Outdoor Recreation

Report Outline
Need to Expand Recreation Resources
Resources for Outdoor Recreation Today
Difficulty of Expanding Recreation Areas

Need to Expand Recreation Resources

Broadly Based Interest in Adding to Facilities

President kennedy and former President Eisenhower, Republican as well as Democratic members of Congress, and millions of individual citizens have shown a common interest in plans to provide adequate outdoor recreation facilities for the American people. Although existing national and state parks cover a vast acreage, it is the general belief that they are not sufficient to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population with an increasing amount of leisure time and the means to devote a substantial part of it to recreational pursuits.

Gathering pressure for expansion of park lands and of facilities for outdoor recreation was given fresh impetus last winter when the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission, created by Congress in 1958 on the recommendation of President Eisenhower, submitted a comprehensive report with numerous recommendations for federal and state action. New emphasis will be put on the question at a White House conference on conservation, May 24–25, which is expected to pay special attention to problems of outdoor recreation.

Meanwhile, a House subcommittee is taking testimony on the so-called wilderness bill, and measures are pending for creation of several new national recreation areas. Most urgently sought at present is the setting aside of large stretches of undeveloped woodland, waterfront, prairie and other areas of scenic beauty or historic significance before they are run over by bulldozers or before rising land values bar their acquisition for recreational use.