Volume XIX February, 1920 Number 22 BULLETIN NO. 10 The New York State College of Forestry I. II; III. AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY HUGH P. BAKER, Dean The Palisades Interstate Park: A Study in Recreational Forestry BY P. M. SILLOWAY, M. S. Investigator in Forest Zoology Prepared under the direction of Charles C. Adams Social Aspects of Park Administration Camping Facilities in the Palisades Interstate Park BY EDWARD F. BROWN Superintendent, Camp Department, Palisades Interstate Park M s ft © -P 05 ■P W U m •P C •H ■ 0) T! n'cjj DP, S Chapter XI. Palisades Park Camp Directors' Association 7!) ILLUSTRATIONS The illustrations were furnished by the Park Commissioners, except the photographs for Figures 4 and 5, which were made by A. W. Abrams, and Figure 23 by T. L. Hankinson. PAGE Fig. 1. A rugged and picturesque slope at the foot of the Palisades cliffs Frontispiece Fig. 2. General view of the Hudson Highlands in the vicinity of Bear Mountain Inn, showing in the background the wooded Highlands and a part of the Seven Lakes Drive 16 Fig. 3. Section of the Seven Lakes Drive, bordering the Kanahwauke Chain of Lakes. The type of road built by the Commission. 18 Fig. 4. One of the Kanahwauke Chain of Lakes 20 Fig. 5. Along the Seven Lakes Drive, near Carr Pond, looking toward Tuxedo, in Harriman Park 22 Fig. 6. Lake Stahahe, or Carr Pond, a natural lake enlarged 24 Fig. 7. A trout stream in Doodletown Valley 26 Fig. 8. The brook in Queensboro Valley 28 Fig. 9. Boys' camp fire within ten minutes from seething Manhattan Island, at the base of the Palisades 30 Fig. 10. A quiet hour in camp. The rustic mess hall at Camp Knot- sofah on Lake Stahahe, or Carr Pond 32 Fig. 11. Boy Scouts at Council Meeting, on the Kanahwauke Chain of Lakes 32 Fig. 12. A southerly view of Bear Mountain Inn, with Bear Moun- tain in the background. The Inn is maintained by the Park Commission to accommodate visitors. There are over 200,000 patrons annually 34 Fig. 13. Free boating for 40 minutes, on Hessian Lake, at Bear Moun- tain Inn. Over 100,000 boat assignments are made annually 36 Fig. 14. A lecture to Boy Scouts 38 Fig. 15. A camp library at Big Brother Camp, Lake Stahahe, or Carr Pond - 38 Fig. 16. Little campers on a hike through the woods around Lake Stahahe, or Carr Pond 40 [8] Fig. 17 Fig. IS Fig. 1!) Fig. 20 Fig. 21 Fig. 22 The Palisades Interstate Park 9 ILLUSTRATIONS — ( Concluded) pAGE Physical training in the American Guard Camp, near Bear Mountain 42 Fifty orphan campers of the Brooklyn Industrial School for Destitute Children, returning from a three-day 40-mile hike 44 Canoe Beach at the foot of the Palisades, opposite New York City, showing its use by the public 46 The Englewood approach, looking down from the cliffs upon the lagoon, showing the headlands and the wide expanse ■ of the Hudson . .■ 49 El Capitan, near Forest View, in the Palisades region; one of the striking landmarks 51 Hazard's Beach bathhouse, accommodating 2,000 people. The stone was quarried from the base of the cliffs; the posts are from the forest of Harriman Park; the lumber from the Commission's sawmills. Even the wastebasket and flagpoles are home-made 53 Fig. 23. The automobile which delivers cooked food from Bear Moun- tain Inn to distant camps in the Park 58 Fig. 24. A fishing excursion with Boy Scouts conducted by the nat- ural history survey party from The New York State College of Forestry 60 Fig. 25. Conserving health; the Park Commission physician, coopera- tively supported, making physical examinations at the Big Brother Camp, at Lake Stahahe 64 Fig. 26. Some underfed tenement types, at the Globe Camp in Harri- man Park 66 Fig. 27. The standard mess hall in the Palisades Interstate Park. .. 73 Fig. 28. The standard sleeping cabins in the Palisades Interstate Park 75 Fig. 29. The 19 IS type of omnibus equipment. The equipment has been almost doubled for the season of 1919 76 Fig. 30. Map of Harriman section of the Palisades Interstate Park. . At End THE RELATION OF FORESTS AND FORESTRY TO HUMAN WELFARE "Forests arc more than trees. They are rather land areas on which are associated various forms of plant and animal life. The forester must deal with all. Wild life is as essentially and legitimately a part of his care as are water, wood and forage. Forest administration should be planned with a view to realizing all possible benefits from the land areas handled. It should take account of their indirect value for recreation and health as well as their value for the production of salable material; and of their value for the production of meat, hides and furs of all kinds as well as for the production of wood and the protection of water supplies. " Unquestionably the working out of a program of wild life protection which will give due weight to all the interests affected is a delicate task. It is impossible to harmonize the differences between the economic, the aesthetic, the sporting and the commercial viewpoints. Nevertheless, the practical difficulties are not so great as they appear on the surface." Henry S. Graves, Chief Forester, United States Forest Service. "Outdoor recreation is a necessity of civilized life, and as civilization becomes more intensive the demand grows keener. The vast extent of our present National Forests, their enticing wildness, and the notable beauty of the native landscape lure men and women thither by hundreds of thou- sands. The really enormous extent and value of this kind of forest product has been generally overlooked in America. "The moment that recreation (using this word in a very liberal mean- ing) is recognized as a legitimate Forest utility the way is opened for a more intelligent administration of the National Forests. Recreation then takes its proper place along with all other utilities. In -each particular case these utilities are weighed against one another and a plan of admin- istration devised to adjust and harmonize, to the utmost point practicable, the various forms of use so that the largest net total of public good may be secured. Where one must be subordinated to another, preference is given to that of highest value to the public." Frank A. Wax t gh, Collaborator, United States Forest Service. [10] INTRODUCTORY NOTE THE RELATION OF NATURAL HISTORY AND ECOLOGY TO PUBLIC FOREST PARKS To grow lives for timber is the prevailing idea of the purpose of forestry. This will always remain one of its most important aims in caring for and using forest lands. Their widespread and diversified use in the broadest sense, not only for timber and for the conservation of water, but for recreation and education as well, and, not the least important possibly, for the production of plant and animal food crops, is now coming to be more and more clearly recognized as wholly within the province of forestry. Indeed, the aim of modern forestry may be defined as the use of woodlands to the best possible human advantage. The growth of forestry has been so rapid that the educational, recreational and food-producing capacity of forest lands and waters is a new idea to the general public and for this reason the restatement of its aims requires frequent repetition. The recreational and educational utilization of forests varies with the local conditions. In some places these uses may be very incidental, as in forests remote from centers of population, and. lacking in transportation facilities, or they may become even a feature of primary importance, as in the case of National, State or Interstate parks, and in other natural forested parks. It is very evident that extensive forest areas with diversified scenic, forest, water and animal resources may be managed, and should be so managed, as to harmonize with the most advantageous use of each area. When forests are intended for these varied uses there must be corresponding differences in management. The lumbering aim, the educational and the recreational aims, are not the same, and yet these should be coordinated and harmonized. This can be done best by first formulating the problems, then by investigating [11] 12 The New York State College of Forestry them, and finally by applying the solution to a proper system of management. The New York State College of Forestry, at Syra- cuse, in recognizing these diversified uses of forest lands has defi- nitely undertaken the investigation of the problems of forest parks because it clearly realizes its obligation and the need of relating forest land and water resources to modern educational, economic, and social needs. The Palisades Interstate Park of New York and New Jersey, on account of its proximity to the American metrop- olis, is, and should be, dominated by the needs of the people in the vicinity of this great city. An urban population suffers from its lack of direct contact with wild nature, both in education and recreation, and at the present time the proper recreational and educational use of wild parks is one of the most available remedies for this deficiency. It is not necessary to here state the reasons why a first-hand knowledge of nature is an essential part in a normal healthy life, or to emphasize the importance of an imper- sonal point of view, which is the natural antidote for too much of the personal and too exclusively human interest, both necessarily fostered by urban life. To mention it is sufficient for our purpose. One remedy for this condition is an intimate association with the resources of the Park, and a first-hand knowledge of what these resources mean. In general, the natural history resources of our parks have not been adequately appreciated either for education or .recreation. The real significance of conservation of wild life (and as well, conservation in general) can mean little to such persons. These resources have, in the past, been largely ignored, or left to chance use. The present Cooperative Natural History, or Ecological Forest Survey, is intended to investigate, by means of experienced per- sons, the natural history resources of the Park ecologically — that is, in relation to one another and to the whole environment — includ- ing their relation to man from the standpoint of park ideals, embracing educational and recreational usage, as well as the produc- tion of food, and all to be done in such a manner as to harmonize the best uses of the Park and public welfare. As this is a relatively new field of activity, in which there are remarkably few precedents, this work should be considered an experimental study of how to The Palisades Interstate Park 13 relate the natural resources of the Park to the public. The Park itself might well be looked upon as a large experiment station devoted to the investigation of forest park problems, and