FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE USDA Forest Service, White River National Forest 120 Midland Ave., Suite 140 Glenwood Springs, CO 81601 Contact: Kate Jerman, +1 (970) 945-3237
[email protected] US Forest Service Commemorates 50th Anniversay of Wilderness at Cradle of Wilderness in Flat Tops Wilderness Area Meeker, Colo.,August, 22, 2014 - In 2014 the US Forest Service is dedicated to commemorating “50 Years of Wilderness” and honoring the anniversary of the National Wilderness Preservation System and the Wilderness Act of 1964. Today, Forest Service officials, employees, partners and community members gathered before the sweeping vistas of Trappers Lake in the Flat Tops Wilderness on the White River National Forest to recognize the 50th anniversary and to honor the Trappers Lake area. Trappers Lake, also known as the Cradle of Wilderness, remains a historically significant area for the region and the agency in regards to wilderness preservation. The Cradle of Wilderness was one of the first areas in the nation to be set aside from development by the agency due to the foresight of visionary Arthur Carhart, who sought for greater protection measures over special areas of land. “This area is special, not only to the community but to the agency. The story of Trappers Lake begins with the foresight of Arthur Carhart in 1919,” stated Ken Coffin, District Ranger of the Blanco Ranger District. “Carhart persuaded Forest Service leadership to save the area from development. By doing so, the agency took an unprecedented step, one of the first in the nation, toward establishing protected and pristine areas.” In 1919, Carhart was charged with surveying the Trappers Lake area for development.