The Arc Dome area comprises part of three grazing allotments, two for cattle and one for sheep. New management plans calls for a rotation system to give the grass, forbes and browse a chance to recover or reseed themselves. Already Walt has a crew at work building drift fences to keep wandering cattle out during the rejuvenation periods. As we sat and looked at a map, Walt asked if the road over lone Summit into Reese River should be improved. It has never been touched by a bulldozer or grader. It just grew, like Topsy. In a few places, it is being badly eroded. I said the road question might best be looked at from the other end. How much pressure the area can stand. The answer seems to be not much. Room for fishermen is limited. Snowmobiles and dune buggies would play havoc with the animal and plant life. The report even warns against too much trail riding. One thing is certain, if the road becomes unusable I won't be counted among the backpackers. I'd never see the place again. And that brings me to a pet idea. Those of us who are long of tooth and short of wind shouldn't be allowed to make all the final decisions on land usage. Building roads into wildernesses and scenic areas is a final decision. We should hold these lands in escrow for the coming generations. We have opened up enough back country. They should have the say on what is left. Turning to Mt. Jefferson in the Toquimas, Tom Baugh said 3400 acres on the summit were proposed as a natural research area. This is in the center of 19,000 acres without roads. "It has aroused international scientific interest because of original biotypes, new plant species, which developed on this site," he said. To keep foreign seeds from being introduced, horses and cattle would be excluded. Hunting would have to be done on foot. In the language of the report, "This isolated mountain range could be very important to the biologist studying the evolution of bio-geography or dispersal of organisms. It is also especially attractive for this natural research area designation due to its self-contained ecosystem."

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