the appli- cation of the solution to public welfare. This survey has been initiated through the cooperation of the broadminded Commissioners of the Palisades Interstate Park, of whom Mr. George W. Perkins is President, and The New York Slate College of Forestry. Those in direct charge of the work have been Mr. Edward F. Brown, Superintendent of the Camp Depart- ment on behalf of the Park, and myself, representing the College. This survey is believed to be the first comprehensive plan, now in operation, for an ecological survey of a large public park intended to relate its natural history resources to the park visitors. It is to be hoped that the experience gained in these experiments will induce others to make similar studies and to make their results appropriately available to the public — because we are now at a critical stage — at the dawn of a great awakening in the apprecia- tion of our large natural parks and the realization of how much wild life can contribute to their best use. The goal is an intelli- gent and sympathetic appreciation and use of this resource, and this result can only be accomplished by the education of the public to a realization of their unusual opportunities. The first of the papers in this bulletin by P. M. Silloway, Inves- tigator in Forest Zoology for the College of Forestry, is a general description of the Park and an account of the present methods of relating its natural resources to public welfare. This bulletin serves as a general introduction to the series now in preparation on the Park and presents a background for understanding the general conditions to which the natural history studies now in progress are to be related. It should be mentioned that Mr. Silloway has been making a special study of the birds of the Park as a part of the Cooperative Ecological Forest Survey and has in preparation other publications on this subject. The two following papers are contributed by Edward F. Brown, Superintendent of the Camp Department of the Park. He describes the unique system of camp- ing which has been developed in this Park. The experience here summarized will, it is expected, be of special value to those inter- 14 The Neiv York State College of Forestry ested in similar and allied work in other localities. This experi- ence is of special value because it gives the results of experiments conducted in this the largest camping park in the world:. It is anticipated that this publication will prove of value to foresters alert to the growth in their own field; to educators and social workers interested in the physical and mental welfare of the present and future generations, and to all persons and agencies who believe that the resources of the Park should be made avail- able to the average citizen. It is a pleasure, in conclusion, to express my sincere personal gratitude to those who have made it possible to initiate this ecologi- cal forest survey, to Mr. George W. Perkins and to Mr. Edward F. Brown of the Park, and to Dean F. F. Moon of the College of Forestry, for their generous and intelligent appreciation and sup- port of the plan. Chas. C. Adams, Forest Zoologist. Department of Forest Zoology, August 15, 1918. THE PALISADES INTERSTATE PARK: A STUDY IN RECREATIONAL FORESTRY P. M. SlLLOWAY THE PALISADES REGION DESCRIBED The Palisades, the Entrance to a Park System. The name is suggestive of the location of the Park, and its leading scenic attrac- tions, yet the domain includes more than the famed Palisades of the lower Hudson River. The boundaries of the Park encompass the heart of the Hudson Highlands below West Point, where this great river traverses the Appalachian Mountains, a region of beau- tifully wooded mountains (Fig. 2), with precipitous cliffs and rugged hillsides, ravines where brooks trickle from moss-covered rock to rock through secluded glens, beautiful lakes nestling at the base of rock ledges, and mountain streams gurgling through beautiful gorges, all in their native wildness, made available and accessible by a system of roads unsurpassed by the Roman road- makers of old. The entire Park property is not comprehended in one area, as it consists at present of four separate tracts; but properly it has two main units, the Palisades section and the Harriman region, both on the west side of the Hudson and forming a continuous area for Park administrative purposes. The two sections are unified by the splendid Henry Hudson Drive, which, when completed, will constitute a magnificent highway. The Drive is so located that it skirts the bases of the cliffs and overlooks the wooded shore-line of the river, affording a series of views among the best in eastern America, and depicting to the tourist the chief scenic beauties of the Hudson. The Palisades section of the Park lies chiefly in New Jersey, extending along the river a distance of about twelve miles, and including nearly all the Palisades river-front from Fort Lee to the interstate boundary line. The Bear Mountain and Harriman unit of the Park is altogether in New York, along the boundary line of Orange and Rockland counties. [15] T3 o o > C to o OS O The Palisades Interstate Park 17 The Seven Lakes Drive. The drive from Bear Mountain west- ward into the interior of the Park (Fig. 2) leads through a suc- cession of valleys of wondrous beauty, passing tiny lakes bluer than the sky and mirroring the hills encompassing them. Here art has added to nature's resources, and after a winding turn in the road the visitor comes unexpectedly upon a beautiful artificial lake, supplied by springs from the neighboring slopes. The arti- ficial enlargement of the lakes and the making of lakes where none existed before constitute one of the notable achievements of the Park, which has enhanced its value for scenic and recreational purposes. The interior beauties of the Park are enhanced by the location of the roads, which skirt the bases of the rock-terraces, and afford the fullest views of the spacious amphitheatres between the mountains. Every turn of the road leaves a sturdy mountain behind, revealing an expansive valley and accompanying mountain beyond, with green slopes of ravines on right or left, or the shimmer of lakelet reflecting adjacent heights. The drive from Bear Mountain Inn toward Tuxedo is a par- ticular example of mountain road-making (Fig. 2) with striking scenic effects. Winding around the eastern base of the mountain, the drive partially encircles the broad amphitheatre known locally as Doodletown Valley,* with the crest of the Dunderberg forming the eastern sky-line. The drive next traverses the beautiful Queens- borough Valley, an irregular trough framed by a series of contin- uous wooded mountains. Beyond Cedar Pond, on the drive toward Tuxedo, lies the trio of ponds known as Kanahwauke Lakes (Figs. 3 and 4), each an admirable example of a mountain lake- let. Their location is a center of rugged mountain woods, a suc- cession of tortuous valleys enclosed by rocky ledges and hillsides whose forested slopes stretch upward and away from the water surface in all directions. Little Long Pond, of the Kanahwauke group, may be given brief mention as a typical example. It occu- pies a valley about two miles long and more than half a mile wide. * When the British forces surprised the Fort Clinton and Fort Montgom- ery garrisons by an attack from the land, they marched through a mountain pass in the valley while their band played " Yankee Doodle." Since then the community has been known as Doodletown. S3 O CO i-J o o> __/ oa C fe o ^ 00 "3 00 ed s M g 3 OJ o -*J OJ bo ^3 _c ^ - >> ^ ■Q i — o ,£5 ^ 0> t> !■* - tc 0) GQ R O m The Palisades Interstate Park 19 Along its western side is Hemlock Hill, a sturdy wooded moun- tain attaining an elevation of thirteen hundred feet above the Hudson tide level, and rearing its huge rock-ledges almost per- pendicularly above the roadway here skirting the pond-shore. Farther along the drive views open to the westward (Fig. 5) and Lake Stahahe, or Can Pond (Fig. 6), is passed. This is a delight- ful creation of nature and engineering art, deep-laid in a mountain valley, glimpses of its blue waters appearing to the tourists' gaze through convenient openings in the surrounding forest canopy — nature's gem in her verdant setting. Park Brooks. The pleasing diversity of the Park scenery is enhanced by the brooks coursing the valleys. Each of the brooks is fed by minor ravines from far up the adjacent slopes, the aggre- gate forming a system of drainage so perfect that swamp areas of any considerable extent are practically unknown in the domain. The streams themselves are generally hidden by the scrub forest investing their banks, but everywhere in their courses can be glimpsed the cool secluded glens so attractive to the camper and transient visitor. In these grow the choicest hemlock, sycamore and tulip trees, and in the pools among mossy rocks the fisherman looks for hungry trout (Fig. 7). A casual survey of the Bear Mountain and Harriman Park sec- tions shows that the brook systems are chiefly tributaries of the Hudson on the east, and the smaller Eamapo Eiver on the west. Along the northern boundary of the Park the Popolopin Creek forms a series of picturesque ravines. On the eastern and southern drainage sides we find Queensboro Brook (Fig. 8) and Cedar Pond Brook, each having a conspicuous part in valley and ravine formation. The southern angles of the Park touching the Eamapo foothills are broken by tributaries of the Mahaw Eiver, which transect the hills at irregular intervals. On the southwest are the long valleys of Pine Meadow Brook and Stony Brook, leading down toward the Eamapo. Besides the larger brook features, there are many smaller streams which feed the interior lakes and serve as fountain-heads for valley reservoirs. a < o o o o f=H The Palisades Interstate Park 21 Mountains and Trails. The term " Hudson Highlands " very appropriately describes lliis region of the Park. In the forty square miles of Park domain and contiguous area, there are between fifteen and twenty mountains (Fig. 30) whose elevation attains twelve hundred to fourteen hundred feet, and as many more whose altitude exceeds one thousand feet. The very diversity and richness of the Park in its scenic features may be expressed in concrete figures by an estimate of one mountain, with dependent ravines and base valleys, to each square mile of superficial extent. Among the worth while elevations may be mentioned Bear Moun- tain, overlooking the Hudson; Long Mountain, a series of vary- ing heights to the west of Bear Mountain; Stockbridge Mountain (1,393 feet), having three elevations probably forming the climax of this portion of the Highlands ; Cranberry Hill, to the southward