A Study of the Park and Recreation Problem of the United States

Cover

Contents

Foreword

Supplemental Foreword

Introduction

Recreational Habits and Needs

Aspects of Recreational Planning

Present Public Outdoor Recreational Facilities

Administration

Financing

Legislation

A Park and Recreational Land Plan

A Study of the Park and Recreation Problem of the United States

ORGANIZATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF USE

This section has been written with the realization that there are many enthusiastic park supporters who react with varying degrees of alarm when the words "organization" and "leadership" are mentioned. To many these words conjure up visions of regimentation. They fear that the ideas represented will seriously interfere with the fine informal types of recreation that natural parks have been established to furnish. Such is not the intent. The difficulty arises from the different connotations these words have for different people. That some organization and leadership exists in all forms of outdoor recreation is a fact which cannot be overlooked in any discussion which deals broadly with the subject of recreational planning. For this reason, a careful effort has been made to define and explain what is meant when these words are used.

Types of Participation. Participation in recreation may be individual and spontaneous or it may involve planning and group cooperation. Many activities such as swimming, picnicking, hiking, and boating lend themselves to both types of participation; while others such as baseball, tennis, polo, bridge, and chess are limited to groups of two or more playing together under established rules and regulations. Park activities generally fall within the first classification, and participation is very likely to be spontaneous in origin. It should be noted, however, that even where participation arises spontaneously, some organized and directed effort is generally necessary in order to provide the opportunity. This involves the elements of organization and leadership.

"Organization is the form of every human association for the attainment of a common purpose!" In the field of recreation, organization constitutes the method through which people work together, (1) in advancing recreation as a social responsibility, (2) in providing recreational opportunities, and (3) in participating in activities. Park associations, wildlife councils, hunting and fishing associations, and citizens' recreation committees typify the kinds of organizations which perform the first of these functions. Park departments, recreation commissions, and Boy Scout councils have the responsibility of providing recreational opportunities. Hiking, nature study and athletic clubs, baseball teams, little theatre groups, and chorus clubs are representative of participatory organizations.

The extent of organization needed for participation varies with the character of the activity and the conditions under which it is performed. It may be simple and spontaneous in nature, such as that found in cooperative arrangements for a group picnic, or it may be more permanent and formal in character, such as a hiking or dramatic club with chosen leaders and planned events, or again, it may require complex arrangements such as those exemplified by a baseball league with official playing rules, governing board, umpires, team managers and captains, and schedules and playing units.

Functions of Leadership. Wherever there is collective effort on the part of a group of people, it must be initiated and directed. This involves leadership. In many instances leadership comes about through individual initiative or through group action. The person who suggests a picnic, who takes the lead in discussing it with those concerned and in seeing that the necessary arrangements are made, acts as a recreational leader. The man whose interest in nature and desire to share this interest cause him to work with others in forming a nature study club is exercising recreational leadership. The sportsman who starts an agitation for the protection and propagation of game, the boy who organizes a baseball team and arranges a schedule of games for it, and the woman who plays a prominent part in obtaining funds for playgrounds, all perform leadership functions.

Figure 29.—Archery develops sound nerves and a steady eye.

A park system can make an important contribution to both recreation and conservation by sharing the responsibility for coordinating individual and group efforts on behalf of these enterprises. Through such a procedure it not only renders a service to a wide range of organizations interested directly or indirectly in these fields, but it also helps to enlist the support of such organizations in promoting a more extensive and valuable use of its areas. The ability of a park system to handle such a function is in proportion to the leadership ability possessed by its administrative and operating personnel. "A leader," according to Emory S. Bogardus (Leaders and Leadership), "is a person who exerts special influence over a number of people." If this concept is applied to those engaged in the operation of parks, it is evident that every employee who comes into official contact with the general public exercises some degree of leadership.

