualities and powers of the individual which are of physical, mental, spiritual, and social character, during all the age stages of his life. Society justifies itself only to the extent to which it utilizes the natural resources in its keeping. The troublesome question of juvenile and youth delinquency and other antisocial expressions are, without question, partly the result of society's failing to recognize this principle.

It is said that little can be done by society to change the fundamental traits or qualities of any human being, but that much can be done through environment to form attitudes and to determine the direction in which interests and instincts may be expressed. The difference between a delinquent child or youth and a law-abiding child or youth is generally the difference in expression of the same human impulses to action, which—originally neither good nor bad—were subjected to different environmental influences. The lighting impulse which leads a youth to commit law less acts with his "gang" is the same impulse which may make him a highly prized member of an organized sports team. Hence it follows that, given an environment comprising material facilities for the expression of natural, normal impulses, interests, and urges, and given intelligent, sympathetic leadership, it is possible for most children and young people to live fully and happily in harmony with the established usages, customs, and laws of the community.

FIGURE 12.
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Population Trends

Total Growth of Population.—The growth of population in the United States during the past 150 years has been phenomenal. It has risen from about 4,000,000 in 1790 to approximately 123,000,000 in 1930, or over thirty-fold. The increase in the decade 1920—30 was 17,064,426, the largest growth ever recorded.¹ The rate of increase, however, has been declining since 1860. Prior to that time the average decennial increase had been about 35 percent. The probabilities are that the growth of the population in the future will be small. "Continuation of recent trends would mean that the population probably will he between 132,500,000 and 134,000,000 in 1940, between 140,500,000 and 145,000,000 in 1950, and between 145,000,000 and 170,000,000 in 1980."²

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¹ U. S. Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States 1930, Population, Vol. 1, Number and Distribution of Inhabitants. (See p. 6.)

² President's Research Committee on Social Trends, Recent Social Trends in the United States, New York. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1923. 2 vols., tables, charts. (See p. 2.)

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Natural Increase of Population.—The trend in the natural increase of the population of the United States is very disquieting to those who believe that a high birth rate is necessary to the national welfare. The total birth rate has been falling since the population has become so highly urbanized. The birth rate is declining in the country, but to a lesser degree than in the cities. The percentage of children under 5 years of age has fallen greatly since 1870. In that year the number of children under 5 years of age was 14.3 percent of the total population, while in 1930 it was only 9.3 percent. The limiting of immigration; later marriages by reason of higher standards of living; increasing number of women in commercial, industrial and professional life; the deterrent biologic influences of an urban environment; increasing knowledge of birth control; and the fact children are more likely to prove to be expensive liabilities than economic assets under urban conditions, are some of the factors in the declining birth rate. The rate per thousand in 1930 was 18.96³ and has fallen from 27.63 per thousand since 1910. The decline in birth rate has been steady and almost continuous since 1924.

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³ Willcox, Walter, Introduction to the Vital Statistics of the United Stales, 1900—30, U. S. Bureau of the Census, 138 pp. (See p. 78.)

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It is reported that the number of 6-year-old children is now practically stationary; that the enrollment in the first grade of the schools has declined since 1918, in the second grade since 1923, and in the third grade since 1925.⁴ The percentage of the total population in the age groups 5-9, 10-14, 15-19 years has declined since 1900. This, taken with the previous statement concerning the marked decline of the percentage of the total population of the age group under 5 years means, of course, that the proportion of older people in the population is increasing.

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⁴ Phillips, Frank M., Statistical Survey of Education, 1925—26, U. S. Bureau of Education, Bulletin No. 12, 1928. (Quoted in What About the Year 2000? American Civic Association, 1928.)

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On the other hand "the death rate in the United States has been falling for at least half a century * * * The death rate of the United States as a whole in 1900 was not far from 18, in 1930 not far from 12, per thousand", the most remarkable decrease occurring in urban communities.⁵ The urban and rural death rate are now approximately the same. "The death rate of males is about one-sixth higher than that of females * * * The most marked fall in the death rate between 1900 and 1930 was at the age period 1 to 4 which in 1930 was about one-fourth of the 1900 rate * * * The death rate at ages below 30 fell by more than one-half, at higher ages by less than one-half * * * The death rate of girls and women at every age fell faster than that of boys and men. * * * The death rates of Whites and Negroes decreased at about the same rate but at ages above 35 the death rate of the Negroes Was higher in 1930 than in 1900."⁶

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⁵Willcox, Walter. Introduction to the Vital Statistics of the United States, 1900-1980, U.S. Bureau of the Census, 138 pp. (See pp. 3—4.)

⁶Willcox, Walter, op. cit., pp. 3—4.

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Growth by Race and Nativity.—Present trends as to population growth among native whites, foreign-born whites, and Negroes show the native whites will increase faster than the Negroes, and that the foreign-born whites will decline. In 1930 Negroes constituted 9.7 percent of the total population as compared with 10.7 percent in 1910. In 1930 the native whites constituted 77.8 percent of the population as compared with 74.2 percent in 1910, while the foreign-born whites were only 10.9 percent of the population in 1930 as compared with 14.3 percent in 1910.⁷ These trends have a very definite bearing on recreation area planning.

Geographic Distribution.—The land area of the United States comprises 2,973,776 square miles or 1,903,216,640 acres. The gross area of the continental United States⁸ is 3,026,789 square miles of land and water or 1,973,144,960 acres. Within the confines of this huge area dwell 122,775,046 people.⁹ The distribution of the population throughout the United States is very uneven, as the following general table of distribution by geographic areas will show.

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⁷ President's Research Committee on Social Trends, op. cit., p. 6.

⁸ Editor's note: The 48 States and District of Columbia.

⁹ United States Bureau of the Census, Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, Population, op. cit., p. 5.

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The New England, Middle Atlantic, and East North Central divisions comprise only a little more than 13 percent of the total land area, but have almost 48.9 percent of the total population of the Nation. At the other extreme are the Mountain and Pacific divisions with 40 percent of the land area and only about 10 percent of the total population.

The Mountain division shows the widest divergence between area and population, including only 3 percent of the total population of the Nation, while comprising 28 percent of the total land area.

The greatest regional density per square mile is in the Middle Atlantic States (262.6 per square mile), with the New England States next (131.8), and the East North Central States third (103.0). The ranking States in density of population per square mile are Rhode Island (644.3 per square mile), New Jersey (537.8), Massachusetts (528.6), Connecticut (333.4), New York (264.2), and Pennsylvania (214.8). The population center is in Indiana, while the geographic center is in Kansas, some 600 miles westward of the center of population.

In the three States of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont the average density of population per square mile is less than the average density per square mile in the Nation, the heavy concentration of population being in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. In New York State more than one—half of the total population is in one large city (New York City), and in New Jersey the greater portion of the population is in the northern part of the State.

in 1930 only four regions showed a percentage growth in population larger than the percentage growth of the country as a whole, these being the Middle Atlantic, East North Central, West South Central, and Pacific. New England's percentage of growth has been declining since 1900; the Mountain section's since 1910; the West North Central's since 1880; the South Atlantic's since 1900; the East South Central's has declined since 1900, falling to 5.7 percent increase in 1920 and then rising to 11.2 percent in 1930. Only 17 of the 48 States made an increase in growth higher than the percentage of growth for the country as a whole, and only 9 States made as much as 20 percent. increase or more (New York, New Jersey, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Arizona, Oregon, and California). Manufacturing was the determining factor in the increase in four of these (New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and North Carolina); climate was a determining factor in two, and an important factor in two others (Florida and California, Arizona and Oregon, respectively). In Texas the determining factor was probably the expansion of cotton growing and the production of oil. There were 18 of the States in which the growth was less than 10 percent (Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Montana, and Idaho). Four of these were semi-industrial States, and the remainder agricultural. Montana was the only State which decreased in population.¹⁰

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¹⁰ United States Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, Population, Vol. 1, op. cit., p. 12.

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The chief significance of these factors concerning the geographic distribution of the population is to show where special attention should be concentrated in planning for the reservation of lands and waters, if the people are to have adequate and frequent opportunities for outdoor recreation.

FIGURE 13.

Urban and Rural Trends

In 1930 the urban population was larger by 14,650,220 than in 1920; the rural nonfarm population increased about 3,600,000, while the rural-farm lost approximately 1,200,000. In 1890 the rural population made up 64.6 percent of the total population, while in 1930 it comprised only 43.8 percent. In 1890 the urban population was 35.4 percent of the total population, while in 1930 it was 56.2 percent.

In 32 States the rural-farm population declined, and in 16 States it increased, according to the 1930 census, but in 8 of these 16 States the increase was slight. The tendency toward greater concentration in the larger cities continued. The percentage of the total population living in cities of 500,000 and over rose from 10.7 percent in 1920 to 17.0 percent in 1930; the proportion in cities of 100,000 to 500,000 rose from 8.1 percent to 12.6 percent; in cities of 10,000 to 100,000 from 13 percent to 17.0 percent, while the percentage of the total population living in cities under 10,000 changed only from 8.3 percent to 8.6 percent.¹¹ The larger cities, however, made no growth of population in their older sections, the growth being chiefly in their more open portions, especially near their boundaries. Urban communities in the environs of cities gained much more rapidly in most cases than did the central large city. This indicates a tendency toward decentralization, caused by the desire of the people to escape from congested living conditions, and made possible by improved roads and new methods of transportation, especially by automobile.

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¹¹ President's Research Committee on Social Trends, op. cit., p. 12.

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FIGURE 14.
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Places of Most Rapid Growth.—It is important to emphasize the fact that almost three-fifths of the total population increase occurred in five well-defined groups of cities which had but 26.2 percent of the Nation's population in 1920.¹²

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¹² Ibid.

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These five groups may be briefly described as follows:

Group 1. The metropolitan districts of the Middle Atlantic seaboard from New York City to Baltimore by way of Philadelphia.

Group 2. The metropolitan districts of the Great Lakes region from Buffalo to Milwaukee. This includes the Akron, Canton, and Youngstown metropolitan districts in Ohio, the Flint district in Michigan, and the Fort Wayne and South Bend districts in Indiana as well as those directly on the lakes.

Group 3. The metropolitan districts in Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, and northern Georgia, together with the cities of 25,000 to 100,000 in North Carolina and Florida.

Group 4. The metropolitan districts from Kansas City to Houston, and cities in Texas of 25,000 to 100,000.

Group 5. The metropolitan districts in the Pacific Coast States, except Spokane in Washington.

The cities in these five groups increased 36.1 percent between 1920 and 1930 compared with a 9.0 percent increase for the remainder of the United States, and 16.9 percent for the metropolitan districts not included in these five groups. They added a total of 10,010,063 to their populations, which is 58.6 percent of the increase of population in the entire United States during the decade just mentioned. Furthermore, over three-fifths of the increase in these five groups of cities is found in the first two which are composed entirely of metropolitan districts and which now have about 27,500,000 people concentrated on 11,962 square miles.¹³

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¹³ President's Research Committee on Social Trends. Recent Social Trends in the United States, New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1933, 2 vols., tables, charts. (See pp. 15—16.)

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FIGURE 15.

However, this statement does not give a true picture of the actual extent to which the population is gathered on more or less restricted areas of land. In 1930, in addition to the 3,165 incorporated places and towns having each 2,500 or more inhabitants, with a total of 68,954,823 persons, or 56.2 percent of the total population, there were 13,433 incorporated places having each under 2,500 inhabitants with a total population of 9,183,453, or 7.4 percent of the total population of the Nation. These latter places are classed as rural,¹⁴ but not infrequently from the viewpoint of congestion on small areas many such communities present true urban conditions. Including these 13,433 incorporated places with the areas technically classed as urban there was a total (1930) of 78,138,276 inhabitants, or 63.7 percent of the entire population, living on more or less restricted areas of land.

