In California a number of cities have set up municipal camps in the National Forests.  At very low costs, the city residents can spend their vacations at these camps.  Tents and cottages are provided.  Facilities for all kinds of games and sports furnish recreation.  Each family may stay at the camp for two weeks.  The expenses are so low for meals and tents that the municipal camps furnish the best and cheapest vacation which the family of limited means can enjoy.  These camps are very popular.  Wherever they have been tried, they have been successful.  There are twelve municipal camps in California.  They cost $150,000.

Fine automobile camps are maintained along many of the important National and State Forest highways for the use of tourists.  Concrete fireplaces, tables, benches and running water are provided at these wayside camping places.  The tourists who carry their camp kits like to stop at these automobile camps.  They meet many other tourists and exchange information about the best trails to follow and the condition of the roads.  Sometimes, permanent cabins and shelters are provided for the use of the cross-country travelers.  The only rules are that care be exercised in the use of fire and the camping sites be kept in clean and sanitary condition.

All the forest roads are posted with many signs asking the tourists to be careful in the use of matches, tobacco and camp fires, so as not to start destructive forest fires.  In the Federal and State forests hundreds of man-caused fires occur annually, due to the neglect and carelessness of campers and tourists to put out their camp fires.  A single match or a cigarette stub tossed from a passing automobile may start a costly fire.  During the season from May to October, the western forests usually are as dry as tinder.  Rains are rare during that period.  A fire once started runs riot unless efficient control measures are used at once.

Those interested in fishing and hunting usually can find plenty of chance to pursue their favorite sports in the National and State Forests.  There is good fishing in the forest streams and lakes, as the rangers, working in cooeperation with Federal and State hatcheries yearly restock important waters.  Fishing and hunting in the National Forests are regulated by the fish and game laws of that state in which the forests are located.  The killing of wild game is permitted during certain open seasons in most of the forest regions.

[Illustration:  Good forests mean good hunting and fishing]

The eastern forests in the White Mountains, the Adirondacks, and the Appalachians, are not, for the most part, as well developed as recreation grounds as are the western vacation lands.  However, more interest is being taken each year in the outdoor life features of the eastern forests, and ultimately they will be used on a large scale as summer camp grounds.  Many hikers and campers now spend their annual vacations