Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-08-01
RECREATION land
FOR THE CAMPERS
Chief Forester Graves Invites
Everybody to National
Forests.

To make the national forests, with
their aggregate area of 1S7000,00C
acres, vast camping and recreation
ground for the people is one of the
ambitions of Henry S. Graves. chief
forester of Washington. Already
hundreds of canyons and lake shores
are dotted with camps and cottages
built on sites obtained through per-
mits of the forest service.
The combined area of the national
forests equals that of Chile and is
nearly half as big again as Germany.
! While most of the forests are in the
Pacific coast and Rocky Mountain
States, with several million acres in
! Alaska there are areas In various
other States. All types of American
scenery are included in these forests
Of the people. The forests embody the
! Cascades and Sierras of the Pacific
coast. snow capped peaks in Alaska,
rugged wild sections of the central
! and nothern Rockies, desert lands in
the Southwest the fiat lake region
of Minnesota, semi tropical swamps
of Florida, Ozark highlands, Southern
Appalachians and North Woods of
New England
| Special provision is made by the
| forest officials and rangers for en-
abling pleasure-seekers to get the
l,full worth of their holiday Four
ffths of the people in the national
forests during the last fiscal year
were pleasure seekers, numbering
over 100000 But they were not a
drop in the bucket compared with
the number that could be taken care
| of
Those who do not care to camp and
settle down in one spot may travel
| from place to place without let or
hindrance so long as they observe
reasonable caution to prevent fires.
| Those who want a particular spot
| for a camp are required to pay a
nominal sum for a permit. This en-
ables the forest officer in charge to
| keep track of them Forest rangers
are under instructions to assist the
tourists and campers in every rea-
sonable way. They can always be
| depended upon to advise the travel
er how best to reach his destina-
ton or to direct him to places or
| trips of special attractiveness, to aid
| him in an emergency, to procure a
physician for him if needed, or to
| give him a neighborly lift.
Straight sightseeing" in the ma
| tional forests may be had for the talk
ing. At certain of the ranger sta
| tions interesting collections of plant
and tree specimens are on exhibition.
| Special attention is paid to poisonous
| forage plants, which are a menace to
| the stockman's grazing cattle or
sheep and to the campers pack ami
mails.
| Many lines of activity are constant
| ly carried on in the national forests.
| but they do not in any way interfere
with their use as a national recrea-
ton ground. LAUNDERING does not
leave such scars left on the noun
tains as usually occur where private
| timber lands are being logged. The
slash and debris of the logging
operation is cleaned up as the work
proceeds, and later is burned or other
wise disposed of. This reduces the
| fire hazard. prepares the ground for
| the reproduction of a new forest crop
and at the same time makes the area
more accessible and less unsightly.
One of the great recreation attrac-
tions of. the national forests is hunt
ing and fishing, and numerous camps
are maintained for this purpose. The
fish and game laws of the particular
State in which a forest is located
govern the use of the forest for these
purposes. Many of the streams,
which are very numerous, are kept
stocked by the Bureau of Fisheries.
The spare time of the rangers is
spent in building with other workers,
the trails and other permanent I'M
provements in the national forests,
and the tyro Will find the forest Off
GERS ever ready to instruct him in the
necessary camp and wood lore.