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¹⁴ United States Bureau of the Census, op. cit., 1930, Population, Vol. 1 (See p. 7).

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The total population of the cities in these five groups is 47,395,009 (1930), or approximately 38 per cent of the total population of the Nation. A total of 47,395,009 people is crowded on two-tenths of 1 per cent of the total land area of the United States. In reality they occupy much less space than this, for seldom is the entire land area within the boundaries of cities fully utilized for any purpose. The average density of population is 10.9 per acre.

Cities of sufficient size may be expected to plan, acquire, and develop sufficient areas for recreation, and to operate a recreational system on a year-round basis. In this group should be included all cities of 10,000 population and over. The following table shows the number of such cities, according to geographic divisions, and the total population in the cities of each division.

The total population of the above cities was 47.5 percent of the total population of the Nation in 1930; this has probably increased slightly since that time.

Many cities in the group from 8,000 to 10,000 may find it possible to provide the necessary open spaces for recreation and to operate a year-round recreational system. The number of cities in this group is 226 and the total population is 1,993,375. The combined population of all cities of 8,000 and above is 60,333,452, or 49.1 percent of the total population of the Nation (1930).

The following groups of incorporated urban and rural communities may be expected to provide and maintain certain types of areas for recreation, but they cannot be expected, for financial reasons, actually to operate a recreational service the year round.

In general the population in these urban and rural incorporated communities will have to rely on some type of administrative unit larger than themselves for year-round, programmed recreational service. The same may be said of the 44,636,770 people outside incorporated places. Such an administrative unit may be a county, or a metropolitan district, or some other type of administrative unit yet to be devised.

Occupational Trends

Occupational shifts.—Recreational needs and requirements during the past 60 years (1870—1930) have been profoundly affected by occupational changes. There has been a tremendous shift of the population from agricultural and allied occupations to industrial, commercial, clerical, and professional occupations. In 1870 more than half (52.8 percent) of the gainfully employed persons, exclusive of children, were found in agriculture, lumbering, and fishing, but in 1930 only 21.3 per cent of all gainfully employed persons 12 years of age and over were so employed. On the other hand those engaged in manufacturing and mechanical industries rose from 22 percent in 1870 to 28.6 percent in 1930. Trade and transportation employment rose from 9.1 percent in 1870 to 20.7 percent in 1930. Clerical employment rose from 1.7 percent in 1870 to 8.2 percent in 1930.

These occupational changes are coincident with the rise of industrialism and the growth of cities.

The recreational significance of this change lies in the fact that many millions of people were drawn from an environment in the open country which was more or less in harmony with the biological and physiological needs of man to an unnatural, artificial environment. This entailed crowded living on limited areas of land on which the natural conditions had been destroyed, and necessitated working indoors in factories, shops, stores, offices, etc., without adequate opportunities for contact with the soil and growing things, or for outdoor activities in the open air and sunlight. This condition gave rise to the idea of public responsibility for trying to bring about an adjustment between nature and man, out of which came the modern provisions in cities and their environs for playgrounds, playfields, small and large parks, and other types of recreational areas.

Increase of leisure time.—Another significant change is the decline in the employment of children in gainful occupations, especially in very recent years. In 1890, 18 percent of all children from 10 to 15 years, inclusive, were gainfully employed; in 1930 only 4.7 percent of this same class were gainfully employed.

While some of the free time of the children and young people is taken up by the increased attendance at schools and colleges, and children on the farms still have traditional chores and some real work to do, children and young people in the cities have an unprecedented amount of free time on their hands. As their attendance at school usually occupies about 6 hours a day for only 5 days a week, and as their yearly attendance is approximately only 180 days, most of them find a great deal of leisure time at their disposal. It be hooves the public to provide for them attractive and adequate recreational facilities so that this time may be utilized wisely and beneficially, rather than be left to them to make, in many cases, foolish or harmful disposition of it.

It seems certain that continued development of labor saving devices and scientific management will further reduce the opportunities for steady employment for very large numbers of people in the United States, unless the hours of labor are still further shortened; new products desired by the people may give rise to new industries, and foreign commerce may again be brought to a flourishing condition. There has been a steady decline since 1910 in the percentage of males in all age groups gainfully employed, the greatest decline being in the age group from 10 to 15 years, inclusive, and the next greatest in the age group 65 years and over. On the other hand, among the women 16 to 45 years, the 1930 census showed an increase in the percentage gainfully employed. Among the females there was a sharp decline in the percentage of children from 10 to 15 years gainfully employed, and a slight decrease in the percentage of employment of women over 65 years.

The cutting off of opportunities to be gainfully employed will likely affect more and more the children, young people, and older people of both sexes, and there will be a possible decline in the numbers of women gainfully employed at the height of their productive capacity. In between these two extreme age groups there will be a group of gainfully employed persons working shorter hours than formerly. This creates an unprecedented situation with respect to the amount of leisure in possession of the people, demanding broad-gage and farsighted planning for its use, especially on the part of public authorities. In addition to planning for the use of leisure recreationally, it would appear highly desirable to devise ways and means of using as much as possible of this "enforced" leisure in various forms of public service, as is being done now through the Civilian Conservation Corps and in developing home handicraft arts.

3. GEOGRAPHY OF RECREATION

Like all other natural resources, recreational resources exist where Nature has scattered them in careless abandon, and without any orderly relationship to human demand. When they are favorably situated with reference to populations, it can only be considered a matter of fortunate accident. Moreover, since the industry of man is definitely detrimental to those recreational resources whose principal value lies in their wilderness character, recreational areas of this particular type are nearly always remote from centers of human concentration.

Because the everyday outdoor recreational needs of the people must be met by facilities which are immediately at hand, large expenditures are constantly being made within city and metropolitan district boundaries for the purpose of restoring, at least to a semblance of natural character, areas whose natural recreation facilities have been spoiled by human activities.

It is well to note that even within a city the selection of recreational areas is governed to a large degree by topography. Natural ponds and lakes, the depressions occupied by streams, and the more rugged hilltops are areas whose natural characteristics give them preferred recreational value. Fortunately, such sites are frequently of minor value as real estate developments.

Geographical factors, more than anything else perhaps, are responsible for the element of Federal responsibility for recreation. Scenic, climatic, and wildlife resources do not recognize the boundaries of political subdivisions. Where use of these resources is had by all of the people, the Federal Government has the responsibility of safeguarding them. Recreational planning cannot be successful unless it takes into account the discrepancy between the distribution of populations and recreational resources.

Population—its nature and the pattern of its distribution—is of the greatest importance in locating areas which are to be devoted partly or wholly to recreation. A "counter pull" is exerted by a group of natural factors, some of which are almost generally given consideration, some of which are more often than not quite neglected. The very existence of these natural factors and their "pull" are inconsistent with the idea that there should, or ever could, be a more or less fixed pattern of distribution of the areas and facilities which people desire for their leisure time use. These factors, all of which need to be weighed against population distribution in the selection of parks and other recreational areas, appear to be as follows:

Land Reliefs

Variety of elevation is one of the important determinants in recreational value of land. Park folk in their search for recreational locations instinctively look for areas which possess this quality. Moreover, persons planning vacation trips are prone to seek locations whose altitudes are opposite from those of their home environments. Change of environment, as is well known, is in itself a recreational factor of the greatest importance. The altitude factor enters here with a special emphasis, because of the physical refreshment which most people experience from a change of environment of this particular sort.

The accompanying relief map of the United States (fig. 16) shows clearly the distribution of the principal mountain ranges of the country. It. emphasizes the fact that the majority are located in the western part of the country. Comparison of this map with the map (p. 26) of present and proposed Federal park areas demonstrates how variety of land relief has been a determinant in the selection of a majority of the national parks.

FIGURE 16.—Relief map of the United States.
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Monotony is anathema to recreation. The maximum varieties of scenic interest are to be found in the rugged areas, whereas the plains only provide minor variations of the one scenic theme. All of a plain is usually within one life zone, whereas mountain ranges frequently include as many as five life zones. Thus, topographical variety brings a variety of flora and fauna. There are many other points which could be brought out to illustrate the importance of land relief in the recreational picture, but this hardly is necessary, since the recreational values of the mountains are universally recognized. Rugged areas are high in recreational value, but as a general thing they are remote from large population centers.

FIGURE 17.

Water Resources

Water resources—lakes, streams, waterfalls, bays, and oceans—are factors of the utmost significance in the scheme of recreation, both because they contribute beauty to any outdoor scene and because of their high value for active recreation.

First of all, it should be borne in mind that lands which do not have a sufficient supply of water have a low recreation-acre value, just as they have a low forage-acre value. Whereas the great desert areas of the Southwest have very real recreational value, recreational use is necessarily concentrated in a relatively small number of centers, and many thousands of intervening square miles forever must remain unoccupied.

Detailed discussion of the various forms of active recreation which are dependent upon the presence of water resources is not necessary here. This value, for example, has been recognized by New York, which has gone so far in setting up standards in selection of State parks as to make water recreational facilities, either actual or potential, a primary requisite. On almost every recreational area the greatest concentration of use occurs in the immediate vicinity of the water, and movement away from the water courses ordinarily takes the form of excursions of relatively short duration.

Sea coasts have a recreational value of unique and matchless character. The recreational value of beaches is of the highest order for several obvious reasons. The inspirational element is of such compelling order that even persons who are not ordinarily stirred by manifestations of nature, experience a stir of emotion when they come upon the shores of the ocean. It is also true that concentrated use of beaches does not shut nature out. Such intensive use of other types of recreational areas destroys the feeling of intimate contact with nature. It is fortunate, too, that intensive use of beaches does not destroy their natural character. Thousands of persons tread the sands and the next high tide effaces every evidence of their tracks.

Twenty-one of the 48 States have ocean frontage, and the total length of the general seacoast of continental United States is approximately 5,000 miles.

A comparatively small portion of seacoast is now in public ownership for recreational use, and this field. should be enlarged and developed.

The general coast line of the United States and outlying territories is as follows:

(The above tabulation excludes the sea coast of the Philippine Islands, and does not include the Virgin Islands.)¹

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¹ U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Lengths, in Statute Miles of the General Coast Line and Tidal Shore Line of the United States and Outlying Territories, November 1915. (See p. 22.)

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The total length of tidal shore line of the continental United States, measured by a unit 1 mile long, and including the shore line of those bodies of tidal waters more than 1 mile wide, which lie close to the main waters, is 21,862 miles (continental United States, 11,936; islands of the continental United States, 9,926).

The beaches are one fortunate instance of a recreational resource which is to be found in proximity to the centers of human demand. Forty-five percent of the total population, or 55 million persons, live within 55 miles of the sea coasts and Great Lakes.

Climates

It is axiomatic that pleasurable outdoor recreational experiences require favorable climatic conditions, inasmuch as there is no recreation without enjoyment, and no one, except perhaps the eccentric, enjoys himself in an atmosphere of physical discomfort. Climates have a still more positive place in the recreation picture for the reason that the principal motive of many recreational outings is the search for a pleasurable climate.