The park executive, or members of his staff, must address public gatherings, explain the purpose and value of parks to a wide range of organizations, to budget committees, legislators, councilmen, commissioners, and public administrators. He administers an enterprise which offers recreation as a public service. The success of this enterprise depends upon public acceptance of recreation as a vital human need. This requires that the public be kept informed at all times on objectives and accomplishments. The responsibility for seeing that this is done rests finally with the park executive, even though he may work through his board, his staff, and numerous public organizations in carrying it out.

The park superintendent handles, on a smaller scale, responsibilities similar to those of a park executive. Upon him falls the task of helping to interpret to the public the recreational opportunities offered on the area he administers and of directing the use of its resources and facilities. To do this, he will need to know the recreational habits and interests of the communities in the region served and to know the needs of agencies, institutions, and interest groups which may be partially or wholly met in the park.

Figure 30.—Pitching horseshoes is universally popular.

Many park visitors are strangers to the natural environment, while others may be familiar with it but lack a knowledge of its potentialities for recreation. This fact has led park agencies at all levels of government to employ trained personnel to encourage a wider and more enjoyable use of the resources of their areas. The National Park Service employs a large staff of ranger naturalists and historians to interpret the scenic, scientific, and historic resources of national parks and monuments. Many State and local systems have found this type of service popular with the public and beneficial in increasing the general appreciation of natural values. The Palisades Interstate Park has on its staff from five to six naturalists, specialists in camping, winter sports, and hiking, directors of such general sports as bathing, boating, and canoeing, and a leader for children's playground activities. South Carolina has divided the State into western and eastern regions and has employed two recreational directors for the summer season to plan and direct park-use programs. These directors are assisted by area supervisors on the larger and more heavily used parks. In addition, two camp directors are employed to supervise demonstration programs in organized camping which are participated in by a wide range of agencies. Oglebay Park, Wheeling, W. Va., offers an example of the results which can be obtained by trained leadership at an outlying city park.

Volunteer Leadership. The importance of volunteer leadership in increasing the usefulness of parks warrants the greatest consideration. Particular attention should be given to an analysis of the programs of schools, colleges, and universities, since parks provide excellent laboratories for natural science, as well as facilities for recreational projects, both curricular and extra-curricular. Today educational institutions have accepted the principle that schools must prepare students to live wisely by providing them with a diversity of leisure-time interests. Parks can and should lend these institutions every possible assistance in this part of their educational efforts.

In return, educational institutions offer an excellent source from which a park system may obtain volunteer leaders in educational features of its program. The Union County, New Jersey, park system, where a successful educational program is being conducted entirely by volunteers, most of whom are educators, illustrates the results that can be obtained through volunteer cooperation. The State university has assisted in the initiation of nature education on Missouri State parks, while in Iowa, the State Department of Public Instruction is cooperating with the State Conservation Department in carrying out a broad educational project on conservation and recreation, using State parks as centers from which the program can be carried into communities of the State through schools, local citizens' committees, and interest groups. The Mount Tom Reservation in Massachusetts, where leadership in activities is provided by graduate students in recreation from Massachusetts State College, may be cited as another excellent cooperative arrangement between an educational institution and a park in the promotion of use. The National Park Service carries out a continuous program of conservation with universities, colleges, and schools which use national parks in the study of natural sciences. Community recreational departments offer still another source of volunteer leadership. The average director of a community program finds his efforts handicapped by a lack of facilities for outing activities. Through mutual co-operative arrangements he can furnish, from his professional and volunteer staff, needed organization and leadership for many of the activities which take place on parks. In like manner, youth agencies, churches, social and civic clubs, and recreational interest groups can help importantly in park activities.

Special Problems. Statistics reveal that between 40 and 50 percent of the average weekly attendance at State parks comes on Sundays and holidays, and that better than 50 percent of the average Sunday and holiday attendance is confined to the afternoon. (See fig. 34, p. 81.) This uneven distribution of attendance forces an agency to develop facilities greatly in excess of the average daily demand. Only 10 percent of the maximum daily use of the average park facility is obtained, and that for a few months in the summer. An obvious opportunity exists for midweek and year-round use of State parks. Contacts with groups and organizations to encourage such use should greatly expand the benefits of present areas.

