Evening star., 1924-11-14
BLUE RIDGE PARK
SITE CHOICE LOOMS
AS SURVEY CLOSES
''ReaI National Park Mate
riaI," Committee Reports
After Inspection.
SECTION IN TENNESSEE
IS NEXT TO BE STUDIED
Accessibility of Shenandoah Area
Regarded as Big Factor
in Selection.
BY HI. 4. PHILLIPS.

/ BY II. Il. PHILIPS.
| mat the Easts first great national
| park will be established atop the his
| toric Blue Ridge Mountains Of Vir-
! Ginia, within days travel of Amer
/ ica's greatest center of population.
seemed more certain than ever today,
when the committee of Government
experts which has been touring the
area for the past week returned to
| Washington satisfied that it is real
national park material"
| tomorrow the committeeman will
leave for the Great Smoky Mountains
| or Tennessee, there to examine the
| only other territory that is regarded
| by disinterested specialists as being
a close rival to the Blue Ridge Noun
tains for the privilege of becoming
the Southern Appalachian National
Park, which is certain to be created
! somewhere within a year.
Choice to he Made Soon,
When they finally return to Wash
| ington, after November 20, the de-
cision as to selection will be made,
! but those who have been in touch
with the experts during their exami-
nation of the Virginia area conf
IDENTIFY believe they will recommend
1t first, probably suggesting the
| Smoky Mountain area as second
choice in the event that the Blue
Ridge section cannot be purchased on
a satisfactory basis
There are three reasons, ii is point
ed out, why that area possibly will
be the choice:
First. 1t Is scenically beautiful
From one end to the other the trav-
eler meets mountain views that rank
with the most beautiful in the coun-
try. From any one of half a dozen
mountain peaks he may gaze out over
the whole territory. spread out in
rugged panorama before him, it's
great, rock-ribbed cliffs, rising pre-
cipitately from the valley floors, sup
plying dizzy views of the rich coun-
try on either side.
Second. 1t is typically representa-
tive of the territory that the Depart
ment of the Interior wishes to be
represented next in the national
parks system. Within those azure
tinted mountains is represented all of
the primitive fora and fauna of the
great Southern Appalachians. Their
slopes and peaks alike are carpeted
with rich, primeval forestry. and
through them wander most of the
animals that first claimed them long
years ago-wildcats. black bear and
nameless varieties of other mammals
and birds.
Accessibility Is Feature.
Third. 1t is the most accessible ter
ritory that has ever been considered fer
national park. Thirty-five million per-
sons live within an easy days travel
| of it. New York may reach it within
daylight travel by rail, or by motor it
| is easy two-day ride from the same
point Other cities are as close or closer
Washington, Baltimore, Pittsburgh,
| Richmond Norfolk.
1t is the latter reason that is likely
to cause the Blue Ridge area to be Sc
lected over the Smoky Mountain section.
| The territory in Tennessee. according
to those who know it well. undoubtedly
| possesses many of the scenic and all of
the natural life advantages of the Blue
| Ridge, but it would be far removed
! from the East's center of population.
Expert Approves Site.
Robert Sterling Yard, executive sec
retary of the National Parks Associa-
ton and one of the best known park
experts in the country, who accom-
panied the committee the first few days
Of its tour in order to examine the Blue
Ridge area himself, summed up the
superior advantages of that section in
the following language:
If Secretary Works committee
should select the location in the Blue
Ridge of Virginia. believe that We
would have a national park that
would lie within the best standards
of the national park system. There
are doubtless other locations which
| meet standards. and 1T is the COM
mittee's duty to choose among them
cit must be noted that, while
! recreation is the most conspicuous
function of national parks, it is not
the basic function. This one system
of national parks is first of all a sys-
tenn of museums of original. untouch-
ed nature. 1t is also our national
missable only the masterpieces of
American scenery. These standards
were set with the creation of the first
national park. the Yellowstone, So
years ago and have been maintained
since.
1T is evident that, to be national.
our. gallery of masterpieces must
represent the whole country. The
Appalachians. by far the most vener-
able of all and once as lofty as any
other, must be Importantly represent
ed before the national collection can
be considered representative. That Is
why the demand for an Appalachian
national park has existed throughout
the country years before there was
local demand in the States which are
now competing for the choice.
Visible Height Same.
TT is misleading to call the APP
palachianS lower than the Rockies
and Sierra, although their attitudes
are much less. 1t is their foundations
only which are lower. The towering
walls of Yosemite, for example, are
seven or eight thousand feet in alti-
tude, rise from a base floor of 1000
feet. Similarly, the Blue Ridge of
Virginia, with SUBMITS from three to
five thousand feet in altitude, rise
from valley floors of less than one
thousand feet. The net visible height
of all, you see, is much the same.
Mote, too, that the lesser attitudes
of the East will bring into the ma
tional parks system marked differ
ences of aspect which make for pleas
ing variety. Because the Blue Ridge
SUBMITS fall below timberline, heavy
forests blanket them from the forces
that erode the bare, unprotected
SUBMITS of the Rockies and Sierra.