Rainfall.—Rainfall is a climatic factor which affects and in many cases definitely determines the seasonal value of certain regions for recreational use. For example, in the coastal section of the Pacific Northwest, the recreational advantages of relatively mild temperatures during the winter months are offset by the heavy and often long-continued rainfall which that region normally receives during the same months. On the other hand, light rainfall in the summer is a factor in making this section one of the most delightful outdoor recreational areas in America; and light rainfall, during the winter months, contributes much to the outdoor recreational popularity of southern California, the Southwest, and Florida.

From the accompanying map (fig. 18), prepared by the United States Weather Bureau, which shows the range of average annual precipitation, it will be noted that 8 percent of the land area of the United States has a rainfall of less than 10 inches per year. This includes the great deserts of the United States. Many of these areas are warm during the winter months, have a high percentage of sunshine, and offer exceptional recreational possibilities during that season. Some of them may also be suitable for recreation during the summer months.

FIGURE 18.

Sunshine.—Areas having a high percentage of sunshine in the winter months are particularly attractive for recreational purposes. In the United States the winter sunshine regions are remote from the centers of greatest population density. This is most significant because it means that the majority of our people cannot reach this salutary sunshine at the time of year when it is most needed for good health.

The accompanying map of the United States (fig. 19), published by the United States Weather Bureau, shows the actual amount of sunshine expressed as a percentage of the total possible sunshine for the winter months. It will be noted that portions of Arizona. and southern California receive from 80 to 90 percent of their total possible sunshine for this period. Any area having 60 percent or more sunshine may be considered as possessing an important factor, which in conjunction with other advantages, will determine its popularity and desirability for winter recreational uses in the United States.

FIGURE 19.

Humidity.—Humidity plays a large part in determining the recreational desirability of certain regions. High humidity, much more than high temperatures, is responsible for the fact that the Chesapeake Bay region is not an ideal summer recreational area. Low humidity makes an important contribution to the winter recreational advantages of such regions as the Southwest.

The principal low humidity regions are the Southwest and the Great Basin regions. Although their dry atmospheres make them valuable as health and recreation areas, they are unavailable to the majority of the citizens of the United States because of their remoteness from heavily populated zones.

Temperature.—Temperature is an important factor in the geography of recreation. Generally, high temperatures are an adverse factor in summer and a favorable one in winter. Temperature exerts a pull of sufficient strength to cause many millions of miles of tourist travel every year.

Popularity of mountain areas in the summer, and of the southern areas in the winter, is determined largely by the relatively low summer temperatures of the former and the comparatively high winter temperatures of the latter.

The summer season is the period of the year during which the greater part of the people seek outdoor recreation. This is true not only of the more extended vacation period, but also of the shorter week-end vacations and Saturday half holidays. Summer evenings offer abundant opportunities for outdoor recreation, whereas the winter evenings, usually, must be spent indoors.

The average July temperatures of the country are shown on the accompanying map (fig. 20). Average temperatures for this month, ranging from 90° to 100°, are found in the vicinity of the lower portion of the Colorado River in Arizona and in southeastern California. A large area in the Southern States has average July temperatures ranging from 80° to 90°. In general, this temperature is too high for comfort, and people of that region will seek cooler areas for their vacation grounds. Most of the Eastern and Central States have average July temperatures ranging from 70° to 80°. For people in this area also regions of lower temperatures are desirable for summer vacations.

FIGURE 20.

This map also shows the areas of the United States having average July temperatures of 60° to 70°. In this classification come the Northern New England States, much of New York State, areas in the Appalachian Mountains, the tier of northern States from Michigan westward, and large areas in the Western States.

For summer recreation grounds those areas having July temperatures averaging between 50° and 60° are at a high premium. These areas occur throughout the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and the Cascade Range.

The accompanying map of the United States (fig. 21) published by the United States Weather Bureau, shows average January temperatures. It will be noted that in a small area of the North Central United States average January temperatures below zero are found. Less severe temperatures occur southward from this area.

Winter sports are at their best in areas of heavy snowfall combined with moderately, but not bitterly, cold weather. Extremely low temperatures militate against the recreational desirability—for winter sports—of many northerly regions.

FIGURE 20.

Many people seek winter recreational grounds in the warmest areas that are accessible to them. It will be noted that all of the Gulf States, southern California, and Arizona contain areas where the average January temperature is between 50° and 60°. These States offer great recreational attractions in the winter to the people of the colder, Northern States. The southern half of the Florida Peninsula has an average January temperature of 60° to 70°, and is, therefore, a great winter recreational ground, convenient to the densely populated areas of the Eastern States.

Unfortunately, the regions of densest population, with only limited recreational resources available, have unfavorable summer and winter temperatures. Those who would seek cool summers and warm winters must travel great distances. The individual who does not have the time and money must forego long trips and endure discomfort, or at best seek such relief as is locally available.

Flora and Fauna

Flora and fauna provide the living interest without which no area is recreationally complete. Assume an area—if such a thing were possible—which is recreationally complete as to topography, water resources, and climatic factors, but which is without plant and animal life, and then judge the value of this area as a recreation ground. The mental picture created gives a plain answer to the question implied.

Though the importance of flora to a park area is abundantly recognized in the effort and money which are expended for the purpose of establishing and maintaining the floral elements of city parks, there is frequently evidenced a paradoxical disregard of the floral constituents of outlying parks whose chief value lies in their unspoiled condition. Yet of the two types, the natural flora is the most sensitive and the most difficult to restore when it has been abused.

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Forests.—Forests and wooded areas provide great opportunity for recreational use. They offer cool, shady retreats for escape from summer heat. Birds and game animals are abundant in these vicinities. Woods enrich scenic values and have a rich botanic interest.

The forest regions of the United States may be divided into the following principal groups:

Eastern forests.

Northern forest.
Central hardwood forest.
Southern forest.
Tropical forest.

Western forests.

Rocky Mountain forest.
Pacific coast forest.

The presence of some forest growth is almost as basic, and as widely recognized, an element in selection of land for recreational use as topographic variety, water, and favorable climate. Fortunately for the task of providing recreation for the densely populated Atlantic coast and Great Lakes sections, these are regions of persistent and luxurious tree growth. Where tree growth is abundant, areas of relatively small size may still have a high recreational use value. A 20-acre tract of eastern hardwoods would make a valuable recreational area, whereas an average 20-acre tract in the treeless plains and desert regions of the West would, in all likelihood, be a useless recreational unit. In the city of Washington, for instance, there are hundreds of vacant lots which have a real recreational value because of the trees which flourish on them.

Plant Life in General.—The value of attractive vegetative covering is too well known to need detailed discussion. In addition to the aesthetic enjoyment arising from colorful wild flower displays and the restful effects of green vegetation of all forms, much entertainment is had by those who sojourn in the woods to gather edible berries and nuts, pick mushrooms, and so on.

Certain vegetative types have exceptional recreational value because of their unique characteristics. Notable among these are the cacti of the southern deserts, and the interesting plant inhabitants of the southern swamps.

Fauna.—In the geography of recreation, the variety, abundance, and distribution of fauna are important factors. For consideration here it is useful to consider the large and small forms of wildlife separately.

Small birds and mammals, originally widely distributed, have in general maintained their populations very well in the face of pressure of civilization. Many of them, in fact, particularly birds, have profited by the environmental changes which man has induced. Los Angeles, Calif., for instance, is abundant in bird life, because of the extensive garden developments, and the presence of these birds adds materially to the recreational values which are to be found today within the limits of the city proper. On the negative side there are a few of the smaller species which are destructive of recreational values. In the city of Alameda, Calif., alarm clocks were resorted to in an effort to disperse an objectionable colony of black crowned night herons. In the city of Washington toy balloons are the current weapon in a campaign against starlings. On the whole, however, it must be recognized that the smaller forms of native wildlife, particularly the birds, add materially to the value of the smallest recreational area, such as a downtown park or residence garden.

The larger wildlife species, including big game, require large areas of their native habitat, if they are to survive. There is no big game or wildlife area in this country which is free from the cumulative encroachments of agriculture, the persistent pressure of hunters and trappers, and the combined voices of special interests. Therefore, wildlife reservations must be established, and wildlife management practiced where wildlife can exist, regardless of local pressure or remoteness from centers of population.

Hunting is of great recreational importance. The lack of quarry to hunt would be a tremendous loss. Big game in the United States today is largely restricted to the Western States, and to the Territory of Alaska.

Fishing is one of the leading, if not the greatest, of American outdoor recreational activities. In the past the best fishing has been found in the most remote places, and this condition is likely to continue for some time to come, in spite of the remarkable improvements in fish cultural methods and the increasing extent to which they are being applied.

Thus, it may be seen that wildlife is another of the recreational factors which exerts a "pull" on population.

Conclusions

While all of these factors have an important bearing on recreation from a national viewpoint, they have an equally important recreation significance considered from a regional, State, county, or metropolitan viewpoint, the principal difference being that the range of choice progressively decreases as the area under consideration is contracted. Other things being equal, that area, whether national park, regional park, State park, or metropolitan park, which has favorable natural factors of the highest order available within the area to be served, will exert the strongest "pull" and will tend to the greatest extent to refute the validity of any scheme which is based on a regular pattern of distribution.

Mentally superimposing upon one another these maps showing relief, forest types, temperatures, precipitation, etc., and viewing the result in the light of the principles of administrative responsibility, we are led to several conclusions:

1. That there is a seasonal shifting in the utilization of recreational areas.

2. That the centers of population and the recreational areas (i. e., those with a congenial interplay of natural factors) seldom coincide.

3. That this lack of coincidence of recreational needs with natural recreational resources, coupled with the seasonal shifting in the utility of these resources, indicates the desirability of a national husbanding of recreational resources. In other words, the "migratory" character of these recreational resources makes them the property of the Nation, and strongly indicates that there should be a national recreational system.

4. HISTORIC SITES AND RECREATION

The relationship of historic sites to a general report on recreation becomes clear when it is realized that at present there are 600 or more historic and archeological sites merged more or less completely into existing Federal, State, local, and private recreational systems. Public holdings embrace sites covering all periods of American development, and contain extensive archeological remains, including many in the Southwest. Among the more notable historic sites are colonial homes, Revolutionary battlefields, sites associated with the lives of Washington, Lincoln, and other famous men, battlefields of the Civil War, besides reminders of our more recent history. In the various State park systems, and grouped as public holdings, are approximately 200 historical and archeological sites, scattered through 30 States. Of varying sizes and types, these areas include Indian remains, sites of battles with Indians, early French and Spanish forts and missions, colonial houses and forts, battlefields of the American Revolution, many early log structures, pioneer sites, and other remains connected with the westward development of the country, homes of individuals famous in American history, and other memorials.

Besides the public holdings, summarized above, there are numerous historical and archeological sites of genuine and widespread recreational interest owned by semi-public or private historical organizations and societies, or by individuals, but open to the public. These holdings include a great many historic houses, besides Indian mound sites, farm plantations, and even complete villages, dotting the country from Maine to California. Most of these have been developed in the past 40 years, and the greater proportion in the past 15. Drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, these Federal, State, and local holdings form an important element of national recreational resources and the national recreational program.

Besides the problem of planning for the best use of existing park facilities, development of land and water use on a broadly planned scale raises the question of preserving historic and archeological sites which are at present unprotected.

