Explore! Celebrating 50 Years of Wilderness Preservation.
A letterbox hybrid with rubber stamp and log. BYO stamp pad.
On September 3, 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Wilderness Act.
This historic bill established the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) and set aside an initial 9.1 million acres of wildlands for the use and benefit of the American people.
In these lands natural processes are the primary influences and human activities are limited. Here we experience wild places without disturbing or destroying the action of these natural processes.
Over the past 50 years, and as a result of America's support for wilderness, Congress has added over 100 million acres to this critical land preservation system.
As we set this cache, the U.S. Forest Service celebrates 50 years of the Wilderness Act. Join the celebration by enjoying the vast public lands surrounding us here in Delta. EXPLORE! Yours to enjoy; yours to protect.
The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests (GMUG) are a combination of separate National Forests surrounding Delta. These three combined Forests cover 3,161,900 acres of public land. 10 wilderness areas are contained in the GMUG (Collegiate Peaks, Fossil Ridge, La Garita, Lizard Head, Maroon Bells-Snowmass, Mt. Sneffels, Powderhorn, Ruggeds, Uncompahgre, and West Elk) totaling 498,152 acres (19%).
The Forests vary in elevation from 5,800 feet above sea level in Roubideau Creek Canyon to 14,309 feet on Uncompahgre Peak. They include spectacular features like the 355 foot high Bridal Veil falls; the Grand Mesa - one of the world's largest flat top mountains with over 300 lakes, and Alpine Tunnel - once the highest railroad tunnel in North America. All above information from http://www.fs.usda.gov/gmug
The above web site also has a variety of maps available to help you plan your visit to the forests. You will find a growing number of geocaches in these areas, so that is an additional map you’ll want to check when you go out and EXPLORE!
CONGRATS! We are extremely pleased to confirm hauberktheold for FTF on 8-14-14!