of Long Mountain; Hemlock Hill, at the head of the Kanahwauke Lake locality alongside Little Long Pond ; and the northern exten- sion of the Eamapo Mountains, a series of fine hills ranging from one thousand to twelve hundred feet in elevation. The maze of mountain roads and trails in the Park grows out of the association of hills and brooks. Generally each little hill- side watercourse has an irregular trail following its windings up the slope and frequently leading to huckleberry beds or mountain summit. From Bear Mountain Inn a splendid trail of easy grade traverses the terraces to the rocky crest thirteen hundred feet above the sea-level. Almost every mountain is furnished with trails for fire patrol purposes, affording the visitor easy facilities for reaching sites of magnificent views over miles of encircling green hills. For example, Hemlock Hill, lying along the northwest shore of Little Long Pond, has a delightful trail, easy of footing and with slight grade, bv which the visitor can reach the thirteen hundred-foot summit in less than one hour's walk, all without injury even to the dressing on my lady's kid shoes. In all there are about one hundred forty miles of forest trails traversing mountain slopes and wooded shore-lines. O p o £1 ■a Hi C > 43 fcJO c o The Palisades Interstate Park 23 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE HARRIMAN PARK FOREST The Palisades Interstate Park, and especially the Harriman section, owes its creation to its native forest character. The region is a wilderness of wooded mountains, touched by human genius to conserve its wildwood aspects and to utilize them for well-directed purposes of rational recreation and education. Here we find the foundation for a Park, a greai domain of uniform woods, miles of forest trees in every degree of development. Every hillside is clad in a continuous covering of green; and every valley, unoccupied by lake or pond, is an area of unbroken woodland. In popular terms the Highlands forest is a forest of oaks. hickories and chestnut. Generally it is of the hardwood type. Scattered throughout the area coniferous trees are noted, in some localities becoming so prominent that their true proportion is likely to he over-estimated. • In fact, here and there hemlocks rear their spires above all surrounding trees. Alongside of Little Long Pond, Hemlock Hill hears upon its rocky terraces numberless specimens of this handsome conifer. Pines and cedars also abound throughout the Park, but as a whole the percentage of the ever- green element is very low. Among the hardwoods the chief trees are the chestnut, several species of oak, hickory, maple, ash, birch, locust, tulip tree, basswood, walnut, beech, elm, and sycamore, besides occasional specimens of others native to the region. The trees alone, however, cannot constitute a true forest, and here we find the associated features which give the forest its wild character. Sweet fern grows in profusion on the dry hillsides, with aspens, raspberry, sumach, wild grape, witch hazel, and elder. Huckle- berry flourishes on the slopes and terraces of the mountains, while ill-drained ravines harbor swamp fern, alder, swamp maple, and blueberry. Everywhere upon the slopes and in dry valleys the Kalmia or mountain laurel crouches, or rears its thick-set bush as the dominant shrub of the region. Flowering shrubs appear in all situations and are so noticeably attractive that signs are posted along all roads warning visitors not to pick or destroy the wild flowers. The Palisades Interstate Pail, 25 WILD LIFE OF HARRIMAN PARK The conservation of the wild life of the Park is one of the definite aims of the Commission in charge. The animals of all kinds inhabiting the region are regarded as an integral part of the domain useful in the general scheme of educative recreation. The Park is a veritable sanctuary for birds, and in the nesting season their songs give animation to all localities during the wak- ing hours. About one hundred species of birds have been noted as making their summer home in the Park, and the greater part of these can be found in any general locality of the domain. Among the prominent songsters are the robin, wood thrush, house wren, brown thrasher, catbird, redstart, yellow-throat, water thrush, oven- bird, red-eyed vireo, scarlet tanager, indigo-bird, rose-breasted gros- beak, song sparrow, goldfinch, and Baltimore oriole. AVoodcock have been found rearing their young near the shores of the Kanah- wauke Lakes, and frequently the whirr of ruffed grouse's wings makes music for the sportsman's ear. Red-winged blackbirds hover over the marshy borders of the ponds, and the kingfisher and green heron utter their harsh calls along the wooded shores. Of many wildwood creatures the present Park domain has only a remnant of its early residents. A few deer remain; squirrels are not numerous, but chipmunks are common. Foxes yet live in the nooks of the Park. Woodchucks inhabit the rock ledges along the bases of the mountains, and rabbits find a safe refuge in the scrubby bush. Muskrats live undisturbed in the larger marshes. Fishing is always good when there are good fishermen, and most of the lakes are stocked with fish. PURPOSE OF THE PALISADES PARK While Hie Palisades Interstate Park is replete with features of scenic and biological interest, the aim of the Commission is not to give the natural setting undue prominence, but rather to use it as a background or staging for recreative and educational activities ministering to the welfare of the people entering the sphere of its influence. The purpose of the Commission, in brief, is to make the Park an appreciable factor in the lives of campers and visitors by maintaining arrangements conducive to healthful outdoor > d % o -^ m ■ ^ o o p OS o o The Palisades Interstate Park 27 recreation, sanitary living, child welfare, and educational vacation activities. President Perkins says: " What we have been striving to attain is a rational development of the people's land, so that its utilization will definitely promote health and ghe opportunity for wholesome play, at the same time preserving the native "beauty and historic hills of its regions." The scope of such aims and ideals is necessarily wide and Ear-reaching. Nature is to be left intact, yet utilized to become a co-worker with man's science and skill. Such a purpose seizes upon the elements at hand, and an ideal grows to comprehend a complex group of social activities potential in edu- cative values. An original tenting site with adjacent hillside and pond-shore grows into a system of well-organized supervised camps. Aboriginal trails and old lumber roads are transformed into high- ways and trails penetrating every nook and corner of the domain with transportation facilities for handling daily hundreds of camp- ers and sight-seers. Crude methods of camp cooking and supply have been replaced by a modern dietary from a centralized kitchen, with daily food distribution to camps. Aimless loitering about the woods has ceased to consume valuable time, as definite camp activi- ties are directed by experienced leaders. The water supply of springs and streams is conserved by a system of reservoirs and lakes intended to answer every demand of service and of recreation. The natural means for boating and bathing are augmented by gen- erous construction of beaches, pavilions and docks. The little camp-fire of the small party (Fig. 9) has been enlarged into arrangements for entertainment in commodious quarters (Fig. 10) and council rooms at recreation centers (Fig. 11). Finally, the purpose of the Park Commission carries with it all the activities incidental to the development and expansion of large public enterprises. RECREATIONAL FEATURES OF BEAR MOUNTAIN AND OF THE PALISADES Of the thousands of visitors to the Park each season, the great majority seldom gets farther than the Bear Mountain Inn or the Palisades recreation centers. Most of the visitors are excursionists, having at their disposal only a few hours of leisure for the outing. > o u o OQ Pi o> a> P o o H C3 M The Palisades Interstate Park 29 and to such persons the Inn offers desirable close-at-hand recreation divested of all catch-penny amusements. The Inn itself is worthy of more than passing comment, as its architecture (Fig. 12) is in studied harmony faith a situation wonderfully picturesque (Fig. 2). Upon one's first view of the structure, nestling low at the base of the mountain, one imagines that he is looking across some lovely Swiss valley in the lower Alps. The building is designed as a resting-place for transient tourists, and to afford accommodations of dining-room and lunch counter for excursionists desiring this service at a reasonable price. The resort has a railroad station and steamer docks constructed in fitting picturesque style, with spacious surroundings and elevated approaches leading to the mag- nificent pleasure grounds constituting the resort. At the base of the mountain beautiful Hessian Lake extends back of the Inn, with ample free boating facilities for the thousands of visitors who throng the water surface (Fig. 13). In the natural grove around the lake there is a great playground with swings, benches, pavilions and intersecting foot-paths or attractive lunch places under spread- ing hemlocks near trickling brooks. In front of the Inn a spacious lawn offers recreation, base ball, tennis, and other athletic sports. Whatever the phase of outdoor recreation that suits one's fancy, the visitor here may find something to please and to interest, pic- turesque views for camera, quiet walks on shady trails beset with shrubs and flowers, rowing on the lake, romping in the grove, or simple enjoyment of retired nooks and nature's unobtrusive charms. The Palisades section of the Park is a continuous series of recreation centers, each offering diversions of similar character, yet having its own claims to scenic beauty with a magnificent back- ground. Englewood, Alpine, Hazard Beach, and Forest View are popular centers where the visitor finds all the delights of public playground, boating, canoeing and bathing, or the more quiet recreations of woodland walks and country camps. The specially delightful character of these resorts consists in the fact that nature has not been modified and transformed into the tameness and pre- cision of the ordinary city parks, but has been left in possession of her charms as a basis for the artificial accessories. Fig. 9. Boys' camp fire within ten minutes from seething Manhattan Island, at the base of the Palisades. The Palisades Interstate Park -i THE SYSTEM OF PARK CAMPS Structures and Equipment. There are more than fifty so-called standard camps available in the