In the midst of the great changes now affecting our national social and economic structure, it is easy to destroy undeveloped historic and archeological sites without giving full consideration to their importance. Industrialization, urbanization, movements of population, regional planning, electrification, housing programs these can easily crush, in their onward way, the fragile, and irreplaceable symbols which tie us to the past, and which we may later wish we had preserved. In the development of a great river valley, in its electrification, in the migrations necessitated by demand for a balance between agriculture and industry, there is a tendency, more local than national, to demand the destruction of old buildings and ancient remains, in order "to clear the way for the future." Old log cabins, a dilapidated southern plantation home, an Indian mound, as characteristic in their way as an old castle along the Rhine, may appear to the persons directly charged with carrying out a broad social plan to stand in the way of progress. But actually such buildings may be an invaluable national asset, as real as a hundred square miles of forest, and more completely irreplaceable when lost. Such structures provide us with a feeling of continuity in our development, they recall to our minds our most valuable traditions, such as pioneer courage or the generous social impulses of the South; they give us faith in our ancestry; and they provide us with visible symbols of the long, steady progression of our civilization.

In a general program which looks toward widespread physical changes in land and water use, attention should be given to the protection and preservation of important historical and archeological remains during the process.

With regard to matters of population, it should be noted that there is a relatively close correlation between the distribution of historic sites and the distribution of population. This fact possesses a double significance. The growth of population, with the resulting urbanization and industrialization, is likely to result in an undiscriminating destruction of everything old, unless legislation is enacted, as in European countries, to prevent it. Secondly, since historic sites are often already close to large bodies of population, they are in a position to furnish a natural and inspiring form of recreation amid education without involving the necessity of leaving the population areas.

There is likewise a close relationship between geography and history, the former having in one sense laid a natural basis for the great main line of American development. The location of our historic cities, the population in our fertile valleys, the sites of the battles on American soil are to be explained largely in terms of geography. The great natural highways and avenues of communication throughout America are likewise often the historic routes—the Cumberland Gap roads, and the Hudson Valley and Ohio Valley routes, for example. In American development, historic and geographic elements have become intermingled.

Historic sites fill an essential social need, and it follows from this that a program regarding them is a public responsibility. Our American historic sites are among the most important tangible symbols of our unity as a Nation. From California to Maine and from Texas to Michigan we have a common cultural and social interest in our background, in the events that made our Nation, in the great experiences of the Revolution and the Civil War. Symbolized in such places as Yorktown, Gettysburg, and Abraham Lincoln's birthplace, this common national history forms perhaps our strongest single social bond. Furthermore, historic sites help to nourish our national traditions out of which much of culture comes. The pioneering outlook of the West, the social generosity of the South, the civic strength of New England, are among the most important social resources of America. To allow the historic buildings and sites which embody these traditions to fall away from neglect is to nullify the physical evidences of the best productive labors of our forefathers. Especially to people in great cities, where crowding populations and industrial ugliness are strong, contact with the survivals of an earlier America brings "an invaluable corrective to their mental and imaginative outlook." To insure the accomplishment of this by some agency, public or private, is an essential duty of government.

Historical and Archeological Sites

The growing demand for a more comprehensive program to preserve important buildings and sites connected with our national past is largely the result of a new appreciation on the part of the American people of the value of their historical heritage.

The significant cultural and social values of the physical remains relating to our past history are becoming increasingly apparent as various public and private agencies accept the responsibility for their controlled development, preservation, and educational use. Thus, by working with such areas, as well as by surveying and studying other historical sites and remains in every part of the Nation, the controlling agencies have been able to develop much information relating to the preservation and use of the physical elements of history.

Among these agencies the National Park Service, through its developing program and through the American historic buildings and the historic sites surveys, has contributed much information relating to the problem and may be expected to contribute more. Not the least in the results of these varied activities has been their value in arousing public concern for the preservation of the national historical heritage.

Among the further evidences of this growing national interest in a broadly based preservation policy is the growing appreciation of America's own past, as seen in the individual site. We are becoming increasingly aware, for example, that the log cabins of Boonesborough, the Emerson, Longfellow, and Whittier homes in Massachusetts, the Hermitage in Nashville, the frontier settlements along inland waterways and forts along the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails, are American counterparts to historic remains in Europe. These American buildings and sites are coming to mean to our own people what the ruins of Rome mean to the Italian people, Stratford-on-Avon to the English, or the baronial castles along the Rhine to the Germans. But even though much interest has been aroused and much knowledge accumulated through experience in administering historic sites, as well as in surveying problems not yet properly controlled, it is likely that as a nation we have only begun to appreciate the tremendous possibilities which may be realized through the wise utilization of important sites. To teach the broad cultural significance of these resources, and to see that some agency, whether Federal, State, or local, preserves the most important of them, is a matter of public responsibility.

Among the almost innumerable examples which might be cited, one notes important Indian mounds in the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Valleys gradually eroding from the effects of weather and the plow, as well as archeological remains undergoing other forms of destruction. Often these remains are handled so improperly that their true significance is lost sight of in bizarre methods of public exploitation.

PHOTO 1.—Whitley's Mill, Mecklenburg County, N. C.

PHOTO 2.—The Shamrock (Porterfield residence), Vicksburg, Miss. This fine old home with its high basement story and unpedimented two-story portico is typical of a class of houses fast disappearing from the deep South.

Moreover, numerous fine examples of the early architecture of this country have been abandoned to the ravages of time. Only in rare instances are efforts being made by worthy individuals and societies to preserve these evidences of our cultural growth. Among important buildings suffering from neglect we find such examples as The Shirley-Eustis House, Roxbury, Mass.; Santee near Corbin, Va.; and Belle Grove at White Castle, La.

Earthworks from the Revolutionary and Civil War periods in many States have been destroyed by erosion, or are in a state of ruin and neglect, as those at Harrison's Landing in Virginia, at Kenesaw Mountain in Georgia, and at Corinth in Mississippi.

In Washington, D. C., many houses rich in history and interest have not been preserved. The reconstruction of the capital city has been responsible for many historical casualties, such as the National Hotel, the old Harvey House, the home of John Quincy Adams and numerous ancient boarding houses with which were associated famous names in American history.

One aim of the Federal survey of historic sites now under way is to gather careful data and provide recommendations concerning legislation for general conservation of historical remains, as well as for the care of specific sites. The valuable, though sporadic, efforts of individuals, private groups, and even some of the States are not enough to prevent an irreparable historic and artistic loss to America. The Federal Government must assume its share of the responsibility in this problem, both in education and, where necessary, in control.

In regard to possibilities for a broad preservation program not necessarily involving direct Federal control, it may be pointed out that the most important general and basic legislation regarding historic and archeological sites in the United States is the act for the preservation of American antiquities, 1906, confirmed in purpose by the National Park Act of 1916. These acts provide only the barest legislative protection for areas already a part of the public domain and, with regard to those areas not at present public property, provide practically no protection at all.

In this connection, it may be observed that data from other countries regarding this general problem are growing, and are being made available through the International Commission on Historic Monuments.

The present status of legislation in other countries, for example in France, is indicated by the fact that, though a historic or artistic building may remain in private hands, the owner in many cases is not allowed to change or destroy it without permission from the National Government. Legislation of similar import obtains in other countries, including England and Mexico. In this regard, attention may be drawn to the conclusions of an international conference held at Athens regarding the development of the plan for the International Commission on Historic Monuments. The following is quoted from the conference report:

It unanimously approved the general tendency which, in this connection, recognizes a certain right of the community in regard to private ownership.

It is noted that the differences existing between these legislative measures, were due to the difficulty of reconciling public law with the rights of individuals.

Consequently, while approving the general tendency of these measures the conference is of the opinion that they should be in keeping with local circumstances and with the trend of public opinion so that the least possible opposition may be encountered, due to allowance being made for the sacrifice which the owners of property may be called upon to make in the general interest.

It recommends that the public authorities in each country be empowered to take conservatory measures in cases of emergency.

It earnestly hopes that the international museums office will publish a repertory and a comparative table of the legislative measures in force in the different countries and that this information will be kept up to date.¹

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¹ Institut International de Cooperation Intellectuelle, La Conservation des Monuments d'Art et d'Historie, Société des Nations; Les Dossiers de l'Office International des Musées. Geneva, 1931. pp. 18—19.

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The statements of this conference, similar data available through this and other international commissions, and the conclusions of other studies and surveys now going forward under the auspices of the National Park Service are providing the basis upon which it is expected that general recommendations for legislation to preserve historic sites will be made.

PHOTO 3.—Memorial mansion and grounds at George Washington's birthplace, Westmoreland County, Va.

PHOTO 4.—Earthworks at Battery No, 5, Petersburg National Military Park, Va.

From similar origins has grown a considerable body of principles and techniques relating to problems of preservation and restoration of historic remains. In the course of its experience in developing historic sites under the various emergency programs, the Federal Government has brought to bear upon its problems the special knowledge of experts in various fields. These include, among others, special engineering, architectural, landscape, and even forestry techniques applied particularly in the development of the historic sites and remains now in the possession of the Federal Government, such as Gettysburg, Yorktown, and Vicksburg. There is an ever-increasing skill in the application of these techniques in the field of history.

In another way, a growing appreciation of this developing method and technical skill in the preservation of historical remains and of the significance of these historical remains for the scholarly world has resulted in the growth of a closer liaison between the Historical Division of the National Park Service and the joint committee on materials for research of the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council. This joint committee, which was originally developed to conserve the interests of scholars in research materials, and in methods and techniques relating to them, is working in close cooperation with the National Park Service on these problems as applied to historical remains.

The various elements in this developing program come naturally together at this point. The activities of the Federal Government in conducting surveys of historic buildings and sites, its extensive experience with the historical values involved in specific sites already under Federal control, and its developing contact, through the International Commission on Historic Monuments, with the historic sites problem as viewed in other countries have laid the basis for an enlarged national program, including comprehensive legislation for the preservation of historic sites in America. Although the ultimate plans and policies which may finally be developed are not as yet ready for formulation in this report, certain principles applicable to problems of national planning are already clearly evident.

5. SOME COMPETITORS OF RECREATIONAL LAND USE

Perhaps because recreation is more than just pleasurable physical exercise, perhaps because it partakes of the freedom of open country, the "competitors" which logically come to mind are those which directly affect the attractiveness of the open country. Some of these are: Private consumption of recreational resources, water pollution, lumbering, grazing, drainage, and artificial stream control.

Private Consumption of Recreational Resources

The common desire to own a small segment of forested lake front or stream side for a summer home or resort is rapidly leading toward the exhaustion of this waterfront resource, insofar as its availability to the great portion of our population is concerned. The desirable and habitable areas can be quickly consumed by a relatively small proportion of the population. It is, of course, true that great recreational value may accrue to the occupants of such retreats, but the question arises: Is this luxurious and extravagant utilization of a limited resource the wisest use? When every choice lake front, stream side, and beach is taken by private homes, clubs, stores, amusement devices, and exclusive resorts, will the common demand for outdoor living have been satisfied? It is not probable.

Unnoticeable, at first, is the fact that some summer homes, dude ranches, and resorts occupy the strategic points which actually control the much larger hinterland. The wilderness—whether pristine or greatly modified—is an organism. For example, if the stream banks, lake shores, and springs are taken by a relatively few residents, the whole area is, in effect, taken. Likewise, if a summer home is located at the mouth of a precipitous and scenic canyon or secluded mountain valley, the use of the entire canyon or valley is, in effect, preempted by the one holder, his family, and guests.

Examples of this sort of private consumption are to be found among the resort and summer-home colonies at Grand Lake and around Estes Park, Colo.; Lake Quinault and Lake Crescent, Wash.; some of the dude ranches of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Colorado; and, in general, in the numerous strategically located private holdings around almost every lake in the East.

