U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE • F08EST SEMti-BECEM&ER 1963

lit A mif/'N *.T A T 'T'^f~\ T7>ffT*NATIONAL FORES I

DEVELOPMENT

OPPORTUNITY

U.S. Dspartnisnt of Agriculture

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction. . , , , , . , , . I

Concept and policy . , 3

Development potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Proposed program 7

Contrast with forest development roads , 9

Program implementation 10

Appendix

Table I. Summary of development potential by States 13

Table 2, Regional summary of development potential . . . . . . . . 13

Table 3. Summary of 10-year program by States M

Table 4. Regional summary of 10-year program 15

Table 5. List of potential National Forest Recreation Ways . . . . 15

National Forest Recreation Ways

INTRODUCTION

Traditionally, the country's highway systemshave been developed to meet the needs of in-dustry, agriculture, commerce, and nationaldefense. More recently the need for utilizingthe fullest potentials of our highway systemsto meet the public demand for outdoor recrea-tion has become recognized as has the needfor positive action to meet this demand,

Billions of dollars are being spent annuallyon highways for the driver in a hurry and tospeed the goods of commerce throughout theNation, But driving on a modern superhighwaydoes not provide much rest, relaxation, orrecreation. Nevertheless, the Outdoor Recrea-tion Resources Review Commission determinedthat "driving for pleasure is the most popularoutdoor recreation activity in terms of num-bers participating and time devoted to it," andthat very little is being spent to develop op-portunities for recreation driving.

Because of pressures being exerted by thepopulation explosion, shorter work week, longerpaid vacations, rising family incomes, and thegreater mobility of the American people, thissituation is bound to change. Recreation roadsarc going to be demanded.

Not only are roads vital in providing themeans of reaching outdoor recreation destina-tions but also, as parkway-type or scenic roads,they can be recreation destinations or experi-ences in themselves.

Development of parkway-type roads is nota new Forest Service venture. The work of thelate Senator Chavez and others has pointed theway in developing scenic highways. Congressindicated its strong interest in meeting theneed for recreational driving when it appro-priated fun^s for the Highland Scenic Driveon the Monongahela National Forest in West

Virginia. Additional Congressional, State, andlocal interest is evident in the developmentof the TelHco-RobbinsvUle Scenic Drive inTennessee and North Carolina, the Arkansas-Oklahoma Skyline Drive, and the Richard RussellScenic Highway in Georgia. These roads arelocated in part within National Forests. Duringthe first session of the 88th Congress, 43 billshave already been introduced on behalf of 11specific scenic highways, almost all of whichwould affect the National Forests.

There can be no doubt; A large share of theNation's best opportunities for scenic highwaydevelopment are in the National Forests. Thecharacter and significance of the potentialNational Forest contribution in meeting thepublic demand for recreation driving oppor-tunities will be apparent throughout this report.

A National Forest Recreation Way will bemore than a high-quality ribbon of asphaltwinding through spectacular scenery; it willbe an elongated zone of recreation opportunity.Carefully regulated nonrecrcational use willbe permitted wherever appropriate. N'ondrivingrecreation activities such as hunting, fishing,hiking, and bicycling will be encouraged alongthe Way.

The National Forest Recreation Way studywas presented to the Secretary of Agricultureand, in addition to the above, the followingpoints were established as Departmental policy.These Recreation Ways will:

(1) be coordinated with pertinent recom-mendations of the President's Recrea-tion Advisory Council;

(2) include top-quality facilities such aspicnic and camp areas, overlooks, in-formation centers, and rest areas estab-lished to add to the enjoyment of the route;

foe distinctly different from Forest De- stin a

heavy recreation ^se of suchHitles, as roads as the Kanka.maygus Highway on the

onandmalnte- White Mountain National Forest in New

Wyoming li-the public

boundaries, except in unusual situations fine the development opportunity on the Na-

Concept and Policy

In response to the findings of che QRHR.Creport and the interest of the President's Rec-reation Advisory Council, the Forest Servicecompleted a study of the overall opportunitiesfor developing National Forest RecreationWays—a proposed system of safe, esthetic ally

attractive, limited-access routes Through areasof outstanding scenic quality in the NationalForests,

Within the framework of the Nfultiple Use-Sustained Yield Act of I960, and under the ad-ministration and jurisdiction of iht= Forest

F - 5 Q 5 7 6 7

The proposed Santa Lucia Recreation Way on the Los Padres National Forest in California will providemotorists with spectacular v iews of pastoral rolling hills and breathtaking seascapes.

