d be established, to be
administered by the Secretary of Agriculture and to be comprised of
the existing Massanutten Unit of the George Washington National
Forest and such adjacent areas as may be needed to accomplish the
purposes enumerated above.

2. Development of the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation
Area, designated by Congress in 1965, should be accelerated.

3. Other National Forest lands in the Basin should also be adapted
to a variety of compatible recreational uses, and their beauty and
natural functioning protected by watershed management and the
improvement of wildlife habitat, at an accelerated pace for early
results.

4. In the interest of consolidation of this great resource, the
Secretary of Agriculture should continue discussion with States,
local governments, and private citizens, leading to extension of
the National Forests on the upper reaches of the Potomac.

5. To enhance and increase the widely sought opportunity for
water-related recreation in the National Forest lands as well as to
contribute to the Forests' functional health, two measures are
recommended:

a. Acceleration of work to improve the hydrologic characteristics
of these lands, with the purpose of decreasing damage from rapid
runoff and increasing the flow of clean natural water in the
streams during critical low-flow periods.

b. Installation of that portion of the Department of Agriculture's
upstream watershed improvement program consisting of some 40 small
reservoirs within the National Forests, and recreational
development of the sites in a manner compatible with State
recreation planning.

6. To encourage and help non-Federal forest landowners in the Basin
to maintain forest cover and develop their woodlands for fish and
game production, natural beauty, and recreation, existing Forest
Service, State, and private forestry programs should be
accelerated.

[Illustration]

F. The public's opportunity to appreciate and enjoy the rich variety of
the Basin's landscape is hampered now by a shortage of suitable routes
designed to furnish that opportunity. Two systems of such routes would
link together the Basin's most fundamental attractions and connect it
with the amenities of other regions:

1. Studies are already well advanced toward the definiti