Let us take a specific example. At the south end of Grand Teton National Park lies Phelps Lake—an unusually picturesque lake at the mouth of a precipitous gorge which cuts back into the Tetons. The trail to this section of the mountain hinterland leads up the gorge behind the lake. Until 1932 a private ranch controlled the lake. A mile away from the lake the public was halted by a fence and a "no trespass" sign which could only be hurdled at the price of $10 a day. This one ranch, then, not only consumed a beautiful lake and mountain setting but also controlled hundreds of square miles of superb mountain hinterland. This same case could have been repeated at numerous places along the base of the Tetons; in fact, this type of wilderness utilization would have had the mountain range completely locked and closed, except to a few people, had it not been for the establishment of Grand Teton National Park and the subsequent efforts of the Snake River Land Co.

The location of such privately owned recreational facilities frequently limits the use of vast recreational resources to a comparatively few individuals. Such is the manner in which large portions of this type of recreational resource are being dissipated. It is submitted, therefore, that the policy of permitting summer-home and resort sites within public lands of recreational value should be carefully reconsidered to the end that a more equitable and sustained use of the resource may be attained.

Water Pollution

No definition of water pollution is needed. Every one knows that large quantities of foreign matter, such as oil, "refuse from rayon, paper, and sawmills, sulphurous water from mines, sewage, and other industrial and civic wastes"¹ are discharged into our rivers, lakes, and harbors.

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¹ Phillips, John C., and Lincoln, Frederick C.: American Waterfowl, Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1935. 312 pp., illus. (See pp. 197—198.)

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In addition to the effect upon aquatic life, the problem is of great interest and importance because of the pollution of bathing-beaches, harbors, and shore property, resulting in interference with healthful water and shore recreation; besides an increase in the fire hazard.

The effects upon beaches of high value for recreational purposes which have been fouled by oily or tarry deposits with a serious depreciation in the value of property, have been particularly noticeable on the shores of Long Island and New Jersey within a radius of 50 or 60 miles from the entrance to New York Bay; near the capes of Chesapeake Bay; and on the coasts of Florida, Texas, and California; but such results are by no means confined to these places, and may show up sporadically almost anywhere along the shore.

Ranking with our world-famous parks as an important aid to human welfare are our coasts and lake shores, river banks, and smaller streams. In fact, to base the comparison entirely upon the percentage of the population that is benefited thereby, aquatic resorts are unquestionably second to none. Literally millions of persons gather each year at watering places for bathing and other water sports, while the streams of the country are a part of the rightful heritage of the great fraternity of anglers. Under no pretense can they be considered as legitimate dumps for the waste from industrial plants and from cities.²

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² Phillips, John C., op. cit.

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In New Hampshire, for instance, almost every stream of importance has been impaired for recreational purposes by the discharge of sewage and industrial wastes. The Saco, Merrimack, Androscogan, and Connecticut Rivers, up which great runs of salmon and shad used to pass, are now so polluted that these fish no longer enter. Hotels in the vicinity of the White Mountains discharge raw sewage directly into the trout streams.

At present, the water pollution problem is dealt with in piecemeal fashion by local units, by States, and by interstate agreements, the Federal Bureaus of Fisheries, Biological Survey, and the Public Health Service. The United States Bureau of the Public Health Service has conducted investigations of water pollution, particularly in the Mississippi River system, and recently in the Chesapeake Bay. It is stated by R. E. Tarbell, sanitary engineer in charge, Bureau of the Public Health Service, that the most concentrated foci of inland water pollution are in the mining districts of the following States: Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, and Alabama.

Mr. Tarbell estimates that $2,500,000 would eliminate the stream-polluting, acid waste from abandoned bituminous drift mines.

It should not be forgotten in this discussion that oil is the greatest single industrial pollution item.

Lumbering

Lumbering is a necessary form of land use. Its importance here is simply the manner in which it affects recreational values. Most logged-off areas are at least temporarily undesirable for recreation. During the early years of the succeeding forest stand there may be an increase of some forms of wildlife habitats and a consequent variety in the types of recreational use of wildlife. As the forest crop again approaches suitability for timber harvesting, it again presents numerous and varied recreational possibilities. Undoubtedly, the cycle of timber production encompasses opportunities for many recreational uses of timber-producing areas.

Unfortunately, on many valuable timberlands which are outside the national forests, cut-over areas are frequently and repeatedly burned. Such fires, whether intentional or accidental, result in a progressive deterioration of all recreational values.

Where other forest values are greater than the recreational value, recreation can still be provided to some extent by forest management on the "sustained yield" basis, i. e., continuous yield of all the forest values, including recreation.

Where recreation is the prime value of a forest, lumbering has no place.

Grazing

The grazing of domestic livestock is definitely related to the recreational value of an area.

A certain amount of grazing may diminish under brush and make an area more penetrable to recreation seekers. On the other hand, pollution of water holes, seeps, brooks, streams, and picnicking or camping grounds by domestic stock is undesirable.

A reasonable amount of grazing upon hunting grounds can be coordinated with the production of game, but it is extremely difficult to balance the recreational and economic values of an area devoted to joint occupancy by game and domestic stock. If domestic stock is utilizing the range to an extent detrimental to the subsistence of game, the question of overgrazing arises.

It is difficult to restrain overgrazing. One very definite and detrimental effect of overgrazing is abnormally accelerated erosion. There is no question about the damage which erosion does to every use of an area, both recreationally and economically. Moreover, denudation of an area through overgrazing produces rapid run off, with a consequent drying up of springs, seeps, and water holes; the constant flow of streams is disrupted, only to be followed by alternating periods of flood and desiccation. This final condition of terrain is almost useless for wildlife, and, in fact, for any kind of recreational use whatsoever. Frequently, grazing on the headwaters of a stream renders the entire course of the stream unfit for recreation.

Grazing needs to be much more strictly and wisely controlled on lands of recreational value than it has been in the past. One sheep or cattle ranch of relatively small acreage, located on the winter range of a big game area, may render thousands of acres of the whole range less valuable for game.

Where recreation is the prime value, grazing of domestic stock has no place.

Drainage

No problem today so vitally affects the future of our wild waterfowl, and therefore the recreation of millions of people, as the drainage of swamps and marshes. Also no policy that, while obstensibly aiming at the betterment of human welfare, is frequently so utterly fallacious.

The result usually sought by promoters of drainage enterprises is to produce good farm land from land too wet for ordinary agricultural purposes. This can sometimes be done, and in many cases it has been done. Engineers and promoters are always able to cite instances where the removal of excess water has resulted in valuable farm land, so it is well to state frankly that occasionally drainage has been successful. These time-worn cases do not, however, in any way detract from the importance of the question, and, even while admitting their success from the viewpoint of the cereal or truck farmer, it is pertinent to inquire whether or not the value of the water or wet land crops that could have been raised might not have been greater without the tremendous expense of drainage.

As a Nation we leave been dealing with our marshes much as we have with a great many other natural resources—acting first and considering the consequences later.³

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³ Phillips, John C. and Lincoln, Frederick C., American Waterfowl, Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co., 312 pp., illus. (See pp. 69—70.)

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In brief, thousands of square miles of marshland, far and away more valuable for recreational purposes (i. e., for the protection of wildfowl and other aquatic life, and possessing great national interest) than for anything else, have been drained and devoted to submarginal agricultural use. In the past the recreational value of such areas has been brushed aside as a matter of idle sentiment. Not until it was evident that the lost recreation had a dollar-and-cents value, and not until the farm crops had withered on the acid soils of the "reclaimed" marshes, was it realized that marshland per se might have great recreational value.

Phillips and Lincoln give examples of drainage as follows:

With the possible exception of Utah (because of the great Bear River marshes), California easily occupied first place among the Western States in its relative importance to ducks and geese. Old maps indicate a belt of marshland that extended from one end of the Great Valley of California to the other, a region that furnished food and cover for multitudes of wildfowl, while numerous lakes, both large and small, supplied resting and "loafing" grounds. In 1911-13 the Sacramento and San Joaquin drainage district was created by a special act of the legislature, the area included being the lowland along the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Feather Rivers, from Butte and Glenn Counties on the north to Fresno and Madera Counties on the south. The board of reclamation, appointed by the Governor, has large powers, and in 1929 Dr. H. C. Bryant, of the State division of fish and game, estimated that marshy areas had been reduced at least 90 percent.

Buena Vista Lake, in the southern part of the San Joaquin Valley, is practically dry, and the small area of open water remaining seems to present unfavorable conditions for ducks. Since 1908 large numbers of birds have died each year of disease at this point.

Tulare Lake, at one time the largest body of fresh water in the interior valley, has now been dry for several years. Originally, this lake was reported to have had a water area of about 275 square miles, and was a favorite winter loafing ground for ducks. Here irrigation has been the chief causative factor. By 1914 drought conditions, evaporation, and the cutting off for irrigation purposes of the tributary flow had wiped the lake out of existence.

In 1922 it was filled to a depth of 8 feet, but went dry again in the same year and has since remained so. A great part of the lake bed is now a dry, dusty flat.

In the northeastern part of the State, Lower Klamath Lake presents another example of an excellent wildfowl area that has been destroyed by cutting off its supply of water. Prior to 1917 backwater from the Klamath River entered the Klamath Basin, producing a great region of marsh and the lower Klamath Lake. When the Southern Pacific Railroad constructed a grade across the marsh, it was provided that a gate should be built to cut off the inlet where the railway crossed it. This was done, and the result has been the drying up of the lake and surrounding marsh. Very little of the land uncovered has proved valuable agriculturally, and were it not for Government aid, this project probably would have been abandoned a long time ago. The cost of production has been excessive and "breaking even" is about the best agricultural record for the area. The only water that now flows into the basin is a small amount from a spring in the western part. This is just sufficient to maintain a small pond known as Sheepy Lake, and we learn that, not satisfied with the destruction already wrought, plans are being considered for the drainage of this last remaining water area.

Tule Lake, a few miles east of Lower Klamath, has suffered a similar fate, as its source of water supply is now practically all taken for irrigation. Some water does remain in the "sump", and as this lake has recently (1929) been proclaimed a Federal bird reservation, it is hoped that it can he restored to its rightful condition. It is of great importance since it is one of the two principal wintering grounds of the diminutive cackling goose, a fact that was demonstrated through the banding of these birds on their breeding grounds in Alaska.

In summation it may be said that throughout the length and breadth of this great State many areas have been despoiled by drainage and irrigation activities, until today probably the best of the remaining marshlands available for ducks and geese are those owned and maintained by the duck clubs.⁴

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⁴ Phillips, John C. and Lincoln, Frederick C., op. cit., pp. 82—85.

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Drainage is conducive to rapid run-off, resulting in erosion, streams of flood character, and the depositing of debris.

Certainly, drainage projects should not be under taken without comprehensive knowledge of the ends sought, the values involved, and the probable results.

Artificial Stream Control

The construction of reservoirs for irrigation and power has a direct bearing upon the recreational question. The possible flooding of historical and archeological sites is noted elsewhere in this report. The flooding of recreational areas possessing great scenic beauty (for instance, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park) has frequently been a matter of rather general concern and, in reality, a matter of national importance.

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In extremely arid regions reservoirs have in some places added to the recreational value of a region. They have produced a fairly constant body of water where only sporadic torrents existed before. But in general the recreational values of reservoirs have been overestimated, chiefly because the frequent change of shore line leaves an unsightly, unusable "no-man's land" between high and low water, wherein all vegetation dies and the accumulating litter decays.

