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<br />. .- <br /> <br />003688 <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />. The report itself might warrant complete reproduction here because it stated so well <br />Carhart's position, but limitations of space permit reference to only some of the salient <br />points. Under the title "Preservation" Carhart asserted that the "first logical step" in any <br />work of this type is to "plan for preservation and protection of all of those things that are <br />of values great enough to sacrifice a certain amount of economic return so there may be a <br />greater total return from the aesthetic qualities."3o <br /> <br />This step was discussed under such additional headings as "Game," "Timber," <br />"Portage," and "Ownership." That .the plan was practical and yet provided for wilderness <br />protection through the exclusion of roads in the forest, was shown under a section headed <br />"Accessibility."Jl (It should be noted that these proposals were made in 1919.) As Carhart <br />remarked: "Suffice it to say that good auto roads lead to the edge of this plan at many <br />points, that railways touch the border in such a manner that they can carry much traffic to <br />the borders of the [planned areal. . . .32 He then added that the plan "does not take rank <br />with the mere placing of campsites. I t goes far beyond that." Carhart further explained that <br />in order to get "full return" from the forest areas, in order to "correlate uses" so there will <br />be no interference resulting in loss to the nation, and in order that "this National Forest <br />shall have its development based on sound foundations of a size commensurate with the <br />importance of its recreation possibilities, it is imperative that the planning reach what may <br />be known for want of a better term as Forest Regional Planning."J3 <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />The year 1919 was indeed a banner one for the Forest Service and for the State of <br />Colorado. In the summer of that year, Arthur Carhart was assigned to make a survey of the <br />Trappers lake area in the White River National Forest of Colorado. The purpose of the <br />survey was to plot several hundred summer homesites on the lakeshore and to plan a <br />through road around the lake. During July, 1919, operating out of what was then Scott <br />Teague's Camp located at the outlet of Trappers lake, Carhart laid survey lines around the <br />lake according to his instructions. It seems that Paul J. Rainey and William McFadden were <br />guests of Teague at this time, so Carhart had a chance to meet them there. After a series of <br />spirited talks together, Rainey and McFadden persuaded Carhart that the Forest Service <br />should keep Trappers lake in a wild-land condition.J4 Carhart, in turn, then translated the <br />idea into a functional plan through his landscape architectural training and his basic <br />orientation toward nature and the unspoiled wilderness. <br /> <br />Upon his return to the District Office in Denver, Carhart furnished his immediate <br />supervisor, Carl J. Stahl, not only with the completed surveys but also with the unsolicited <br />comment that he opposed the plan of making homesites on the lakeshore. After some <br />discussion, Stahl agreed with him that the Trappers lake area should remain road less and <br />that the many applications for homesite permits around the lake should not be honored. <br />This was an unprecedented step in Forest Service history; it marked the first de facto <br />appl ication of the wilderness concept.3 S <br /> <br />,. <br /> <br />By 1919 the backlog of applications for summer homesitesJ6 had begun to plague the <br />District Office in Denver. To men like Stahl, Carhart's opposition to developing the <br />Trappers lake area merited further study and discussion with others in the Service who had <br />similar problems. One such man was Aida leopold, who, after hearing Stahl tell about the <br /> <br />5 <br />