Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1914-12-11
Shenandoah Trail Located
On Historic Ground

.>nliunal Forest the first span OF II
system Of. trails which has been
/ id out by Fores Officers. facilitate
comu ~ c ton throughout the
Forrest unI 10 move more easily
fire fighting apparatus and supplies
in csss a fire should b eAk pHt from
Hrs HEaGquHr'sds ~ Alls Esi'!li
ali'l!h tIt reseEgAiluH,
1'he hg& FAil ID atilia ! tlIlIks
III istigit ai;d rSlehus fr"til tb'
head III North River to the Park
pisburg Pike which crosses tin
Shenandoah Mountain a owe " es'
Augusta Throughout lis entilt
tenth t folio,s the Shenandoah
luuntaln and By skirtlng the high
knobs good grade has been oh
aimed which dies not exceed l2pe'
cent ut a,ypoiI t For a cons derabl'
distance il follows the trenches
thrown up along the mountain TOY
W Gen Edward Johnson in 1862 at
he Battle of Mcdowell. 1t is very
nobahle tla1 at some tine this
trail which is technically knoSn a.
! class C trail, or one made fol
orse back and pack horse traVeI
i'm two foot tread but CLEARED
,ide enough to permit a heavily
raded pack animul to .pass alonF
vii be widened into wagon ROAD.
his can be accomplished on thu
present excellent grade by rnerel'
,idcning h. tread vi hout in any
ay changing the lora,l"n.
rLi< trail has opened up a ter
tory which could he Travelled
kept on foot, only with the great
st uIifi"uIty, and traverses thu
ESTEEM edge of the famous
ans, vs. Draft watershed, a ter
itoly of more than local reputa
III un"ng hunters ami Fishermen
ID whirh contains the largesi
oils If virgin limber on thu
uiunnl l'nrrst. 1t Was for th'
ROT ectiono Of the latter that 1t VA,
lis dered advisable to Construct
.r>t 'itis ctl.h bf the trail.
As NJ, II. money is available fir, n
,ar to year the Shenandoah Noun
in trrll will be extended until II
Jus the entire length of thu
National Forest or distance oil
ONE % miles. Laterals will thel
e thrown out until every ilnpor-
ant ridge will have its trail, max
rg all sections easily accessible
rom the Ranger Station or fire
,eadquarterS
This Improvement work has
zen done entirely by men living
n the vicinity of the Forest and
We're it hot for the large amount o'
money which it is necessary to ex-
zen an fire prevention work, fire
ghting tools and equipment II
QUILL be possible to use many
lnre men and do much more in
,rovement work.
Daring the past year it has beel
mp, ssible to use many of the APP
1licants, not because tuere was
lck Of work but because funds
which might be used had to be
Inverted from improvement VOL.
30 fire prevention.
The responsibility for this state OF
lffairs rests largely with a very few
nen who thigh careless ess or
for selfish reasons persist periodical
y setting out fires, and just so long
IS public opinion will santior
,cts of this nature, officers will
have TO be kept on the Reserve to
applehend the offenders, and little
Improvement work will be done
md then only work Which is of such
nature that it cannot be burned
Up.
During the past year twi"e as
much money would have been
AVAILABLE and twice as many men
,ould have been used but for the
neces ity of making such large ex-
)enditules for the protection Of
he Reserve against fire, and IN
view of the recent destructive fires
y the north and sou.h of the
National Forest it is felt Ivy Forest
officers that public opini"n Las
lot yet reached the point sWhere it
views forest fires as a public men
ance and that therefore they are
rot justified in making any de
crease in the expenditures for f'e
prevention or any increase in ex-
,enduitures for improvements. A
, consequence many men living in
he vicinity of the National Re-
serve who might have work for a
considerable portion of the year
will have to hunt employment
until the time comes when the
public will handle the fire situation
and leave forest officers the time to
plan and the funds to C rry out
Improvement plans which will
recrue directly not only to the
benefit of all forest users but also
to the counties in which the public
lands are situated.
For SALE County Store and
blacksmith shop. near Staunton,
ln;n Lnnl l,,,n,nnnn ninn Il u,nlli Z, a,