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<br />000895
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<br />LA GAR ITA WILDERNESS
<br />GUNNISON AND RIO GRANDE NATIONAL FORESTS
<br />COLORADO
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<br />The La Garita Wilderness was first identified as having the qualities we now know as
<br />Wilderness on August 25, 1931, when Cochetopa National Forest Supervisor C. 8, Mack
<br />recommended that 38,020 acres of his Forest be designated as a Primitive Area. ", , ,it is
<br />isolated and far removed from human development, , , ," said Mack,
<br />
<br />His report continued, "The region is valuable for its scenic features, the presence of wild
<br />game, notably mountain sheep and elk, and for other features representative of primitive
<br />conditions."
<br />
<br />On location and accessibility: "The area is accessible only by foot or horseback over
<br />Government trails. I t is reached from Saguache, , .over a State highway for a distance of 21
<br />miles, thence by horseback for 26 miles."
<br />
<br />On the public sentiment of the time, Mack reported, "The sentiment of the public relative
<br />to the establishment of the region as a primitive area has never been ascertained"It may,
<br />however, be assumed to be favorable to its wit~drawal for the purpose of maintaining the
<br />primitive conditions which exist at present."
<br />
<br />A little more than a year later, November 18, 1931, Regional Forester Allen S, Peck agreed
<br />with Forest Supervisor Mack, and approved his. proposal. Chief Forester R, y, Stuart
<br />subsequently approved the plan and report on October 1, 1932, and the La Garita-Sheep
<br />Mountain Primitive Area was established. He took this action under the authority of the
<br />Secretary of Agriculture's Regulation L.20, relating to the occupancy, use, protection and
<br />administration of the National Forests,
<br />
<br />In 1944, the Cochetopa National Forest lands were added to the adjoining Rio Grande and
<br />Gunnison National Forests, In 1960, the respective Forest Supervisors recommended that
<br />the primitive area be enlarged frorn 38,020 acres to 49,000 acres and designated as the La
<br />Garita Wild Area, under the provisions of the Secretary of Agriculture's Regulations U-2,
<br />
<br />Richard E, McArdle, Chief of the Forest Service, approved the recommendation in 1961,
<br />and when the Wilderness Act of 1964 was enacted into law, the area was renamed the La
<br />Garita Wilderness as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System,
<br />
<br />The 1960 Forest Service proposal for changing designation from the Primitive classification
<br />to the more permanent Wild Area nomenclature contains some interesting facts and
<br />observations,
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