The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1915-02-25
RESERVE FOR RECREATION.
Permits Will BE Given to Build
Camp and Cottages.

their aggregate area of lSl.0OO.000
acres a vast camping and recreation
ground for the people is one Of the
ambitions of Henry S. Graves, chief
forester. says the New York Sun. AL
ready hundreds of canyons and lake
shores are dotted with camps and
cottages built on sites obtained
through permits of the forest SER
vice
The combined area of the ma
tional forests equals that of Chile
and is nearly half as big as Germany.
While most of the forests are in the
Pacific coast and Rocky Mountain
States, with several million acres in
Alaska, there are acres in various
other States. All types of Ameri-
can 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 northern
Rockies, desert lands in the South
west, the fiat lake region of Mime
sofa. semi-tropical swamps of Florl-
da, Ozark Highlands, Southern Ap-
palachians and North Woods of New
England.
Special provision is made by the
forest officials and rangers for enab-
ling pleasure seekers to get the full
worth of their holiday. Four-fifths
of the people in the national forests
during the last fiscal year were pleas
ure seekers, numbering over 1,5OO,-
600. But they were not a drop in
the bucket compared with the num-
Der 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. OBJ
serve reasonable caution to prevent
fires. Those who want particular
spot for a camp are required to pay
a nominal sum for permit. This
enables the forest officer in charge
to keep track of them. Forest rang
ers are under special instructions to
assist the tourists and campers in
every reasonable way. They can al
ways be depended upon to advise the
traveller how best to reach his desti-
nation 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 "sight-seeing" in the ma
tional forests may be had for the
taking. At certain of the ranger
stations interesting collections of
plant and tree specimens are on exhi-
bition. 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 animals.
Many lines of activity are constant
ly carried on in the national forests,
but they do not in any way inter-
fere with their use as national rec
reation ground. Lumbering does not
leave such scars on the mountains
as usually occur where private tim
Der lands are being logged. The
slash and debris of the logging op-
Grafton is cleaned up as the work
proceeds, and later is burned or
otherwise disposed of. This reduces
the fire hazard, prepares the ground
for the reproduction Of new forest
crop and at the same time makes the
area more accessible and less un-
slightly.
One of the great recreation at
fractions of the national forests is
hunting and fishing, and numerous
camps are maintained for this pur-
pose. 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 work
ers, the trails and other permanent
Improvement in the national forests.
and the tyro will find the forest OF
ficers ever ready to instruct him in
the necessary camp and wood lore.