Considering this factor, there is reason to question the wisdom of the construction of reservoirs in areas, such as the upper portions of the Kings River Canyon, which are outstanding because of the value of their wilderness type of recreation.

Compensatory artificial control of streams, designed to counteract the sterility of the stream caused by drainage or overgrazing, is, of course, of recreational value. Much of value may be accomplished also in producing more abundant aquatic habitats, particularly for fish, throughout the streams of the country. Fish ladders should be provided wherever possible in connection with the construction of dams. For example, this need is a vital one in New Hampshire, where few fish ladders have been provided, thus contributing to the impairment of a great fishing resource.

Conclusions

It becomes evident that area is not a proper unit of measurement for recreational resources. Recreational resources permeate the whole mosaic of our national resources. Recreational use of national resources, therefore, must be correlated with other forms of use, except within areas of primary recreational value. In these latter, no competing use of the resource can be permitted.

For example, if all the Nation's waters could be freed from artificial pollution, the recreational resource liberated would probably be greater than the combined resources of parks.

Any analysis of such forms of land use and abuse and their relation to recreational resources suggests very strongly the need of a Federal agency whose responsibility it should be to call attention to recreational resources, particularly when other uses of such resources would destroy, needlessly, their recreational value.

6. ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF RECREATION

Since it costs money—somebody's money—to provide recreation and the facilities for it; since such provision has certain direct and indirect economic results along with social results; since it is enlightening at least to explore the possibility that public provision of certain kinds of recreation is economically justified, the following questions, all economic in nature, may be reasonably propounded:

1. Just what is the place and the importance of recreation in the modern economic picture?

2. What is the total cost of providing Americans with leisure-time occupation?

3. What desirable stimuli, if any, are given to business by the pursuit of recreation, and more specifically by governmental provision of opportunity for recreation?

4. What effect does the establishment of parks have on business property values and employment?

5. To what extent does the meeting of recreational demands provide employment?

6. To what extent does the public provision of recreational facilities affect other public expenditures, such as for jails, insane asylums, hospitals, etc.?

7. What part of the total cost of providing recreation is properly a public responsibility?

8. How is the public to bear its share of the cost of (a) selecting, (b) acquiring, (c) developing, and (d) operating recreational facilities?

9. What costs may the user of publicly owned recreational facilities be expected to bear?

10. What is the extent and importance of private enterprise in recreational economy?

Some of these questions, and others that arise out of them, can be answered rather positively and surely; for others the information available is incomplete, difficult to evaluate, and the answers must at best be approximations of the truth; some must at present rest almost completely on opinion.

National Expenditure for Recreation

No complete and accurate figures are available on the total annual bill which Americans pay in order to find occupation for their leisure time. It is estimated, however, that it amounted to more than 10 billion dollars just previous to the depression.¹ This figure includes the following principal groups of expenditures:

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¹ President's Research Committee On Social Trends, Recent Social Trends in the United States, New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1933, vol. 2, tables, charts. (See p. 949.)

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1. Governmental costs:

    (a) National.
    (b) State.

2. Travel.

3. Commercial amusements.

4. Leisure time organizations.

5. Games and sports, and equipment for same.

6. Resort business.

7. Miscellaneous.

Governmental Expenditure for Recreation

The Federal Government.—In 1932, the Federal Government expended $10,856,903.59² for development and operation of areas and facilities established for recreational use—this being the total appropriation to the National Park Service for all purposes, plus the funds specifically appropriated for the Forest Service for development of recreational facilities.

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² U. S. Department of the Interior, Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1913, Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office. Also U, S. Forest Service, Report of the Forester, 1933. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office.

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Since a large part of the purpose of the Bureau of Biological Survey is perpetuation of the game supply, a considerable proportion of its appropriation, which amounted in that year to $2,229,170,³ is also a direct financial provision for recreation. Of the Bureau of Fisheries' appropriation of $1,976,020 in 1932, approximately 65 percent was used in the production of game fish.⁴

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³ Figures given by office of Bureau of Biological Survey over telephone to the Recreation Section of the National Resources Board.

⁴ U. S. Department of Commerce, Anneal Report of the Secretary of Commerce, 1933, Washington, D. C,, Government Printing Office. See section of Bureau of Fisheries, p. 95.

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In addition, considerable sums appropriated and spent for other purposes served the cause of recreation in incidental fashion. Included in this group were appropriations for highway construction on both the Federal-aid system and the forest road system; appropriations for forest protection purposes such as trail construction, fire fighting and fire prevention, reforestation, etc.

There are, in fact, incidental recreational values contributed by nearly every bureau of the Government in the performance of its regular duties.

The State Government.—State expenditures for recreation in 1930 totaled $34,174,000;⁵ in 1931, $41,830,000.⁶ Of these totals approximately $13,364,000⁵ was for operation in 1930, and $14,258,000⁶ in 1931.

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⁵ U. S. Bureau of the Census, Financial Statistics of States, 1910, Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 123 pp., tables, diagrams. (See p. 78, 84, 90, 100, 302.)

⁶ U. S. Bureau of the Census, Financial Statistics of States, 1931, Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 117 pp., tables, diagrams. (See p. 72, 78, 84, 94, 96.)

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The County, Metropolitan, and Municipal Governments.—Expenditures for recreation by these political subdivisions amounted to $147,225,000⁷ in 1929; in 1930, $162,853,000.⁸

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⁷ U. S. Bureau of the Census, Financial Statistics of Cities, 1929, Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 515 pp., tables, diagrams, p. 338, 378. Playground and Recreation Association of America, County Parks, New York, 1920, 110 pp., maps, plans, tables. (See p. 52.)
⁸ U. S. Bureau of the Census, Financial Statistics of Cities, 1930, op. cit. (see p. 400, 450.) U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Park Recreation Areas in the United States, 1930, Bulletin No. 565, May 1932, 116 pp., tables. (See p. 42.)

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Sources of Funds

The methods by which recreation areas are acquired may be summarized as follows:

General Taxation.—This is a situation in which acquisition costs are made a part of the general budget of the specific taxing unit on which the general tax levy is based.

Special Assessments.—This is a situation in which costs of acquisition are met by a tax levy on a specific district which will derive sufficient benefits from the recreational area created to warrant complete assumption of the coast involved. This method involves establishment of a special form of local improvement district.

Excess Condemnation.—Excess condemnation is the practice of taking by right of eminent domain more property than is actually necessary for the recreation project, and of subsequently selling or leasing the surplus thus acquired. It is based on the belief that the public should benefit from whatever added values are created by public action. When residential property is involved, it is sometimes possible to make excess condemnation meet the whole cost of acquisition and more. As a matter of fact, it is similar in principle to the "Special Assessments" procedure already noted.

Gifts, Transfers, Leases, and Permits.—Gifts have provided the nuclei for some of the outstanding park systems of the country. Donations of land by individuals and associations often include valuable tracts. The motives of such gifts vary. They may be purely philanthropic, or the expression of a desire to establish a monument to someone's memory. In a few cases, gifts have been made with the objective of seeking relief from tax burdens.

Transfer of land between public agencies or between departments within an agency are sometimes effected for the purpose of establishing recreation areas. This method is frequently employed where States own lands suitable for municipal parks.

Leases and permits are sometimes made to allow the use of areas administered by some public agency for special purposes, or to allow the use of some resource from these areas such as water, gravel from river beds, and so on, in order to provide funds.

Of the above listed sources of support for recreational undertakings, the principal one is general taxation. In a few States, notably New York, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Connecticut, and California, regular and reasonably adequate funds are made available for acquisition, development, and maintenance of recreation areas. These, however, have been considerably curtailed during the past 5 years. In most States this field of activity is still struggling for adequate recognition.

California and New York have used the proceeds of bond issues for purchase of State parks; highway funds have been used by Oregon for both purchase and operation; Washington's parks are maintained out of a fund built up mainly out of fines for violations of the State's motor vehicle code; Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri have expended fish and game funds for that purpose. County tax moneys are utilized by Massachusetts to develop and operate State park reservations purchased by the State. In a number of States, State funds used for purchase of park areas have been supplemented by private funds, as well as by county and municipal funds.

Provision of funds for publicly owned and operated recreational facilities is, in general, a double problem. One part of the problem is concerned with capital investment, the other with operating costs, and there is a growing tendency to make a sharp differentiation between public responsibility for the one and the other.

It is accepted generally that the responsibility for capital investment—the acquisition of recreational lands and their development for use—lies primarily with the several public agencies involved. The Federal Government has approached the problem of eliminating private ownership of lands inside the national parks by requiring that Federal funds appropriated for the purpose be matched by private contribution.

California's State park purchase program, with $6,000,000 of bond money, was carried through on the same basis and with rather conspicuous success. It has its drawbacks, however; for example, public agencies, chiefly counties and cities, were called upon to furnish a considerable amount of the matching money, so that this contribution of public funds amounted to much more than half. Proponents of the bond act had hoped that private contributions would be made, to a large degree, into a central fund, to be expended at the discretion of the State park commission along with the road funds. Actually, however, most private contributions were made for specific projects, which threw much of the choice of purchase areas into the hands of the contributors, and tended to throw the program out of balance; in other words, it tended to bring into the system certain low-priority areas. It is believed that this situation was largely responsible for the pressure which had to be exerted on county and city governments to provide matching funds, in order that neglected high-priority areas, such as southern California beaches, might he taken into the system.

Indiana, to cite a still more extreme case, largely required counties or private donors to provide her State parks, but made an exception in the case of the Dunes, for the purchase of which there was a special 2 mill State tax levy.

Governmental Income From Recreation

The Federal Government.—The Federal Government is not in the recreation business for the purpose of making money, but to serve the public welfare. It does derive, however, a certain amount of income from its recreational facilities.

In a number of the national parks an automobile entrance fee is charged, which in 1932 yielded a return of $455,034.50. Other receipts amounted to $365,619.60,⁹ making a total revenue of $820,654.10. In 1933 automobile returns yielded $371,813, other receipts $256,369.06, making a total revenue of $628,182.06. In 1934 automobile returns yielded $401,581.50, other receipts $329,750.30, making a total revenue of $731,331.80.

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⁹ Editor's note: Fiscal year figures given in this paragraph.

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Concessions of various types serving recreation seekers brought an income of $264,232.25 to the United States Forest Service in 1932, $278,182.35 in 1933, and $297,830.75 in 1934.¹⁰ Rental of summer home sites, at an annual cost per site ranging from $5 to $25, yielded a considerable portion of this total. On an annual sustained-yield basis no other source of income can compare with those sources which root in the public demand for recreation. Recreation has become a profitable branch of the Forest Service's business, and in this field the rental of summer home sites produces a comparatively high yield per acre.

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¹⁰ Editor's note: U. S. Forest Service figures.

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The States.—State income from recreation, produced as a direct result of park use amounted to $7,092,337.45 in 1930. This came from a wide variety of sources.

There has been a marked tendency during recent years to make State parks earn at least a part of their development and operation costs. Indiana has charged an entrance fee of 10 cents per person over 12 years of age, and this has brought in as much as $60,000 in a single year. Other States are giving serious consideration to the adoption of a similar plan.

