The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-05-06

over which 1t passes, especially across Northern Maine and in the mountains of North Carolina, Ten nessee and Georgia.
 Besides the interest of the out door clubs, the project has been supported by many public agencies and officials, including the National Park Service, the National Forest Service, State Park and forest com- missions in several states. Boy Scout councils and others. The signifi- canoe of the great trail, as visioned by Mir MacKaye, as a kind of spinal cord for wilderness recreation trials in the Eastern mountain areas. has stimulated the enthusiasm of all who have enlisted in the work, more and more every year.
 The work has been coordinated by a federation of outdoor groups and individuals known as the Ap- palachian Trail Conference, of which Major Welch is honorary chairman; and Judge Arthur Per kins of Hartford, Conn, chairman of the board of managers. Five gatherings of the conference have been held, the first at Bear Noun tain Inn, and others at Washington, D. C.; Lafayette College, Easton Pa, and Skyland, Va, last year. The 1891 meeting is being held in the South, in recognition of the great development in the project there in the past year, and to stimulate it further. It will be under the aus pices of the Smoky Mountains Hik- ing club of Knoxville, Tenn, og which Professor H. M. Jennison of the department of botany. Univer- slty of Tennessee, is president; the first vice president, Harvey Broome, is chairman of the program com- mittee.
 Factors In Its Construction.
 The construction of the Appala- chian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains area is expected to DC furthered by the impending de- velopment of the new national park therein. The Smoky Mountain Hik- ing club has already marked the route in the more accessible sec tions, crossing Indian Gap. and the park forces will be helpful in mak- ing and maintaining it in the more rugged and remote portion in the northern part of the area being ac- quired for eventual addition to the park. The supervisors of the Unaka National Forest, extending from the Virginia border into North Caro- lima. and the Cherokee Forest. in Western North Carolina and South ern Tennesse, have been helpful In designating and marking many miles of their rangers paths as the Appalachian Trail. The newly formed Carolina Appalachian Trail Club of Ashville, N. C., is also &C., tive in the Smokies.
 In Virginia a new and energetic group, the Potomac Appalachian Trail club, with headquarters in Washington, D. C., and including many employees in government bu- Geological Survey has done an i'm presidency of Myron H. Avery Harper's Ferry to the Shenandoah National Park area and beyond; and also in Pennsylvania, from the Susquehanna river 10 Harrisburg to the Maryland line, including the Mont Alto and Michaux State For ests, through the cordial co-opera- tion of the Pennsylvania depart ment of Forests and Waters. This Washington group was also instru- mental in the formation of two new groups in Southern Virginia, the Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail club and the Southern Virginia Ap- palachian Trail association, which are working in their regions. In Georgia the State Forestry Depart ment has been cooperative, and one of it's assistant foresters, E. B. Stone of Gainesville, has formed