Service, Recreation Ways will be developedadministered as integral parts of the NationalForests within which they are located.

As pointed out earlier, Recreation Ways willnot bo exclusively reserved for recreationists.Under the multiple use concept, it is bothpossible and logical to provide for certainother uses of these roads through carefulplanning and control.

By carefully controlled commercial use whenrecreation traffic is at a low ebb or nonexistent,

forest products may be transported to mills. Arancher may benefit by having better access tohis livestock or a commercial packer may usethe road to get his riding and pac&animals imothe high country to service wilderness travelersand hunting parties, Firefighters and equipmentmay be moved to high country fires morerapidly and with greater safety. Also, a betterdistribution of hunters and other recreationistswill result, thus helping to spread out the heavyconcentrations of Notional Forest visitors.

Recreation Ways will serve many useful purposes, including the speedy transfer of firefighter:ment to high country when they are needed.

F -455383me! equip-

use management

Figure 1,—Distribution of totoi proposed N<

were developed to assist the Recreation

locations. Sceitfc beauty was the most important provide convenient access and to createcriterion in Identifying these locations. Other favorable

on a habarriers, and portals designed

to enhance die esthetic quality

C o u f t e * y of Man l *y P ho toy roph»r >, Tuc ion , A r i i ,

interesting information panels combined with sweeping panoramic v iews make this scenic overlook on the

Coronado Notional Forest in Arizona a choice stop for forest v is i tors.

There are 30 potential locations in the PacificCoast States, 88 in the imermountain States,11 in the North Central States, 26 in the Mid-western States, and 21 in the Eastern States.

In addition, four locationsarein Alaska (fig.2).These 180 potential locations aggregate

8,208 miles. This is the equivalent of about

one 46-mile project per million acres of Na-tional Forest land—-and per million Ameri-cans. About 70 percent of the total mileageis in National Forests west of the GreatPlains. The regional distribution of thesepotential Recreation Ways is shown in theappendix.

03 SB

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081

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Figure 3.--Tentative 10-year development program (41 projects in 29 States),

Area

Eastern StatesWestern StatesAlaska

Total

Potential locations(number)

1723

41

Total length Average length Estimated cost(miles) (miles) {millions)

504724

The estimated development cost of the nearly2,000 miles in the 10-year program would aver-age about 58 million dollars annually, at anaverage cost per mile of approximately $300,000.This cost includes construction, land acquisi-tion and rights-of-way, overlooks, visitor infor-mation centers, camp and picnic areas, andrelated roadside treatment needed to maintainesthetic quality,

A sample prospectus for each of a few repre-sentative Recreation Ways was prepared by

each of the Regions. The prospectus coveredthe detailed location on maps and aerial photo-graphs, mile by mile, including the specificlocations of possible overlooks, visitor infor-mation centers,, and camp and picnic areas.Photographs highlighting the special featuresof the Way were also included. Additional in-formation was supplied to show landownershippattern, construction schedule and costs,volume of use, special administrative problems,and other features.

The relationship between theNational Forest Recreation Waysstrueticn scheduled in the Nationalgram should be clearly uiiders

have

Carson National Forest inaccessible to io tens i f i

Mgw K^exico serves toF. 497505

e all forest re-

National Forest Recreation Ways, on theother hand, will be designed, engineered, andused primarily as outstanding scenic drivingfacilities. In the cases where Recreation Wayswill be built on locations originally scheduledfor road development in the National ForestDevelopment Program, there will be somesavings. However, many excellent locationsfor Recreation Ways have low priority for

development as access routes and are noreven scheduled for construction in the next10 or 15 years.

Even a substantial portion of the^OOO milesin the tentative 10-year Recreation Way pro-gram would be only a small traction of the46,000 miles of multiple-use roads scheduledin the National Forest Development Programto be constructed before 1973.

Program Implementation

Obviously, the National Forest System con-tains a major portion of the Nation's totalscenic resources. The ForestService is workingwith the Recreation Advisory Council Staff todetermine how the program for National ForestRecreation Ways can best fit in with a nationalprogram. Many questions have yet to be answeredand additional studies may be necessary beforethe Recreation Advisory Council is ready torecommend its national program. In particular,funding arrangements for such developmentprograms need to be carefully considered.

The Forest Service and the Department havetaken the position that construction of NationalForest Recreation Ways should he financed

separately from other road development pro-grams on the National Forests.