Park, constructed and operated under the plans of the Park Commission. Most of them consist of a mess hall and sleeping cabins, designed both for proper sanita- tion and outdoor comfort, special attention being given to general cleanliness, the water supply, disposal of waste, boat landings, and swimming docks. The camps are established primarily to " aid social welfare organizations to bring their charges to the health- giving out-of-doors under most favorable conditions." Commer- cialized use of Park privileges and property is absolutely prohibited. The capacity of each standard camp is about seventy-five persons, though generally the number is kept under the full quota, especially in the camps mostly devoted to relief work, charitable outings, and other eleemosynary undertakings. Services and Facilities. The scope of the Park Commission's plans in the field of standard camping may be understood from their announcement of readiness to supply without question of profit sleeping cots, blankets, enameled tableware, groceries, milk, bread, vegetables, cooked meals delivered based on a standard bal- anced dietary, and transportation to and from camp sites. The aims of educational recreation as provided for by the Commission include free lectures at the camp centers (Fig. 14), camp libraries (Fig. 15), rowing at nominal cost, natural history exhibits loaned to camps without charge, concerts, talks on nature, wild life, and field excursions, moving pictures and health supervision by the Commission's medical expert. The camps are mostly situated on the lakes, to combine the wholesome influence of nature's best moods with the healthful recreations of boating and swim- ming. Behind the scene of buildings and sleeping tents there impend the rocky wooded slopes of mountain or hill, while in the foreground is the shimmer of water reflecting the dark shore-line of the forest vegetation. All these, however, are merely the most obvious features of the great out-of-doors silently ministering with unnoticed efficiency to eye and ear and mind. Fig. 10. A quiet hour in camp. The rustic mess hall at Camp Knotsoi'ah on Lake Stahahe, or Carr Fond. Fig. 11. Boy Seoul sal council meeting, on the Kan ahwauke Chain of Lakes. The Palisades Interstate Park 33 Beautiful wild flowers attract the interest, and butterflies flit about with alluring movements. How bracing and inspiriting the moun- tain air! How cool and enjoyable the afternoon shade! Does one love to hike? The woodland trails ( Figs. 1 and 16) are open and inviting, either alongshore or upon hillside. And then the splash- ing, the wading, the rowing, the ravenous appetites developed, the sleep during the cool nights ! Two weeks of contact with nature at first hand amid such surroundings and under such circumstances will surely leave impressions upon child life immeasurable in their effects both physical and spiritual, tending toward the realization of a richer experience in the lives of those who thus partake of nature's beneficence. SOME TYPICAL PALISADES PARK CAMPS The greatness of the Palisades Interstate Park in the field of healthful cam]) management may be suggested by a review of the 1918 Camp Directory. Camp Bee Hive. The Bee Hive Camp is a fair example of a typical Park activity in child welfare. It is not a so-called stand- ard camp in construction, but rather an accessory agency provided by the Commission for this purpose. The situation is ideal for sympathetic contact with nature. It is located in the historic Doodletown Valley below the western base of Dunderberg, on a little terrace that borders a beautiful brook murmuring among huge boulders and over mossy rocks. Northward across the Hud- son stands Anthony's Nose, a rugged mass of cliffs and woods. All around the Bee Hive the forest harbors its choicest attractions. To this bit of nature children are brought, through the cooperation of a city church with the Park Commission; for each two weeks a group of two dozen children are cared for by kind and competent hands, while Mother Nature adds her restful ministrations to the novel experiences of simple country life. Fresh air and sunshine, cool breezes and shade, happy minutes beside the mossy brook, invigorating influences everywhere, — who can estimate the value thus wrought into the lives of the children? The Palisades Interstate Park 35 American Guard Camp. It is interesting to consider some of the special cam]) activities during the season of 1918. A specific example is the summer encampment of the American Guard. The primary purpose of this camp is "to afford a. means of reward and recreation for the year-round faithful attendance and meri- torious discharge of duty of the enrolled members of the American Guard. The purpose of the organization is character building, tp teach the boys by military training (Fig. 17) the principles of patriotism, loyalty and obedience, to improve them physically and to make their minds alert and responsive." The Park Commission, ip harmony with its general purpose of administration, provides every facility in the way of convenient camp site, w r ater supply, sanitary surroundings, boating and swimming docks, food service with a standard balanced dietary, and health supervision. The activities of this camp are directed by a regular daily program of instruction and recreation arranged by the officers of the American Guard organization. About 1,500 cadets are taken care of here during the camping season. Globe Camp. Quite another type of camp activity is that of the Globe on Lake Stahahe, where 150 little undernourished boys an' kept each two weeks under the supervision of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. There the chief desideratum for these youngsters is a change of living for two weeks from street and tenement surroundings to the healthful- invigorating environ- ment of lake and woods, where the children can revel in a new experience, a Avealth of fresh air and cool water, with bird-notes sifting through the stirring foliage, with wild flowers peeping from bush and shrub and grass tuft, with butterflies flitting by the road- side and crickets chirping in the grasses, the air animate with nature's sounds, and all the surroundings astir with life. Hours of rest or romping, play or sleep, sitting in quiet nooks, or walking along the roads (Fig. 18) ; bathing in the swimming corrals in care of responsible leaders, or paddling over the shimmering water in quiet afternoon or evening hours ; wholesome food with a stand- ard dietary for a season, and elementary notions of hygienic living under healthful conditions ; — these are the needs provided for in Fig. 13. Free boating for 40 minutes, on Hessian Lake, at Bear Mountain Inn. Over 100,000 boat assignments are made annually. The Palisades Interstate Park 37 a camp of this type, merest fundamentals thai result in physical well-being and a wider outlook upon Life. The activities of this Globe cam]) may lie detailed as an example of the Park ideals in practical application. It is maintained by the Association for Improving the Gondii ion of the Poor, in cooperation with a metropolitan daily newspaper, the New York Globe, as an experiment made possible by the generous attitude of the Park Commission. The beneficiaries of this camp average about eleven years of age, selected from city families where life is at a discount. A main purpose of the experiment was to provide an adequate ration of balanced Food, with suitable exercises, under conditions where nature might cooperate to the best advantage. At seven a. m. sleeping tents are opened and cots and blankets aired. This is followed by compulsory washing from the waist up. At mess call there is inspection of hands, faces, teeth, and hair. After breakfast there is camp duly in cleaning of tents and grounds. At ten there are recreations of swimming and bathing at the lake dock and swimming corrals. Then follow fishing, rowing, hiking, and games •until lunch is served. After lunch there is an hour of compulsory rest. The greater part of the afternoon is given to pleasing and healthful diversions such as hiking, fishing, local excursions, and nature walks and sports. The evenings are spent in campfire entertainments. Boy Scout Camp. The activities of the Boy Scout Camps on the Kanahwauke Lakes illustrate the possibilities of the region in relation to woodcraft. Hiking, tenting, rowing, swimming, the camp-fire, outdoor ways and means, the lore of the enveloping for- est, outing tricks and devices, the signs and trails of the wildwood, wild flowers and native frees, the home life of birds and four- footed creatures, the stars by night, the voices of nature by day these are the things at least in suggestion that vitalize the days spent in the Kanahwauke camps by the thousands of Boy Scouts who assemble on these lake shores during the tenting season. All the elements of boy scouting, under conditions most favorable for actual practice, are suggested, bit by bit, in the daily activities of a typical Kanahwauke camp. Practical ideas about tents, camp sites Fig. 14. A lecture to Boy Scouts. Fig. 15. A camp library at Big Brother Camp, Lake Stahahe, or Carr Pond. The Palisades Interstate Park 39 and camp making, about grub and mess kits and hike outfits, about cam]) health and sanitation, arc here inculcated by the everyday life and ordinary experiences of the youth under standard camp arrangements and competent masters. It is in such environments, with associations of kindred minds and spirits, that boys learn to play the game and intuitively develop the experience which makes them doers and leaders in times of real emergency. Such camp life not only tends to the physical development of our boys, but it also stimulates the unfolding of mental and moral qualities pro- ductive of a strength of soul wnich gives its possessor a firmer grasp upon life and leads him over the top in every endeavor. THE PRACTICAL RESULTS OF CAMPING IDEALS In general the camping ideals of the Park Commission have made this great out-of-doors area serviceable beyond all the con- ventional uses of other so-called parks. Spell of Night in the Forest. Not only has daylight been utilized in the recreational scheme, but darkness as well has been made the background of camp-fire and council-ring, attractive with evening discourse, song, and story. Not only the woods and water by day, but the calm influence of the fire-lit faces by night, under the stars and moon and encircling forest gloom, the sleep in the environment of the forest's depths, the murmured gossip of the brook near by, and the unknown voices of the woods in impenetrable shadow, — these are a part of the offerings rendered available in the camp plans of the