Far commoner are charges for the use of certain types of park facilities, involving either special services or exclusive occupancy. Nearly all States collect locker fees in heavily patronized parks which offer bathing, and several collect fees for the use of supervised parking facilities. Rental of boats, canoes, and bathing suits, bathing fees, winter sport facilities and equipment, garage fees, picnicking fees, fuel sales, and other fairly common sources of income are collected directly from the park visitor. In addition, nearly all States—with Connecticut a notable exception—receive some income from concessions, chiefly hotels, eating places, stores, and gasoline stations.

The most notable of the special service fees is that charged for camping. In much the same class, however, are parking fees. The modern camp ground is just one step, in point of facilities offered, below the tourist cabin. It provides, ordinarily, safe water supply, safe sanitary facilities, and frequently shower baths; a place to cook meals; a table and benches; very often daylight shelter in case of bad weather; and police protection.

All of these forms of service involve both exclusive occupancy and special service. It is therefore submitted that the special service charge is a more equitable means of providing maintenance funds than is the straight entrance fee.

In some States, income from sources other than taxation is devoted to park purposes. These include such items as sales of boat licenses, fees on State-owned river beds in Iowa, sales of coal from beneath the Wabash River, and of sand from the bottom of Lake Michigan in Indiana. In State forests of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, considerable income was received from summer home-site leases, and from various other leases for recreational purposes.

The fisherman and the hunter, by payment of license fees, very largely support the State's fish and game activities, license income during the years 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1933 being $9,391,000, $10,014,000, $13,855,000, and $6,624,000, respectively.

Economic Effects of Developed Recreational Resources

Municipal and Metropolitan.—It has long been recognized in a general way that establishment of parks of the municipal or metropolitan type has important and beneficial results on the value of properties adjacent to or within easy reach of them, especially when these properties are devoted to residential uses. There is a genuine money value in an attractive outlook from a dwelling place and in the ready availability of breathing spaces which may be used for rest or for physical activity. Purchasers or renters of residence property recognize these money values, and it is doubtful if any dealer in real estate has ever overlooked the possibility of realizing increased income from them, though real estate operators have been short-sighted in appreciating the economic wisdom of providing areas for recreation use in subdivisions. There are, of course, notable exceptions.

No comprehensive figures as to the increased property valuations resulting from establishment of parks have ever been brought together, but there is available a considerable volume of data which strongly supports contentions as to their economic effect.

One of the important achievements which may be traced to parks is the greater consideration now given to logical planning and development of lands surrounding them. This is particularly true in townships surrounding county park lands. Here, because of the parks, the lands have taken on new values as residential sites, and the towns, appreciating the fact that this growth must be guided, have created zoning boards. Areas near parks are frequently places under strict zone regulations, especially where gasoline stations and commercial stands are involved, so that the increased land valuation derived from park location and embellishment may not be entirely lost.

The withdrawal of lands for park purposes from tax rolls presents a problem in the more remote, sparsely populated counties from which this withdrawal is made. Where the removal of lands for parks affects the county tax returns, it may be possible to realign the counties or political subdivisions so as to reduce duplication in administrative services and other contingent costs. Thus the loss of taxes on lands removed for park purposes would be inconsequential.

Recreational Use of Land as a Factor in Rural Economic Life.—In addition to the employment furnished to the year-long and temporary officers of the National and State parks through the operation of these recreational areas, there is provided also much labor of a seasonal character which dovetails very nicely with the needs of many of the residents of the surrounding regions engaged in agricultural pursuits. Seasonal work within the National and State parks and forests provides a vital part of their livelihood. Thus their income from agriculture or stock raising, which by itself would be too meager to provide living conditions satisfactory under American standards, is supplemented. This is especially pertinent in connection with subsistence homesteads which are now being established adjacent to some of the national parks and forests. In this manner the parks play a very essential part in the social life and welfare of the Nation, not only by providing areas where leisure time may profitably be spent in health-giving out-of-door recreation, but also by tying in directly with the support and welfare of the residents of the regions immediately surrounding these areas.

The decline in use of land for agriculture has brought in its train, due to lowered tax income, a whole series of problems having to do with maintenance of roads, schools, and other public services. It seems probable that this condition, in addition to the depletion of forest resources and governmental activity to remove submarginal lands from agricultural use, will force consolidation of governmental units, chiefly counties. At least a partial offset to these several factors, however, is the recreational use and recreational desirability of lands unsuited to uses primarily economic.

This field is as yet explored only in very fragmentary fashion. Such studies as have been made, however, indicate that in certain regions at least, the offsetting influence of this type of use is one of large proportions. Leaders in New Hampshire public life, for instance, see in it an important part of the solution of their idle land problems. It takes the form chiefly of establishment of summer homes, summer camps, resorts of various kinds and all the commercial and agricultural undertakings that derive benefit from them and from the people who use them.

Discussing the erection of country estates, a Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station bulletin calls attention to the fact that this gives "opportunity for many people to obtain employment by working on the improvements and taking care of summer homes and country residences. In addition, there is a profitable local market for the sale of farm produce."¹¹

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¹¹ Rozman, David, Recreational and forestry uses of land in Massachusetts. Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin No. 294.

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The Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station at Connecticut State College has made a survey of recreational uses of land in Connecticut, which discloses the following interesting facts:

The largest classification on the list of recreational property is that of summer residences with a total assessed valuation of $130,777,763. Summer homes and lots constitute 63.6 percent of the total land devoted to recreation in the State. Land used in this manner comprises one-eighth of the total land area of the State.

Eighty-two golf courses, covering 10,899 acres, have a land valuation of $4,000,000, with buildings on the grounds which have a valuation of $6,500,000.

Eighty-six hunting and fishing clubs cover 27,987 acres, and there are 50 yacht and beach clubs, covering 90 acres, with an assessed valuation of snore than $1,900,000.

The total assessed value of hand and buildings devoted to recreational purposes in Connecticut is $200,000,000.

State Parks and Other Recreation Areas.—No extensive studies of the economic effects of establishment of State parks have ever been made. An investigation of this subject, undertaken in connection with a small group of typical State parks, indicates certain fairly general economic consequences of their establishment. The general experience and observation of State park authorities tends to support the correctness of the findings that resulted from this limited investigation.

The increase in nearby land values, which is typical in the case of municipal or metropolitan parks, is reflected in varying degrees in connection with lands adjoining State parks, but in general a somewhat different set of factors is responsible for it. The increased desirability of adjoining lands for residential use is similar in the case of State parks and city parks, though this residential use is largely of the summer home type. Most of the effects on values are due to commercial opportunities which result from the use of the parks.

When park use increases, usually during the summer, employment in the parks increases, and the close-by resident very generally has an advantage in obtaining such seasonal employment.

Where parks are of sufficient size and attractiveness to draw an appreciable volume of more than 1-day use, so that the park visitors undertake preparation of meals in the park, there is a distinctly improved market for the products of nearby farms—eggs, butter, fresh fruits, vegetables, etc. Hotels and lunchrooms in the parks also use considerable quantities of such produce.

Park users are also; in many cases, good customers for rural handicraft products, particularly if they are typical of the region, such as Indian pottery and rugs, or Appalachian and Blue Ridge furniture, pottery, and woven articles.

State parks in a great number of cases supply desirable patronage for overnight accommodation on nearby farms or in nearby towns.

An economic result which is socially undesirable, but that has a greater or less effect on enhancement of real estate values, is the tendency of parasite commercial ventures to establish themselves as close to the park entrance as they can get. These include, of course, the outdoor advertisement, the gasoline station, the lunch counter—commonly referred to as the "hot-dog stand"—the dance hall, etc. Existence of the park contributes to them, in many cases, nearly all the value they possess; they, on the other hand, tend to depreciate the value of the park by crowding in on it with garish, architecturally ugly and heterogeneous structures. Control of such economic developments is asserted in various ways—by establishing areas of concentrated use as well inside the park or by providing parkway approaches on which complete public control of the roadside may be asserted; by zoning; by acquisition of easements limiting the use of hands within a certain distance of a park entrance.

The experience of State park authorities in obtaining extensions of existing parks is ample proof of increased values, actual or assumed. In scores of instances attempts to enlarge parks already open to public use have resulted, even where condemnation was resorted to, in payment of vastly higher prices than were paid for the earlier acquisitions—a situation which points to the wisdom, wherever possible, of acquiring parks whole, and where that is not possible, postponing development or encouragement of public use. Some of the increased costs mentioned above are due to increased land values, some to adverse developments, frequently of the parasite commercial class.

Local Economic Pressure.—A considerable number of mediocre parks, lacking in scenic distinction and of slight or purely local recreational value, have been admitted in to State park systems because of pressure from communities which feel that establishment of any sort of State park will result in local economic benefit. Such parks often impose on the States a burden which should properly be assumed locally. Acceptance of them tends to break down those standards which are the principal bulwark for maintenance of a high quality park system.

Defenses against this undesirable pressure are various. One essential is the existence of a park authority with sufficient understanding of the whole problem to set up wise standards of admission, to survey the natural recreational resources in the territory of its jurisdiction, and to select areas which are properly entitled to inclusion in the system. This needs to be combined with sufficient authority to preserve the integrity of the system as a whole, and a fixed policy of viewing each part of the problem from the viewpoint of the region, State, or Nation as a whole. It is particularly important that proposed gifts of parks be given earnest scrutiny to determine their quality and to ascertain whether they fit properly into a planned and well balanced system. Supporting and buttressing such a stand by the several park agencies should be a national plan in which each desirable area would occupy its proper place.

Returns in Form of Offsets to Certain Other Governmental Costs.—The part which active recreation plays in preventing juveniles from becoming criminals and in helping their reform has been recognized by sociologists.

A statement by Hon. George W. Wickersham, former chairman of the National Commission on Law Obedience and Enforcement, emphasizes the high value of recreation in reducing crime.

We can accomplish far more in the preventing than punishing crime. One hundred thousand dollars invested in a children's playground in one of our cities is far more remunerative than 1 million dollars expended its building a prison or reformatory.¹²

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¹² Wickersham, Hon. George W., Staying the Flow of Youth to Prison, New York Times Magazine, July 17, 1932.

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Dr. Neva R. Deardorff, Director of the Research Bureau of the New York City Welfare Council made a study of conditions in Brooklyn. Quoting from the New York Times on this study, "* * * the report concludes that one-fourth of all the boys in Brooklyn live in neighborhoods 'which give evidence of particularly adverse conditions of childhood', and states that Brooklyn is markedly underequipped with suitable social-recreational resources for its boys." Of the 87,000 boys living in districts with the highest juvenile delinquency rates, the report estimates that only 18,000 boys "are being reached in any degree by the organizations interested."

Randolph O. Huus in his investigations found that "more studies to show the effect of playgrounds and community centers on the extent of juvenile delinquency conclude that the existence of active play areas reduces the amount of juvenile delinquency in the neighborhoods investigated."¹³

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¹³ Huus, Randolph O., Financial Aspects of Municipal Recreation, from unpublished manuscript.

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The following statements are quoted from a pamphlet, Children's Play and Delinquency, published by the Playground and Recreation Association of America:¹⁴

Analysis of a neighborhood by District Attorney Charles Edwin Fox of Philadelphia, who covered the district for 5 years before and a like period after the establishment of playgrounds, led him to state: "I discovered the remarkable fact that in the 5 years of playground recreation, the neighborhood showed a 50 percent decrease in juvenile delinquency, as compared with the previous years"—January 27, 1927.

