Forest Recreation, Fifth Edition

Rating:
Summary: Read with a grain of salt
Review: Forest Recreation by Prof. Robert Douglass has a definite conservative slant. The book has many facts about recreation programs and policies and is well organized, although you will be subject to his opinions. His book repeatedly mentions that there is less public support for publicly funded recreation. He dooms the economy by referring to today's so called climate of shrinking public resources and funds. His support for the private sector is taken to an extreme. He writes, "Recreation was moved, for the most part, into the private and merit good categories because of the changing economy, individual choices, and demographic changes." He feels recreation is better and more appropriately funded by the private sector. His criticism of the public sector makes me wonder why he is employed by a public university. He told my class at Ohio State University that he won't go to public campgrounds, only private ones; that's because he says the staff of the public sector don't treat the public with courtesy. His support of multiple-use practices dominates over environmental practices, such as preservation. He continually presents the original intent of programs and policies to criticizes the legal changes to these policies and programs, despite shifting public values that support preservation.