Park Commission. And who can measure the intangible results of these nights in camp, in moral force and soul- fiber, upon the hearts and minds of the thousands at rest nightly during July and August, in the camps throughout the Park? Health. Not merely theoretical, however, are the results as shown by the actual workings of the camping department, for in unnumbered cases the glow of health has appeared on faces which came to camp wan and depressed, and voices formerly mirthless have rung through the mess hall with zest and merriment. It has been found that among a group of one hundred fifty little boys, undernourished in infancy and ill-fed in childhood years of F'ig. 16. Little campers on a hike through the woods around Lake Stahahe, or Carr Pond. The Palisades Interstate Park 41 growth, an average gain of more than two pounds per person in the two weeks' outing was recorded, aside from the incalculable benefrl of brighter eyes and happier countenances, and a keener glimpse into the coming day. When we multiply this group of hoys by four or five, the full work of the camping season, and add to it the parallel results accomplished by fifty other camps in the Park, for little tots just glimpsing life's possibilities, boy scouts in vigorous youth, and working girls bearing burdens a trifle too heavy, we begin to comprehend a purpose that is at least akin to greatness. Forests versus City Streets. In the field of child welfare and social economics, the practical out workings of the Park camp ideals attain their maximum realization in the group of activities on Carr Pond, or Lake Stahahe. These represent the utilization of outdoor influences, coupled with suggestive and directive daily exercises, to curb and counteract tendencies of other environments which tail to promote the ultimate good of these juvenile elements of society. The beneficiaries of some of these camps come from homes devoid of vision and lacking in capacity for uplift, from tenement, street, and curb, from shop and factory, from want and privation and neglect. Here in the fresh, green out-of-doors these plastic young lives or wearied older minds are given impressions of something better than they have yet known, glimpses of things around and beyond and above. Each of the boys of the Brooklyn Industrial Camp, leaving the Park, carries away something of a broader outlook and a truer purpose for the future. Each of the one hundred fifty little boys marching from the Globe Camp every two weeks shows a distinct gain for youthful citizenship. Every lad enjoying the hospitality of Big Brother Camp for two weeks represents a finer sense of life's relations and obligations going forth to exert a leavening influence for good. So here and there, in one camp and another, whether the aims are social, civic, char- itable, or educational, there result unmeasured gains in physical fitness, renewal of strength, and the rest of body and mind that follows a well-directed change from depressing conditions. And what of the mental and moral results ? Impossible it is to estimate The Palisades Interstate Park 43 the aggregate of all the impressions of associations that stir the dull soul and arouse the dormant personality;, or to number the concepts of new forces and influences that prompt to effort and incite to nobler living, as experienced by the boys and girls of the Carr Pond camps, the elders of the Yorkville Social Settlement Camp on Cedar Pond, the boys of the scouting centers on Kanah- wauke Lakes, or the tenants of any of these shores and woods dur- ing the camping days of July and August. Education in Conservation. Not the least in importance of the results of the Park camping activities is the suggestion of the proper conservation of these public resources and utilities, and of the valuable opportunity of educating the public in the use of this resource. The wild flowers are a part of the great environment, not to be plucked and destroyed, but to be enjoyed in their wild fragrance and beauty as nature's unselfish offerings for all who chance to pass that way. The springs of water are not to be con- taminated and befouled, for further along their courses may be those who look to these sources for water pure and invigorating. The trees are not to be mutilated or injured, because other campers and visitors will expect to enjoy the woods another season, and crippled objects of nature are as unsightly as blemished specimens of humanity. These are some of the lessons learned in the wood- land camps, that birds and flowers, trees and springs, insects and curious creeping things, the toads and dragonflies, yes, even the woodchucks and garter snakes, are all objects for the thoughtful consideration of inquiring boys and girls, as well as adults, as things for outdoor study and observation. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion we revert to our introductory affirmation that this is the greatest camping park in the world. It is great in the fact that it contains the majestic Palisades, the magnificent Henry Hudson Drive, and the forested heart of the Hudson Highlands. It is great in its wealth of scenic beauties, its extent of wooded hills, its green amphitheatres and shimmering lakes, its stretches of native woodland. It is great in its camps and its playgrounds, The Palisades Interstate Park 45 in all its arrangements and equipments for healthful recreation with inspiring environment. 11 is .ureal in its organization and administration of the plans carrying its ideals into everyday prac- tice. Finally, it is great in its accomplishment of a huge experi- ment, whereby a great public stewardship gives to the people a pleasure-ground replete with modern facilities, and managed solely lor the good. of the people. o o o o 03 P-i o O o o o> o o a SOCIAL ASPECTS OF PARK ADMINISTRATION Edward F. Brown ACQUISITION OF THE PARK Palisades, Past and Present. Robert Juet, Master of the Half Moon, who kept the Journal of the voyage of Henry Hudson, wrote in 1609 as his historic bark neared Wee-awken* (the New- Jersey shore opposite Forty-second street, New York City), "This morning at our first rode in the river, there, came eight and twentie canoes full of men, women and children." It is more than three hundred years since Hudson sailed up the river which now bears his name. If, during the summer, you were to ride on any of the boats which glide gracefully through these same placid waters, you would find just a little north of the spot described by Juet many more than eight and twenty canoes filled with men, women and children on the subjacent shores of the towering Palisades. Happily, the adventuresome spirit which led Hudson and his crew of brave men to the New World is not dead. The primitive instinct of the play-starved masses in New York, seeking an outlet for their sorely-tried nerves, seeks to-day these same shores in canoes, to find rest, adventure and recreation (Fig. 19). It is indeed a strange sight to see across the river from seething' Man- hattan some of the same majestic headlands on which the wonder- ing and expectant Hudson gazed, with its brightly painted canoes at their feet. To-day the lower portion of the west bank of the Hudson pre- sents an illuminating contrast. For miles we find the irregular and squalid docks behind which factories rear, to belch forth smoke, noise and confusion. Suddenly this ugly sight comes to an end, and the imposing rocky embattlements rise in their pristine splendor. Here the Palisades Interstate Park begins. * Rocks that look like trees. [47] 48 The New York Stale College of Forestry Viewed from a distance the Palisades form a series of mighty Ledges along the western shore of the Hudson, towering aloft as almosl perpendicular masses of gray rock (Fig. 20) adorned with dark green forest. In reality, however, the Palisades comprehend a range of gigantic stone headlands, facing the river, extending hack toward the open and level country with an average depth of considerably more than a mile, and sloping landward in a system of irregular and broken terraces, all this forming a natural park- like domain altogether unique in American scenery. It is the New Jersey portion of this formation that gives its name to the Pali- sades Interstate Park. Conservation of the Famous Palisades Cliffs. The genesis of the Palisades Interstate Park is to be found in the conservation movement. It had its beginnings in 1895, when these ancient cliffs, which for twelve miles fringe the west shore of the Hudson, were fast being destroyed by the quarrying of trap rock. It was then that a group of public-spirited citizens petitioned the Legislature of New Jersey for the reservation of this section, first as a military fortification and later as a natural park. That it stands to-day like an oasis in the, labyrinth of factories and dwellings which surround it on all sides, is a splendid example of what was made possible by staying the hand of the quarry interests at their work of despoliation. It is no wonder that the wild grandeur of these rugged head- lands has been conserved by legal enactments to serve as the basis of rational and inspirational recreation and its preservation for a higher use. Recreational Value of the Palisades. The river frontage offers the inducements of beach, wooded shore-line, inviting cover or scenes of expansive outlook, framed in by the gray and green of looming cliffs behind. Here the tourist party finds the openings of narrow ravines, where falling water invites to rest and seclusion under the shadow of ledges which impend half a thousand feet above the roadway (Fig. 21). Trails and foot-paths lead upward in zigzag courses from terrace to terrace, opening ever widening views across and beyond the winding river. Gool and shaded beaches allure Fig. 20. The Englewood approach, looking down from the cliffs upon the lagoon, showing the headlands and the wide expanse of the Hudson. 