The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1941-09-04
By WILLIAM B. CRANE
In The Baltimore Sunday Sun

Where can Marylanders-and Bal
timoreans in particular, since they
comprise nearly half of the States
population of 1921, 244-go when
they want to play?
That question and others pertinent
to it during the last two years has
taken up a great deal of the time of
certain State officials. They are the
I members of the Maryland State Plan
ming Commission, group authorized
by the Assembly in 1888. The planning
group has delved deeply into the
financial, economic and social prob
lens facing the State and has come up
with a number of reports and recon-
mendations; but it is probable that
the one which will most interest the
man in the street comes within the
last of the three categories. 1t deals
with recreational facilities in Mary
land.
To the average head of a family,
who has his own financial and eco
nomic problems, those confronting
the State mean little; but that same
struggling parent, when the family on
| Sunday morning votes for picnic,
will appreciate the work which the
planning body is doing in his behalf
Their study has dealt entirely with
the question of where to go to play
to picnic, camp, hike, fish, hunt and
all the other things men, women and
children do when they have time to
relax. And the study has brought out
some interesting and in some cases
deplorable-facts.
For instance the Chesapeake Bay,
one of the greatest bodies Of inland
water in the world, has with it's trib-
utaries) $500 miles of water front.
And out of those $500 miles only
three lat Elk Neck) are State-owned
and equipped for public bathing.
/ There are, as everyone knows, hun
dreds of miles of privately owned
beaches to which families or individ-
uals can go for their Sunday swims-
at price. Many of these, however,
have restrictions which keep one or
another class Of the population away.
Frequently their charges are high-all
are likely higher than those at a pub
licly owned beach would be- And the
planning commission considers the
Chesapeake Bay area the States
greatest recreational asset.
The study found that there was a
shortage of well-developed State parks
and a need for non-urban recreational
centers in the vicinity of Baltimore
and in rural areas; insufficient recre-
ational areas for Negroes and a need
.,foF hunting areas, owned and stocked
by the State.
cat least $4,000 acres of additional
/ recreational areas should be ac-
quired by the State for new parks and
recreational reserves, especially along
/ the seashore and the Chesapeake Bay
and its estuaries and in the vicinity
of Baltimore, as we'll as for extern
sions Of existing areas. These should
be obtained during the next few years
to obviate possible excessive cost as a
result of further private develop
ment," the commission recommended.
1t quoted the slogan set up by the Mil
waukee Department of Education
During working hours man makes a
iving-during hours of leisure he
makes a life"
Have 10000 Acres
The facts of the recreational area
situation in Maryland as it stands to-
day are simple. The Department of
State Forestry and Parks administers
nine State forests and six State parks,
comprising some 10000 acres in eleven
different counties. In addition, it has
under ninety -nine-year lease approx
imately $4,000 acres of land considered
useless for farming purposes which
was acquired by the Federal Govern
ment a number Of years ago. A State
forest is primarily for the develop
ment of the forests themselves, al
though it is used for recreational pur-
poses. A park is completely recrea-
tional. On the fifteen State-owned
areas the department is trying to de-
velop facilities for those who like to
get out into the open. Its officials
point out that the last funds provided
them by the Legislature for acquisi-
ton of land and equipment came two
years ago, a bond issue of 100000.
Of. this they have spent some $4,000
three-quarters of it for land.
That the department is making
some progress in its development
work is attested to by the fact that
536,417 persons visited the several
areas during 1910, an increase OF
1888 over the number using them
the previous year (these figures are
the department's). But the great ma.
jority of the visitors were persons
who entered, casually explored noun.
tainsides, took off their shoes anC
stockings to paddle in the water OF
: who picked out nice spot for lunch
These things are, of course, the pri.