SERVICE BULLETIN 
 
welfare of your industry and I regard Colonel 
Greeley's work with you as an admirable ex- 
tension of his work for many years in the De- 
partment of Agriculture. I wish for Colonel 
Greeley and your association all success in 
this very significant and important under- 
taking." 
THE PLACE OF WILDERNESS AREAS IN OUR NATIONAL 
LIFE 
By L. F. Kneipp, Washington 
The National Forests contain the last 
frontiers of the United States. Within their 
limits exist many areas still in much the 
same state as when the first waves of settle- 
ment extended into the West. They embrace 
many of the mountain ranges and peaks that in 
the early days served not only as landmarks 
to the pioneers but as spiritual symbols of 
a new world and a new life; which reflected 
and expressed all the moods of nature with 
which man must struggle for his material and 
spiritual advancement. For these reasons the 
pioneers and their descendants have regarded 
these rugged peaks and wild areas with a well- 
nigh religious veneration. 
We are now conquering and subduing 
these wild areas by motor highways, by mechan- 
ical modes of transportation, and by the con- 
gregation of great numbers of people who will 
bring with them all the social and mechanical 
devices developed by civilization. In so do- 
ing, we destroy in large degree the attributes 
which make these areas unique of their kind 
and cause them to command the love and vener- 
ation of men. The question as to how far the 
extension of this process is socially br econ- 
omically wise is now up for decision. 
As they now exist, these afeas can be 
visited and enjoyed only through the exercise 
of individual initiative and effort, of qual- 
ities of skill, hardihood, and endurance. In 
this fact rests largely their capacity to in- 
spire human thought by their solitude, by 
their manifestations of unmodified nature, and 
by the sense of individual accomplishment. As 
they exist they meet, in a singularly peculiar 
 
and effective way, the challenge of modern 
life to traditions and characteristics that 
have endured since the days of colonial set- 
tlement. Should some of them be preserved, 
or shall they all be reduced to a common level 
with the other scenic areas in which the pro- 
cess of modernization has been carried to its 
logical conclusion? 
There is no off-hand answer to this 
query. The predominant public demand is for 
the modernization of its outdoor playgrounds. 
The great majority of recreation seekers lack 
the qualities requisite to the thorough en- 
joyment of unmodified nature. To this class 
the existence of highways and other means of 
transportation, and of a wide array of util- 
ities, conveniences, and supplemental means 
of entertainment is necessary for recreation. 
The great majority of outdoor recreationists 
will seek the areas with the greatest number 
of high speed highways, modern resorts, im- 
proved campgrounds, etc., and will shun areas 
purposely retained in an unimproved condition. 
On the other hand, there is a numeri- 
cally large and growing element of our popula- 
tion of which exactly the reverse is true. 
They do not ask from nature the pleasures and 
conditions typical of modern life, but seek 
rather pleasures and conditions that nature 
alone can provide. Their desire is not for 
high-speed movement over wide territories, but 
rather for the opportunity to contemplate the 
workings of nature in leisurely and undisturbed 
ways and to pit their strength and skill a- 
gainst the obstacles of nature. To this class, 
modernization of wild areas is destructive of 
the charm and attractiveness originally pos- 
sessed and deprives them of the chief essen- 
tials of outdoor recreation. 
It cannot be contended that the de- 
sires of this numerically smaller class should 
deprive the great mass of people of the forms 
of outdoor recreation most desired by them 
and best adapted to their needs.   But, as a 
matter of fact, there can be no such result 
because by far the greater part of the areas 
adapted to outdoor recreation has been made 
thoroughly accessible to motorized travel and 
supplied with all the facilities requisite to 
the popular forms of outdoor recreation. 
 
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