50 The Neiv York State College of Forestry willi the attractions of bathing, camping, or loitering, with choice bits of nature's handiwork ever ready to impress the attentive eye. Over the sloping rock surfaces (Fig. 1) the forest has extended its sway, with its wealth of wildwood offerings, densely wooded ledges, rugged ravine thickets, open sylvan terraces, or jutting promon- tories of rock with dizzying edges peering from the trees upon the expanse below. This is the Palisades section of the Park, twelve miles of the most beautiful portion of the lower Hudson's western shore, which serves as nature's contribution to a system of docks, pavilions, playgrounds, and other recreation centers created for the people by a purpose in Park administration altogether unique and unconventional. It is here that there has just been erected one of the largest bathhouses in the country, capable of accommodating 2,000 persons (Fig. 22). The building is made of the rock cut from the base of the cliffs, and is altogether consonant with the natural surround- ing. It nestles modestly at the foot of the headlands to the north of which a 500-foot artificial beach was made. The Harriman Park Benefaction. The State of New York purchased a 170-acre tract of land between West Point and Tomp- kins Cove, New York, for the purpose of erecting a penitentiary to relieve crowded Sing Sing. The citizens of Highland Falls, just north of the proposed prison site, objected to the location, and sub- sequently the land was turned over to the Palisades Interstate Park for a public park. To commemorate this transfer, and as a part of a general preconceived plan, a group of prominent people gathered on a rugged plateau at the base of Bear Mountain on October 29, 1910. At the conclusion of the opening addresses, Mr. W. Averell Harriman, now one of the commissioners, arose and said : "In accordance with a long cherished plan of my father (E. H. Harri- man) to give to the State of New York for the use of the people a portion of the Arden Estate, and acting in behalf of my mother, I now present to the Commissioners of the Palisades Interstate Park the land comprising the gift. I also hand you my mother's contribution to the expense of future development of the Harriman Park. It is her hope and mine that, through all the years to come, the health and happiness of future generations will be advanced by ■ I I Fig. 21. El Capitan, near Forest View, in the Palisades region; one of the striking landmarks. 52 The Neiv York State College of Forestry these gifts." With this Mr. Harriman handed to Mr. George W. Perkins, who, as Chairman of the Palisades Park Commission for nearly two decades, has been the active and inspiring leader in this work, a deed to 10,000 acres of land and checks amounting to $1,000,000. Thus lias the plan of housing criminals in this beautiful region of the Hudson Highlands been abandoned, while the little prisoners of the shims, ibe sad-eyed and sallow-cheeked children (Fig. 26), have been brought to the great out-of-doors to gather new strength and inspiration for the struggle. Here, at this abandoned prison site, lies the central portion of the Park, which is composed of the Bear Mountain region and the Harriman Park area, forested hills, lakes and limpid mountain brooks, all threaded and intersected by a system of roads, making every portion of the region accessible to campers, visitors and tourists. The Bear Mountain locality, with its commodious Inn (Fig. 12), offering a commanding outlook upon Anthony's Nose and Dunder- berg Hill, constitutes a scenic feature rivalling many of the Alpine hostelries, and equalling the effect produced in the Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park by the mountain chalets in picturesque situations. The views of the Hudson at Bear Moun- 1a in are magnificent, and the neighboring steeps are grand and inspiring. PIONEERING IN PUBLIC PARK ADMINISTRATION It is in its unusual conception of administration that the Pali- sades Park is unique, and will stand for many years as a great experiment in the social utilization of public parks. These prin- ciples might be summarized as follows: Park Installs and Administers All Facilities. All the con- struction work in the Park is carried on by the Commission's own force; its roads, buildings, lakes are mapped out by its own engineers. While at first this system strikes one as sound, in that it seeks to eliminate the profit motive of commercial con- tractors, a system fraught with a tradition of graft, favoritism, a> CO o3 CO — ? - a CO o CO **H -r X "co CO OS H J2l s CT o Q co c5 OJ )-- ^* -*-» CD rj 3 O co *+-( « OJ ~~ J2 H a 0) o ■•* « ^ — 3 o PLH o Fj — 3 of 2 6JD 's-. r3 .— 3 cs •+J r- c$ •t 1 — o O o a 5 CO o r— 1 o o O 3 CU co EC a o 0> o tD cS e3 a; 'S ,C ^-t r* oS 3 >— O co -u eS OJ CO o cy - &. CO CO CB -a r* a> -b +3 CO 3 • * CS N CO £ - 5C a • i— < i— ( 45 -+-» ©i C CM -*-i > . "4— t H CJ 54 The New York State College of Forestry and inefficiency, there is another higher and deeper motive which commits the Commission to this principle; that is, the Park is constantly experimenting in untried fields, and it seeks, in addition to the economic advantage of doing its own constructive work, to maintain a flexibility which will leave it free to change its plans as newer needs develop. Thus there is constantly employed a staff of workers who have to their credit such notable achievements as the Seven Lakes Drive, the Bear Mountain Inn, the Hazard's Beach Bath House, the enlargement of the lakes in the Park, etc.,— all under the direction of an ingenious engineer, Mr. William A. Welch, now General Manager of the Park. It is a disappointment to those interested in the rational develop- ment of pttblic playgrounds to have to see that in most of the public parks such facilities as restaurants, baths, and other accommoda- tions required for the enjoyment of the public are let out to commercial concessionaries. Naturally, the prime motive is one of profit and, while it is true that a measure of control is exercised by park administrators, the profit motive is uppermost, and thus the fundamental principle is unsound. The Palisades Park with one stroke, definite and uncompromis- ing, established the principle of no commercial concessions. It bases this principle on the solid ground that if a public park is maintained for the enjoyment of the public, the facilities indis- pensable to a maximum enjoyment must be free from exploitation and must be part and parcel of the park organization, just as the tree that shades the visitor or the lawn on which little children play. Thus the Bear Mountain Inn, a public restaurant, supplies food at moderate cost to Park visitors. In three years approxi- mately $500,000 worth of food has been sold. During the summer of 1919 over 1,100,000 sales were made by the Bear Mountain Inn. During 1919, over 41,000 persons used the new Hazard Bath House, of whom 29,366 paid from ten to twenty-five cents for towels, etc., while 12,044 used the place without service and there- fore without charge. A transportation service, which seeks to take people who would be unable otherwise to motor into the interior of the Park, trans- ported nearly 200,000 passengers during 1919. The Palisades Interstate Park 55 Thus the commercial concessionaire, with his profit itch, finds little comfort in the Palisades Park, and if this Park's experience in the principle of administration is an indication of what would happen in other public parks, it is hoped that it will have the desired cll'cct of removing the commercial aspecl from the means by winch the public enjoys its parks. Fullest Use of Park Resources. Another sound principle of public park administration is to be found in the Commission's policy of utilizing, so far as practicable and economical, its own resources in the development of its facilities. Thus the Hazard Bath House is built from the rock cut from the face of the cliffs; posts which support its upper story come from the dead, chestnut in the Park forest: the lumber is sawed in the Park mill; while all material is transported by the Park trucks. The hundreds of boats on Hessian Lake are built by the Com- mission's carpenters, and the tables and benches in the groves are made by its own staff. Two sound reasons are apparent for this principle: 1. It is economical in that it makes unnecessary the dependence on the market for supplies, a market which fluctuates; and 2. It enables the Commission to supply work to its staff during the winter months, thus maintaining the morale of its workers and making unnecessary the frequent changes so common in seasonal work in a park used largely in the summer. Wastes Utilized for Public Benefits. Merely as indicative of its policy of economic administration, let me cite some interesting instances of conservation employed by the Palisades Park. Orig- inally there was no land to speak of at the base of the Palisades. Thus the Palisades for twelve miles was more or less a bit of scenery to be enjoyed by the eye alone. The Commission found it possible to make considerable land by filling out into the Hudson Pliver without destroying the natural scenery. Huge playgrounds were thus laid out, as at Forest View. This filling-in process con- sisted chiefly of sinking old canal barges loaded with ballast, and laying on top of them the sweepings of New York streets, which, 56 The New York State College of Forestry of course, are to be had without cost. Thus wo owe a good deal of this land to the sired sweepings of New York! This is, of course, subsequently topped with soil and seeded. In order to maintain an architecture consonant with the wood- land, the sleeping cabins and mess halls built for camps are finished with the slabs from the logs. Ordinarily the slab is a waste product of the mill, but here it is used as a substitute for dressed lumber and to beautify the building. The ice on the lakes of the Park during the winter is harvested by the Park staff and placed in ice-houses built on the lakes, which supplies the summer needs of the camps and restaurants with ice. A TiOO-foot beach was made at the Hazard Path House from the screenings of stone quarries, a waste product for which nothing is paid. It makes a line beach, is procured by the barge load, and thus another ordinarily waste by-product of an industrial plant is utilized by the Park. Sound Finances and Park Administration. It is easy for a group of public-spirited men, such as constitute the Palisades Inter- slate Park Commission, to go too far in its ministrations, and to create a lack of appreciation in the facilities afforded by reason of a too liberal policy of use. Even this has been anticipated, for, through a system of extremely moderate charges for many of its facilities, the Commission hopes some day to be able to make its revenue-producing activities support the whole Park project. While this is an ambitious program, as an ideal it is to be striven for, because the Palisade's Park, in addition to making the widest use possible of its resources and facilities, has a definite financial program with which to carry it forward, not only to benefit those who come to enjoy its advantages, but also to relieve the State of the burden of maintaining a public park, through ignoring the reason- able and proper revenues which may be derived from its use. The Palisades Interstate Park 57 CENTRALIZATION, COORDINATION AND EFFICIENCY IN PARK ADMINISTRATION Certain problems are alike in all the camps. Food, for