Dr. Charles Platt, President of the National Probation Association, states: "I am interested in the prevention of delinquency, and I am interested inn the salvaging of delinquents. I have given much study to these problems and, as a result of this study, I feel sure that the cultivation of healthful play is one of the first social duties. I know that juvenile delinquency in our large cities increases in direct ratio with the distance from a playground. I know that juvenile delinquency, as I have just been saying, is, in intention at least, but an expression of misdirected play, as I know that this play, when properly directed, prevents this delinquency. I know, too, that even after a child has fallen into crime, it is play that is most useful in recovering him."

"Looking over my records beginning January 2, 1924, I fail to find the name of a single boy brought into the juvenile court as a delinquent from my district who had been a regular attendant of the playground or social center, which is the winter playground for the boy. I know of no source which has helped me more in correcting delinquent boys than the playground, for it is during idle moments that the boy gets into trouble."—John W. Boinski, probation officer, juvenile court, Milwaukee, Wis. September 1 1926.

Henry B. Chamberlain, operating director of the Chicago Crime Commission, says, "In retracing the tortuous paths of the youthful criminal it is seldom found that the trail leads back to the playground, the diamond, the athletic field, or the community counter. In investigating crime with special reference to the work conducted by the Chicago Crime Commission, I have been impressed with the fact that a very large percentage of those apprehended have been strangers to the influence exerted by such activities as those mentioned. The young delinquent has, in the majority of instances, grown up in the atmosphere of the saloon, the poolroom, and similar hangouts."

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¹⁴ N. d. (c. 1928).

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Examples of this sort could be multiplied indefinitely. They dwell on the social benefits of recreation, but it is evident that from the standpoint of public expenditure there is an economic side to consider. Juvenile delinquency is a condition which has a definite relationship to costs of police service, of maintenance of courts, and of maintenance of reform schools and prisons. To quote again from Mr. Wickersham's article in the New York Times:

Children need wholesome outlets for their natural animal spirits. Youth is normally fond of adventure, delights in physical exercise and in taking risks. Deny the child innocent scope for these tendencies and it will find vent in criminal tendencies. Warden Lawes tells us that the records of Sing Sing show that 90 percent of the prisoners were never associated with any boy's club or any of the juvenile associations where boys learn how to spend their leisure in wholesome recreation.

"Educators and social workers know", Lawes says, "that juvenile delinquency gives way before supervised playgrounds and well-organized boys' and kindred organizations. And yet reliable authority has it that three out of every five children in our greatest cities are without adequate opportunity for whole-some play.

"What a terrible indictment that is of our society and its government. We spend millions of dollars on police and courts and prisons, and yet we do not see that our children have adequate playgrounds where they can work off their natural spirits in wholesome sport and keep away from the influences that bring them in later years to occupy the time and attention of the police and the courts and to fill our prisons."

Mr. Wickersham advocates local governmental responsibility for adequate playgrounds and athletic equipment to be furnished for all the boys and girls of the community under competent guidance. He further says that boys and girls should be encouraged to join the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts.

Warden Lawes in his recent book, Twenty Thousand Years in Sing Sing states:

In the last analysis if there is to be any permanent diminution of crime we have to look to our adolescents * * *. A well known educator promised a decade ago that with the opening of every school he would close a jail. His promise has not been fulfilled. He did not appreciate the importance of regulated and well-supervised leisure. He did not appreciate the fallacy of an education that taught the child to read, but neglected the opportunity to teach him to work or even to play.

It is a well-established fact that supervised recreation in congested areas makes for crime prevention.

How much the provision for adequate recreational facilities and qualified leadership—equally necessary in connection with the recreation of children and adolescents—serves to cut down the cost of police courts, and prisons it is impossible to estimate, but it appears safe to assume, on the basis of examples quoted, that it is very considerable. That saving, plus the saving in doctor and hospital bills and maintenance of insane asylums, due to the better physical and mental health resulting from a sufficiency of the right kind of recreation, combines with other factors to give a very great degree of economic justification to wise programs of recreation.

Private Enterprise in the Field of Outdoor Recreation.—It is, of course, recognized that a very large volume of private commercial enterprise exists wholly or partly to serve recreational demands. Of the total of more than $10,000,000,000¹⁵ which was estimated to have been the annual recreation bill of the people of the United States just previous to the depression, all of that expenditure except the $205,347,000¹⁶ estimated as governmental expenditure—Federal, State, and local—passed directly from the hands of the recreation user into the hands of private enterprise.

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¹⁵ President's Research Committee on Social Trends, op. cit., p. 949.

¹⁶ Editor's note: Computed from tabulations contained in: Financial Statistics of States, 1939; Financial Statistics of Cities, 1930; County Parks, Playgrounds, and Recreation Associations of America; Report of the Secretary of the Interior 1933, p. 201; Report of the Forester, U. S. Forest Service, 1931.

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It should not be overlooked, however, that the public provision of recreational facilities was and is a large factor in the promotion of commercial recreational enterprise. The motor traveler, drawn from his home to visit a State park, for example, buys gasoline and oil from a private corporation, and buys his meals from a private purveyor along the way. He may spend his money at a hotel or a motor camp or a tourist home for overnight accommodation on the way. The very existence and accessibility of public places of recreation were doubtless factors in his original decision to have an automobile, and therefore a part of the first cost of the automobile is, in reality, an expenditure for recreation.

The American Automobile Association estimates that almost $4,000,000,000 was spent in motor camping and vacation travel in the United States during the year 1929. It does not seem unreasonable to assume that one-quarter of the vacation motor travel is through forested country, and this would mean that annual forest vacation motor expenditures amounted to about $1,000,000,000.

The Special Senate Committee on Conservation of Wild Life Resources calculates that in 1929 hunters and fishermen spent $650,000,000 in addition to transportation expenses. It would be conservative to estimate that at least three-quarters of this enormous sum was spent on forest hunting or fishing, which would mean that this form of forest recreation accounts for an annual outlay of approximately half a billion dollars.

No national figures are available for the amount of money spent each year on summer homes, hotel and resort accommodations (other than those paid for by automobile tourists), hiking equipment, or the outfits required f or wilderness journeys. These expenditures would unquestionably run half as high as those for hunting and fishing. Consequently, the following would seem to be a reasonable, although admittedly a very rough estimate of the amount of money spent on forest recreation during the peak recreation year of 1929:

Forest vacation motor travel	$1,000,000,000
Hunting and fishing	500,000,000
Summer homes, resorts, hiking, wilderness journeys	250,000,000
Total	1,750,000,00017

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¹⁷ Robert Marshall, The People's Forests, Harrison Smith and Robert Hass, New York, 1933, 233 pp. (See pp. 65—57.)

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Phillips and Lincoln give some indication of the extent to which private enterprise is stimulated by the existence of duck clubs alone.

It would be extremely interesting and instructive if we could get some idea of the total amount of investment in wild-fowling equipment the whole country over. Take, for example, the two-thousand-odd duck clubs in the United States. Many of these own a couple of gasoline boats, 10 or 15 duckboats for use in going to the blinds, sails for the same, and perhaps a few retriever dogs.

All clubs certainly have several sets of wooden decoy rigs and a number of boxes, either of wood or cement, which have to be kept in repair, moved from time to time, or reset. There may be a horse or two used to keep the ponds baited and to transport a big rig of live decoys, and probably nowadays a motor truck. Some clubs keep large teams of live goose decoys, which must be fed every day of the year and if possible increased by breeding while most of them have a flock of life ducks. We have not mentioned the investment in land nor in living quarters, which last may consist of a small hut or a commodious dwelling with all modern conveniences.

Those clubs which depend on water transport often own an elaborate cruiser boat where the members can eat and sleep. The investment in equipment of clubs must run from two to three hundred dollars at the lowest to twenty-five of fifty thousand at the other end of the scale. If we take $3,000 as a low average, we arrive at a rough figure of 6 million dollars for the sporting equipment of our clubs alone, exclusive of all the real estate.

But do not forget the individual duck shooter who has a very considerable investment himself. He owns a set of warm clothing at the least, plus waterproof outer garments, one or more pairs of rubber boots, a few live and wooden decoys, and a canoe or skiff, besides his guns and his shells. Put him down at $100 per man and we get an investment of $100,000,000 to $200,000,000 in sporting equipment, according to the number of duck shooters which we may estimate in all these United States.¹⁸

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¹⁸ Phillips, John C., and Lincoln, Frederick C., 1930, op. cit., pp. 261—262.

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Among the various types of active recreation privately financed, golf holds an important place. In 1931 the total membership of the 3,961 private golf clubs listed by the Golfer's Year Book was estimated at 800,000. In that year the estimated value of private golf club properties was $765,000,000.

Existence of publicly owned golf courses, tennis courts, baseball diamonds, etc., is directly responsible for the large investment in clothing and equipment needed by those who use them, and who would otherwise be unable to indulge in these sports.

A very large volume of privately conducted commercial enterprise is found actually within the public forests and parks themselves, where hotels, lunchrooms, and stores have been established either with public or private funds and are operated under concession or franchise contract.

Recent studies by the Forest Service show that there are within and near the national forests more than 5,000 farms and ranches primarily operated for recreational purposes, including hunting and fishing. The 1929 report of the Dude Ranchers' Association, an organization composed of ranches in Montana and Wyoming, whose business is based on recreation, shows 51 ranches with property value at 6-1/4 million dollars, and annual receipts of nearly a million and a half dollars.

The spending of funds (brought from remote regions) within regions contiguous to forests, parks, and other recreation areas, creates local markets for goods and services; tends to expansion of local business interests; and brings about changes in local community life. In passing from local hands, these funds contribute again to an industrial demand by the local residents for the products of remote manufacturing regions.

One measure of the importance of recreation values is the annual income derived from vacationists. Wisconsin reports a figure of $70,000,000 income from tourists.¹⁹ A study by the Development Commission of the State of Maine made in December 1932, indicates that vacationists spent $85,684,741 in Maine in 1930. The New Hampshire Foundation, cooperating with the State development commission, gives $75,000,000 as New Hampshire's income from tourists. New England's vacationist income is undoubtedly large and is important not only because of its amount but because it is expended in all parts of the various communities.

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¹⁹ Bulletin No. 422, Agriculture Experiment Station, University of Wisconsin, 1932.

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New England offers numerous concrete examples not only of the economic value of outdoor recreation but of the shift in use of lands pointing to possible similar changes in other regions. In that section many acres of land formerly useful for agriculture and timber are now used solely for recreation. Certain towns have passed through a cycle. Beginning with a stratum of industrial employment and prosperous farming, they passed through a severe decline in all of these to a point once more of increasing population, a higher standard of living, increased income, and higher assessed land values resulting from the vacationist's demand for goods and services. In these instances, the recreational industry appears to have more than replaced agriculture and manufacture.

Private enterprise in the field of recreation is shown in Table V taken from data gathered by the New England Council, Boston.²⁰

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²⁰ Recreational Land Uses in New England, L.W. Chidester, Journal Land and Public Utility Economics, May 1934.

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Massachusetts reports that on 50 farms sold (1925—30) values rose 88.1 percent, their present use being for recreational and residential purposes.²¹

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²¹ Massachusetts Experiment Station Bulletin No. 294, 2923.

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¹ Given by the Maine Development Commission.

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Analysis by the Maine Development Commission of the distribution of vacationist expenditures in Maine shows that hotels and sporting camps receive 16 percent of the total, garages and filling stations 9 percent, and overnight camps, rooms, and eating places 7 percent.

The distribution of tourist expenditures among local business interests is shown in the following table:

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¹ From Maine Development Commission Survey, 1932.

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