Parks already experience a large organizational use and can attract an even greater use from this source with a little stimulation and assistance from a park staff. Such organizations often can and do arrange their outing programs for slack weekdays. They should be encouraged at all times to follow such a practice. The fact that facilities are not jammed with other visitors is an appealing factor to organizations that want to conduct their own program of activities. Some State park systems carry out a regular schedule of contacts with organizations for the sole purpose of assisting such groups to arrange outing programs, using this method to influence them to hold such events on weekdays. Others have established advisory committees to cooperate in bringing about a wider park use during slack periods. Inducements in the way of extra services and occasionally a group rate for the use of facilities on weekdays has proved successful in a number of park systems.

Figure 31.—Leadership is fruitful in the recreational field.

The difficulty, of course, arises from the fact that many park visitors work until so late during the week that they lack the time for outings. Evening programs offer an opportunity for working groups at areas which are located fairly near population centers and which provide such facilities as public campfire circles, lighted recreation shelters and beaches.

Figure 33.—32.—Interior of Fishing Bridge Museum, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

It should be noted, also, that there are millions of children footloose during summer months and badly in need of something interesting to do. Youth under 19 years of age comprise approximately 40 percent of our population, yet attendance figures show they constitute only 23 percent of park visitors. This is probably due largely to the fact that children generally depend on parents for transportation. Organizations that deal with the recreational needs of youth offer a profitable source of cooperation. Special transportation facilities from urban centers to outlying areas, day camping and, where facilities are available, organized camping programs are methods which have been used successfully in increasing the use of parks by children.

In this day of modern household conveniences, more women than ever before have time for recreation during the week. Efforts directed toward arousing their interest in the sort of activities offered on parks have proved successful in a number of instances. Women can be reached through garden clubs, church groups, and other similar organizations. They can also be reached through their children. The average parent is interested in seeing that his children have opportunities to engage in constructive forms of recreation. A park that offers a directed nature program, well supervised and stimulating water sports and games, instructional services in arts and crafts, and other such activities during week days, should find a greatly increased interest among youth, and through them, among parents.

It is now almost a uniform practice of park agencies administering outlying areas to confine operations to the months between May and October. In northern sections of the country the season of heavy use is often limited to from 12 to 14 weeks. While it is admittedly impossible to bring about an even year-around attendance, due to unfavorable conditions, experiments have demonstrated the feasibility of park use during the fall, winter, and spring.

Figure 33.—32.—Museum visitors, Cook County Forest Preserve District, Illinois.

In northern parks, winter sports, which are rapidly forging ahead in popularity, offer fine opportunities for use of park resources during the snow season. For a large part of the country, fall and spring months are particularly well adapted to hiking, horseback riding, rowing, fishing, camping, picnicking, and such cultural activities as nature study and wildlife photography. Nature reserves some of its most spectacular manifestations for these periods the budding trees and blossoming flowers in the spring, the bright colors of fall. A conscious effort on the part of an administration, working through schools, colleges, garden clubs, youth agencies, and other such groups to keep before the public the fine values nature reserves for each of its seasons, should go a long way in building up year-around use.

Considering the millions invested in lands and facilities, the additional effort necessary to bring about a wider, more continuous and fruitful use of park resources is sound business practice as well as good public service.

Figure 34.

The fact that a very large percentage of our people are unable to travel beyond reach of such common carriers as street cars and busses has been brought out. How to make outlying parks available to them for recreation is a problem which deserves the fullest consideration. Certainly they need opportunities to enjoy themselves in the open country. Those among the low income urban people generally live in the most congested and unhealthy sections of a city, and are too poor to afford many forms of recreation other than those that can be found in their crowded homes, on the streets or in nearby neighborhood centers. While no satisfactory solution to the problem has been devised, starts in that direction have been made through subsidized transportation, arranged in cooperation with welfare and community recreational agencies. Further study should be given the question by everyone concerned with comprehensive planning for people's recreation.

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Last Modified: Mon, Aug 9 2004 10:00:00 pm PDT
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