example, must be supplied. In order to keep the expenses of the individual camps down to the lowest level, the Commission undertook to act as commissariat. With its transportation system, its large pur- chasing power, its experts, it finds it possible to purchase food for less money than it is possible for individual organizations, most of them small, to procure the same food. Thus a storehouse, located near Bear Mountain, where cheap water transportation is available, is stocked with staple foods which, on a few hours' notice, can be delivered to any camp. Hot Meals Delivered to Camps. In order to make uniform the food supplied to the children, and particularly to assure itself that each child gets an adequate amount of nutritious food properly balanced, the Commission supplies camps with cooked food deliv- ered to the camp in heat-retaining receptacles (Fig. 23). The cost of twenty-one meals per week delivered was $4.00 in ID 19. How this is done forms an interesting chapter in a novel scheme. Bear Mountain Inn is, like most summer refreshment stations, used chiefly on Saturdays and Sundays. The demand for service on those days, however, is so great that it makes essential the main- tenance of a staff throughout the week, which is only partially occupied. In order to utilize to the maximum the spare time of this stall', and reduce to a minimum the overhead charge at the Inn, it was found that the staff at the Inn could do the wholesale cooking for the camps. This insures uniformity of quality and rationing. It also supplies a safety valve for the days when rain leaves vast quantities of food on hand, with no visitors to consume it. This food is then sent to the camps, so that sometimes the sur- prised camp master finds roast chicken as part of the menu sup- plied at the amazingly low sum of $4.00 a week for twenty-one meals. This food cooked in large quantities is placed in heat- retaining receptacles and sent to the camps hot and fresh. Thus last summer over 150,000 meals were served with a regularity cer- tainly equal to that of the uncertain temperamental household a C o 01 pq c o o 3 o DQ > ■ — l « o : i a. :- The Palisades Interstate Park •>' 1 cook. Most of the camps in the Park have taken advantage of this system, finding therein these advantages: 1. More and better food is supplied at less money than if a kitchen were established in each camp. 2. Uniformity of quality and scientific balancing. 3. Uncertainty of the securing and employment of cooks elimi- nated. 4. Avoids inevitable waste in small kitchens. 5. More time and greater opportunity to camp directors for the constructive educational work in a camp. Cooperative Health Activities. Another activity common to all the camps is that of the health of the camp population. The Palisades Park employed a doctor who visited the cooperating camps each day, (a) to examine the children in order particularly to avoid the spread of any disease; (b) to give treatment to those needing the same; (c) to inspect the sanitary aspects of the camp (Fig. 25). The camps paid an average of $1.00 per month per child for this service. Thus again the Park, through centralization, makes available to all the camps a medical service which most of the camps would be unable to afford for their camp alone. In addition, the doctor delivered lectures on health, thus making a child's vacation in the Palisades Park mean something in terms of normal growth, edu- cation, and character. Transportation. In order to make it possible for those with the least of life's goods to come into the Park, the Commission has arranged a standard transportation rate of $1.50 (1919 rate) from the boat landing in New York to any camp in the Park and return (Fig. 29). This involves in each case a ninety- mile return boat ride, and from ten to thirty-four miles return automobile ride. This low transportation rate is made possible only by reason of the surplus from the rates charged to the general public for sight-seeing trips. On certain days (Saturday, Sunday and holidays) all the omnibuses of the Commission are reserved ei 00 o & t>i o -M CO **■• ^ ^ t> J-, -Z v: 0$ 1) ?H o s ft -H "4H P»> - ,c 1) 1 . bj _ Ol +3 o o p O pjKjjk o ^^ . o GQ .— r • >J o pq * - C _. ■■ fe •** , c -^^^ • o r-< 3 o M a> to *$!s^P •~ to -. es n in CS C si a. c Cg i-H o,et> I * % tf ^ 1 1 The Palisades Interstate Park 73 sleeping cabins and provided with a bench and pegs for basins. These wash houses are partially enclosed to permit persons to strip entirely for bathing purposes. They are constructed with a view to good drainage and ventilation. Water Supply. The water supply system is thoroughly tested and approved by the New York State Health Department before camps are permitted to make use thereof. Toilets. The Kaustine toilet system is used, consisting of a waterless closet, an aseptic tank charged with caustic soda, properly ventilated, and enclosed in a building especially set up for the purpose. Waste Disposal. Standard garbage-burning disposal equip- ment is supplied to each camp. Docks and Beaches. Boat and swimming docks projecting into the water are built for camps situated on the shores of lakes. For younger children, swimming corrals are provided when considera- tion -of safety makes them desirable. Police Protection. Police protection is available in the Park at all times. Telephone. All camps are within access of telephone communi- cation. Tenure. Only a one-year tenure is granted, renewable annually at the discretion of the Park Commission. Completely Equipped Camps. A small number of fully equipped camps will be available in the order in which application is made therefor, the use by one organization being restricted to three weeks. The capacity of these fully equipped camps is thirty- two each. The purpose in building them is to make it possible for small organizations not able to maintain a camp for the whole season to operate a camp for a period not to exceed three weeks without being put to the cost of purchasing equipment. It is impossible at this time to determine the rental of these camps, but the policy of the Commission is that of requiring pay- The Palisades Interstate Park 73 sleeping cabins and provided with a bench and pegs for basins. These wash houses are partially enclosed to permit persons to strip entirely for bathing purposes. They are constructed with a view- to good drainage and ventilation. Water Supply. The water supply system is thoroughly tested and approved by the New York State Health Department before camps are permitted to make use thereof. Toilets. The Kaustine toilet system is used, consisting of a waterless closet, an aseptic tank charged with caustic soda, properly ventilated, and enclosed in a building especially set up for the purpose. Waste Disposal. Standard garbage-burning disposal equip- ment is supplied to each camp. Docks and Beaches. Boat and swimming docks projecting into the water are built for camps situated on the shores of lakes. For younger children, swimming corrals are provided when considera- tion -of safety makes them desirable. Police Protection. Police protection is available in the Park at all times. Telephone. All camps are within access of telephone communi- cation. Tenure. Only a one-year tenure is granted, renewable annually at the discretion of the Park Commission. Completely Equipped Camps. A small number of fully equipped camps will be available in the order in which application is made therefor, the use by one organization being restricted to three weeks. The capacity of these fully equipped camps is thirty- two each. The purpose in building them is to make it possible for small organizations not able to maintain a camp for the whole season to operate a camp for a period not to exceed three weeks without being put to the cost of purchasing equipment. It is impossible at this time to determine the rental of these camps, but the policy of the Commission is that of requiring pay- 74 The New York State College of Forestry ment merely to cover the cost. It is believed that in this way small organizations will be able to stimulate an interest in the out-of-doors which will enable them another year, perhaps, to develop permanent full season camps. COST OF CAMP UNITS The Commissioners, desirous of establishing a policy mutually satisfactory to the State and to the organizations whose applica- tions for camp sites are accepted, have arranged to place at the disposal of such organizations existing camps and to construct camp facilities where these do not already exist on the following uniform basis : 1. Organizations will pay as an annual maintenance contribu- tion to the Commissioners the actual cost of maintenance of the camp plant. This is five per cent of the cost of the buildings and improvements and ten per cent depreciation. The build- ings and improvements are erected by the working force of the Commission. 2. Maintenance contributions for complete camp plants range from $350 to $750 a year. 3. Estimates of maintenance contribution in specific cases are furnished upon consultation. STANDARD CAMP EQUIPMENT Many of the camp organizations in the Park consist of small groups in need of expert advice with respect to camp equipment. In the process of standardization, the Commissioners have devised standard camp equipment manufactured or purchased by them and resold to organizations at cost. The Commission's camp organization, together with its large purchasing power, enables it to secure price concessions difficult if not impossible for smaller organizations to obtain. The Commission maintains a storehouse where standard equip- ment is stocked during the winter and is available to camp organizations during the spring and summer. M i~ a ■s '■- i 1 P4 IS a ■ — (-. Si a OS 0) ,0 eS 00 CM 6 '5 le is it n d l- )1' is i- e 3t y e e e >s cr o The Palisades Interstate Park 75 The Commission will, on request, equip a camp plant from the foundation of the huilding to the teaspoon on the table. All this service is rendered without extra cost to the organization or profit to the Commission. FOOD SERVICES Staple Groceries. For the same reason that the Commission found it to the advantage of its camp residents to standardize and sell equipment on the ground., a food storehouse has been organ- ized where all staple groceries are kept on hand and available for sale at cost. The camps are so isolated that economical delivery of foods is difficult. By means of the transportation facilities of the Com- mission, it is possible, within an hour's notice, to deliver large and small quantities of staple supplies to the camps at a cost below that for which the same supplies can be purchased by individual organizations from other sources. By