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References:

National Park Standards. By Camp Fire Club of America.

Essential Facts of War on National Park System. By The National Parks Association.

Educational Activities in National Parks By Ansel F. Hall.

Studying Nature in Place. By Chauncey J. Hamlin.

Administration of the National Parks of the United States. By Stephen T. Mather.

Investigations for the site of a national park in Japan. By Sazo Ujihara.

Nature preservation and national parks in Japan By Keiji Uyehara.

(Last five taken from Proceedings of the First Pan-Pacific Conference on Education, Rehabilitation, Reclamation, and Recreation)

National Parks and National Monuments. By E. Lucy Braun.

Union of Interests and Management of Natural Areas. By V. E. Shelford

(Last two taken from Naturalists Guide to the Americas).

Note: Following each paper presented at this conference the subjects thus introduced were discussed in detail, the park naturalists and other members present expressing their views. In each case an effort was made to arrive at a consensus of opinion, and these conclusions recorded – only in exceptional cases involving a difference of opinion – is the discussion reported verbatim.

The lively discussion precipitated by Mr. Been’s paper on National Park Standards hinged around the following important questions:

1. Are the parks being “over developed”?
2. Is mass production mitigating against effective educational work and should we attempt to limit the numbers served?
3. What is the correct interpretation of “recreation”?
4. National Park Standards. 
   1. Are the parks being over developed? It was agreed that:A. Accommodations should not be limited to any one class as, for example, camp grounds for automobile tourists or hotel camps, but instead that there should be all scales of accommodations provided by public service operators and the government within the parks and that this should be required by the Park Service as warranted by physical conditions. This is advisable as it will result in visitors having accommodations similar to those to which they are accustomed in every day life and will not make necessary a personal readjustment which might interfere with their physical, intellectual and inspirational enjoyment of the park.

      B. At the earliest possible moment a survey of the parks should be conducted by the administrative department of each individual park with the cooperation of the engineering, landscape and educational divisions, to determine definitely upon a permanent plan of land use which would definitely limit utilization as follows:

      (1) Areas of intensive use by large numbers (centers of population, roads, etc.)
      (2) Wilderness areas penetrated by trail only.
      (3) Wilderness reserves or research reserves to be protected against all outside influences and not penetrated by the public.

      C. It is felt that the setting aside of areas of intensive use and the provision for physical necessities and comforts of the visiting public within these areas will very definitely result in lessening the damage to virgin areas of the park, and will make for the closer realization of the ideals set up under the “National Park Standards”.

       

   2. Is mass production mitigating against effective educational work and should we attempt to limit the numbers served? A lively discussion on the advisability of limiting the numbers served by the educational division in order to provide for the opportunity of more intensive service resulted in the conclusion, that:
      

      A. All park visitors are potentially interested in the educational program and that any attempt to limit the number of park visitors would essentially mean limiting our educational possibilities.

      B. That an opportunity should be given to all park visitors to voluntarily take advantage of the service offered by the educational division and that their acceptance or rejection of the invitation will, for the present, be the extent of our “selection”.

      C. That it is the duty of the Park Service to meet the needs of the great number of park visitors by an increase in staff which will adequately take care of both physical administration and interpretation of major features.

   3. What is the correct interpretation of “recreation”? After much discussion on this subject it was concluded that the word “recreation” as applied to the national parks should include physical, mental, and inspirational elements and that our educational program should be directed toward the realization of the latter two features without losing sight of the first. All members of the conference are agreed that the term “physical recreation” should be substituted for the word “recreation” in the pamphlet National Park Standards and other Park Service records.
   4. National Park Standards. The pamphlet, “National Park Standards” was read and discussed as a whole and then each individual paragraph was discussed in detail. The results of this discussion were as follows:I

      “National Parks are spacious land areas essentially in their primeval condition and so outstandingly superior in quality and beauty to average examples of their several types as to demand their preservation intact and in their entirety for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of all the people for all time.”