When Can Forest Recreation Be Considered as Exclusive or Dominant?

Abstract A discussion of the conditions under which recreation represents an exclusive or dominant use of forest lands need no longer be considered academic. Recreation as a full-fledged use can now be said to have attained mature stature along with the management of forest lands for timber, water, forage, and wildlife. On a national scale, this change has occurred most swiftly and pronouncedly during the past quarter century. It reflects the highly significant shifts which have come about in our culture with respect to such readily measurable factors as increased leisure time, greater mobility, larger spendable income, more people, longer life, and more activity among older persons. To these factors we may add a growing consciousness of the value of rural escape from the stresses of harried urban existence.