the use of the Commission's food supply store and transportation service, the Purchasing Department of the Commission is thus made available to each organization, however small, and the heavy costs of express and trucking, with their innumerable delays, are eliminated. Milk. The Commission will arrange for a daily delivery of milk to the door of the camp in the same manner as other supplies. Bread. In the same way the Commission bakes in its own plant and contracts for bread which it will sell and deliver to camping organizations. Cooked Meals Delivered. In order to eliminate cooking at the camps, the Commission has, for the convenience of camp organi- zations, arranged to place at their command the large food-pro- ducing facilities of the Bear Mountain Inn. Cooked food is sup- plied from the Inn direct to the camps (Fig. 23). Prices for this service will be available in May of each year. It avoids the difficulty of getting kitchen help to work in the woods, and the uncertainty of keeping the help when once secured. Finally, the service requires less supervision on the part of the a c t c r c The Palisades Interstate Park 75 The Commission will, on request, equip a camp plant from the foundation of the building to the teaspoon on the table. All this service is rendered without extra cost to the organization or profit to the Commission. FOOD SERVICES Staple Groceries. For the same reason that the Commission found it to the advantage of its camp residents to standardize and sell equipment on the ground, a food storehouse has been organ- ized where all staple groceries are kept on hand and available for sale at cost. The camps are so isolated that economical delivery of foods is difficult. By means of the transportation facilities of the Com- mission, it is possible, within an hour's notice, to deliver large and small quantities of staple supplies to the camps at a cost below that for which the same supplies can be purchased by individual organizations from other sources. By the use of the Commission's food supply store and transportation service, the Purchasing Department of the Commission is thus made available to each organization, however small, and the heavy costs of express and trucking, with their innumerable delays, are eliminated. Milk. The Commission will arrange for a daily delivery of milk to the door of the camp in the same manner as other supplies. Bread. In the same way the Commission bakes in its own plant and contracts for bread which it will sell and deliver to camping organizations. Cooked Meals Delivered. In order to eliminate cooking at the camps, the Commission has, for the convenience of camp organi- zations, arranged to place at their command the large food-pro- ducing facilities of the Bear Mountain Inn. Cooked food is sup- plied from the Inn direct to the camps (Fig. 23). Prices for this service will be available in May of each year. It avoids the difficulty of getting kitchen help to work in the woods, and the uncertainty of keeping the help when once secured. Finally, the service requires less supervision on the part of the a o oo ee a> to 01 -3 0) 3 s o a: O O) a; OS -P el « a; -3 H cp a a ca 3 42 CD ;>> ■+-> 00 F— I CI 1—1 CD H OS 6 The Palisades Interstate Park 77 Camp Director, thus enabling him to devote more time to recrea- tional and cultural work in the camps. Last year the Commission supplied over 150,000 meals to camps in this manner, some of them located as far as seventeen miles from the Bear Mountain Inn. Not in a single instance did meals fail throughout the season. Standard Balanced Dietary. With the assistance of the hest expert advice ohtainahle in this field, a careful study has been made of the food needs of children living out of doors. There has been designed on the basis of this study a standard dietary which has a plan for each meal for three weeks. This dietary allows for a minimum of from 2,400 to 2,500 calories of food per day per child, and is balanced in such a manner as to give the children the needed ingredients for healthy growth. TRANSPORTATION The Commission maintains a special arrangement with two large river steamboats which ply between New York and Bear Moun- tain. As this Bulletin goes to press it is impossible to state what the transportation rate will be, but one of the purposes of this arrangement is to keep the cost of transportation down to the low r est point consistent with self-support. By the maintenance of such water transportation facilities, combined with its large fleet of auto- mobile omnibuses, campers will be enabled to make the complete trip from New York to the camp with every assurance that the Com- mission's resources will be bent to make the trip an educational and economical one. The trip from New York embraces a 45-mile boat ride to Bear Mountain and. in most cases, a 17-mile automo- bile ride. The boats will carry the equipment of camps as well as the food supplies for the Commission. In this w T ay there will be a daily delivery of material to Bear Mountain. The rates for transportation of campers by boat and automobile, as w r ell as freight rates, will be supplied upon application and as soon as they are determined by the Commission. Miscellaneous trucking of supplies will be arranged for by the Commission. The Neiv York State College of Forestry It is also possible to hire the omnibuses of the Commission at reduced rates for special trips to points of interest, such as West Point, the Forest of Dean Mine, Queensboro Furnace, and various scenic tours (Fig. 29). RECREATION AND EDUCATION Row Boats. The Commission will loan to camp organizations flat-bottom row boats, especially constructed with a view to safety, with one pair of oars and oar-locks, on payment to the Commission of $1.00 per week. This charge merely covers the cost of repairs, painting and renewal of boat equipment. Organizations will be held responsible for the return in good condition of the boat and boat equipment at the end of the season, ordinary wear and tear excepted. Breakage or loss of boats or equipment is chargeable to the organization hiring the boats. Music and Other Entertainments. Musical concerts are given periodically in the various camp centers. Inter-camp athletics and aquatic meets are held throughout the season. Inter-camp entertainments with local camp talent are always encouraged and fill the evenings of the summer with inter- est, entertainment, and fun. Lectures. The Commission arranges with prominent lecturers for informal talks on topics of live interest. The lecturers visit centers to which groups of campers are invited, notice being given in advance (Fig. 14). There is no charge for this service. Natural History Exhibits. Twenty small exhibits of mounted birds, minerals, reptiles, and other objects of natural history are loaned to the camps for short periods, together with leaflets for camp directors to use for imparting instruction in nature studies. This work is carried on in cooperation with and through the cour- tesy of the American Museum of Natural History. j°AL/SAD£S-/A/7&?Smr£'/2A /?X HARR/MAN -SECT/ ON w/ r^r ADJO/WAfG -REG/OA/S-ZN-T/iE RAzVAPDMOUZ\TAZZV5 5ffOW/.vg ROADS-TRA/LS -LAKES CAMP S/TES Sc*i £ /:*Botsr / /r/i£ |E rj-A.nCLCtt . cmtr £■/*&** Pi CKSft ILL . Fig. 30. Map of the Haiiiman section of the Palisades Interstate Park. The Palisades Interstate Park 79 HEALTH PROTECTION The Sanitary Supervisor of the New York State Health Depart- ment will make a sanitary inspection of each camp plant and certify as to its healthfulness before the camp is permitted to be occupied. The Commission will cooperate with a physician with head- quarters centrally located, who will make visits to each camp plant, examine such children (Fig. 25) as are pointed out by the camp councillors to be in need of medical examination, give first aid to cases of accident, and do such other work as may be necessary to maintain the campers in the best of health. The schedule of cost of this service will be supplied on appli- cation. PALISADES PARK CAMP DIRECTORS' ASSOCIATION This is an organization of directors of all of the camps in the Palisades Park. The branches of this organization are : (a) Sta- hahe Group, (b) Kanahwauke Group, (c) Central Valley Group, (d) Palisades Group, and (e) Miscellaneous Group. The purpose of this organization is to increase, so far as possible, the value and efficiency of the camp enterprises in the Park. Each group has its own offices and meets weekly, the meeting being held at a different camp each week. At these meetings the local problems are dis- cussed, the inter-camp activities arranged, and any matter pertain- ing to camps in the Park receives the freest criticism. The organi- zation, in addition to its weekly meetings during the summer, meets in the winter and spring preparatory to the activities of the ensuing season. The Palisades Interstate Park 79 HEALTH PROTECTION The Sanitary Supervisor of the New York State Health Depart- ment will make a sanitary inspection of each camp plant and certify as to its healthfulness before the camp is permitted to be occupied. The Commission will cooperate with a physician with head- quarters centrally located, who will make visits to each camp plant, examine such children (Fig. 25) as are pointed out by the camp councillors to be in need of medical examination, give first aid to cases of accident, and do such other work as may be necessary to maintain the campers in the best of health. The schedule of cost of this service will be supplied on appli- cation. PALISADES PARK CAMP DIRECTORS' ASSOCIATION This is an organization of directors of all of the camps in the Palisades Park. The branches of this organization are : (a) Sta- hahe Group, (b) Kanahwauke Group, (c) Central Valley Group, (d) Palisades Group, and (e) Miscellaneous Group. The purpose of this organization is to increase, so far as possible, the value and efficiency of the camp enterprises in the Park. Each group has its own offices and meets weekly, the meeting being held at a different camp each week. At these meetings the local problems are dis- cussed, the inter-camp activities arranged, and any matter pertain- ing to camps in the Park receives the freest criticism. The organi- zation, in addition to its weekly meetings during the summer, meets in the winter and spring preparatory to the activities of the ensuing season. RETURN ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN LIBRARY TO— + 210 Wurster Hall 642-4818 LOAN PERIOD 1 QUARTER 2 3 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS Return books early if they are not being used DUE AS STAMPED BELOW L UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY FORM NO. DD1 3, 74m, 3/78 BERKELEY, CA 94720 ®s