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<br />000715 <br /> <br />., <br /> <br />FLAT TOPS PRIMITIVE AREA <br />WHITE RIVER AND ROUTT NATIONAL FORESTS <br /> <br />The Flat Tops Primitive Area was established on March 5, 1932, by R. Y. Stuart, Chief of <br />the Forest Service, U.S.D.A. Lewis R. Rist, Forest Supervisor, recommended the designation <br />of the area in his report of December 17, 1929, revised on February 1, 1932. At that time <br />the entire White River Plateau was included in the White River National Forest. Currently, it <br />is included in both the White River and Routt N.F.'s. <br /> <br />Thirteen years earlier - in 1919 - Forest Service Recreation Engineer Arthur Carhart <br />proposed that beautiful Trappers Lake at the base of the Flat Tops escarpment, be kept <br />undeveloped. This policy was adopted, road and summer home plans for the lake dropped, <br />and the Forest Service took the first steps in the evolution of the Wilderness concept as part <br />of a balanced pattern of land management. The growth of this concept led to the <br />formalizing of Regulation L-20 on July 12, 1929, settling a uniform designation and <br />management policy for National Forest Primitive Areas. <br /> <br />,I <br /> <br />The 1932 Management Plan for the Primitive Area noted that, "The White River Flat Tops <br />include a vast region of unique wilderness. . .in which are to be found ideal conditions for <br />the enjoyment of the outdoors comparable to those existing at a more primitive period." <br />The plan recommended that these conditions be perpetuated ". . .consistent with necessary <br />economic considerations. . .". Structures and occupancy, except to assist in utilization of <br />timber, forage, and water resources, was prohibited, as were resorts and summer homes. No <br />private land inholdings were within the boundary of the Primitive Area. <br /> <br />Some 52,775 acres were considered to support timber stands of commercial quality, and the <br />plan noted, "The area is su itable for practical forest management but due to unsatisfactory <br />marketing conditions, the harvesting of the timber must necessarily be delayed for some <br />time in the future." It added, "The Engelmann spruce stands consist for the most part of <br />large mature and overmature trees," and, "Timber.. .will be cut in accordance <br />with. . .management plans which take primitive values into account." Obviously, even <br />though Regulation L-20 was a significant milestone in the evolution of Wilderness <br />management, the concept as it is known today-an area untrammeled by man-had not fully <br />developed in 1932. <br /> <br />l <br />" <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />Ten years after the promulgation of Regulation L-20, the Secretary of Agriculture issued <br />Regulations U-l and U-2, which further refined the wilderness management concept. These <br />regulations, U-l for Wilderness Areas over 100,000 acres and U.2 for Wild Areas under <br />100,000 acres, eliminated the provision for commercial timber harvest. However, each <br />Primitive Area would have to be reviewed before it could be redesignated under' the more <br />restrictive "U" Regulations. By this time, 76 Primitive Areas had been established <br />throughout the National Forest System. <br /> <br />- I <br />I <br /> <br />Before the Flat Tops could be reviewed, World War II began. The Primitive Area and <br />surrounding undeveloped lands on the White River National Forest were not affected by <br />man through the war years, but the dynamic stresses of nature continued to build up in the <br />