Laserfiche WebLink
<br />000890 <br /> <br />Beckwith Ridge, West Elk Range, , .storm Ridge, the Anthracite Range, Numerous streams <br />have their sources on these ranges and flow to all points of the compass forming canyons of <br />varying descriptions with many interesting features, , , , The 'Castles' is one example, , , . <br />Their rocks rise with sheer walls for hundreds of feet, forming fantastic towers, domes, <br />minarets and battlements, and when seen from a distance have every semblance of the <br />feudal castles of Europe," <br /> <br />Sapinero District Ranger A, J, Ebert and Forester John C, Miller submitted a report and <br />management plan to Gunnison National Forest Supervisor H, Q, Robe on April 20, 1953, <br />recommending reclassification of the Primitive Area as a Wild Area under Regulation U-2, <br />This recommendation was approved by Robe on the same day and in turn by "R,B,M,," <br />Acting Regional Forester, on June 9, 1953, Forest Service Chief R, E, McArdle approved <br />the establishment of the enlarged 62,000 acre West Elk Wild Area on April 2, 1957, <br /> <br />Congressional enactment of the Wilderness Act in 1964 resulted in the automatic inclusion <br />of all Wild and Wilderness Areas in the National Wilderness Preservation System, Now <br />known as the West Elk Wilderness, some 61,412 acres of the Gunnison National Forest <br />remain, as in 1931, "primitive in the real sense of the word," <br />