The Forest Service has an excellent oppor-tunity to move ahead with a program thatwill meet a growing need of the Americanpeople. In addition to fulfilling the recreationdriving demand, National Forest RecreationWays would help stimulate the economy ofmany rural areas. Almost two-thirds of the180 proposed locations pass through countieshaving chronic economic difficulties.

There is no doubt that a wide range of sig-nificant benefits will result from the de-velopment of National Forest RecreationWays.

10

T ft M "U ,-?i vi ix si* a,

Table I,—State summary of potential Narlonal Forest Recto; Ways

State

AlabamaArkansasFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisKentuckyMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriNew HampshireNorth CarolinaPennsylvaniaTennessee\ ji y m /MT rV c.

VirginiaWest VirginiaWisconsin

East

Potentiallocations

Number

I!()

1* 5

2

2249s2

* 21

* 1•L

* 4* i1

2

551 , i

Totallength

Miles

82480

551311648978

194221184389163417n'U

28 4is•to

88

2,410

Averagelength

Miles

3249

552882453048253719466341Tfi(U

71•4o

44

44

St ] Potentiallocations

Number

Arizona 14CaliforniaColoradoIdahoMontana

! NebraskaNevadaNew MexicoNorth DakotaOregonSouth DakotaUtahWashingtonWyoming

West

Alaska

Total

1814

* 17* 12

1I

i l16i

12* 6

/

121

4

180

Totallength

Miles

656571698

1,078628

2730

45060

2502.1

607250366

5,701

97

8,208

Averagelength

Miles

4732506352273041604321514252

47

24

46

"Includes project partly located in another State.

Table 2,—Regional summary of potential NationalForest Recreation Ways

Forest ServiceRegion

i23456789

10

Total

Potentiallocations

Number

191925311710112915

4

180

Totallength

Miles

1,088880

1,1061,679

529419592

1,110708

07

8,208

Averagelength

Miles

574644543142543847

24

46

13

Table 3,—State summary of potenrial National Forest Recreation Ways in 10-year program

State

AlabamaArkansasFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisKentuckyMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriNew HampshireNorth CarolinaPennsylvaniaTennesseeVermontVirginiaWisconsin

East

ArizonaCaliforniaColoradoIdahoMontanaNew MexicoOregonSouth DakotaUtahWashingtonWyoming

West

Alaska

Total

Forest ServiceRegion

88889799897878779

-

34&5

2I&4

1362462

-

1C

-

Potentiallocation

Number

111111111II111Ii1

17

22332221222

23

1

41

Totallength

Miles

82255540

10069283520332870634170C £DO

28

851

95no13116290876121

1708184

1,092

24

Estimated* cost1

S Million

24.67.5

16.512.030,020.78.4

10.58.79.98.4

21.01S.912.321.016.58.4

255.3

26.145.136.044.524.823.916.85.8

46.722.323.1

315.1

12.5

1,967 | 582.9

Actual cost estimates for the single projects in Regions 5 and 10; ?2~5,000/mile used for allother Western Regions; $3QO,GQO/mile used for all Eastern Regions.

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5*"—List of potential N&tion&l Forest R&crMtion

5-25-3

5-6

5»85»95-10^- i}fc»"" A A

*2-2

El Camino DeSanta Lucia

Sierra Way Western Divide

i \ 'O*v** r^fp^' fi vJ V-tS K*" \.J i, C-L^il V

I

5-14 Sierra Way, Parr I!

65

55

57

ASTERN STATES—Continued

.31

*]-'A,"**

1-151-161-18

4-

*3~

Logan Canyon.Paris Canyon-Custer Lost

Eight Mile Greek-Canyon

Caribou City

ntnjrp R RotifpHV*J> U 'J 1 V V J W l-v.'

26

27

31

Table 5,—List of potential National Forest Recreation Ways-*-Conttnued

4ew Mexico--

Utah

Washington

3-14

6-76-9

*4—1

4-234-244*2?

Santa FeMagt

17 1 Gila

Hell's CanyonSalmon- Wildcat

Wasatch Front

Monte Cristo-LoganMt« Logan

T I F T* <** T F"* rv \ f "FR t T* 7"* -fWESTERN STATES—

"2-5 Paint Rock-

8-12

Glacier ViewRussian Lake

5-22 Val

•5 Big S

4544 Hale

Cumberland River

5232

26352123

Mississippi

EASTERN STATES—Continued

*9-3

9-14

TwnJ. wu

Current RiverPoint

41

Virginia

West Virginia

7-67-7

7-0

West Rim

Williams River

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