RAINBOW TROUT FOUND IN SMOKIES AT 800-FOOT ELEVATION

I was invited to spend July 13 with Mr. A. D. Huddleston of the Aluminum Co. of America, to go over the work which that company has done in stocking fish on their property which adjoins the park. Some of these same streams are soon to become a part of the park, and for that reason I was interested in knowing what had been done. In one instance rainbow trout have survived in limited numbers at a remarkably low elevation (800-900 feet), in a small well-shaded stream. Usually 1,400-1,500 feet represents about the lower limited for survival and reproduction of rainbow at this latitude. Invasion of lower waters during cool years is checked by occasional spells of hot weather in succeeding years.

- - - Willis King

WILDLIFE PROTECTION IN THE GREAT SMOKIES

Superintendent J. Ross Eakin of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park reports that the park area in North Carolina has been declared a game refuge. As a result of the difficulty encountered in completely enforcing Federal regulations in an area in which no Federal Commissioner is yet resident the Service requested this move in order that the park staff might take offenders into State Courts. The State Board of Conservation and Development, meeting in Morehead City, on July 12, adopted the following regulation:

"Since the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has been declared by Federal regulations a sanctuary for wildlife of every description, the Board of Conservation and Development, with the approval of the National Park Service, hereby sets askde that portion of the Greet Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina as a State Game Refuge, subject to all rules and regulations governing such areas in the State and it shall be unlawful for any person or persons to violate such regulations."

This cooperation from the State of North Carolina is a step taken to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement. Park regulations still prevail in the North Carolina section of the park and after the Federal Government has accepted exclusive jurisdiction over the area these Federal regulations will continue to apply. The area will, of course, continue to be closed to hunting.

APPALACHIAN TRAILWAY UNDER STUDY

The agreement between the United States Forest Service and the National Park Service concerning the establishment of the Appalachian Trail way is in its formative stage. The plan provides for creation of a protective zone where the Trail passes through the two National Parks and eight National Forests along its 2,048-mile route from Mount Katahdin, Maine, to Mount Oglethorpe, Georgia. The strip would constitute a wild zone having a minimum width of one mile on each side of the frail. Zoning agreements effecting the easements where the Trail passes through private lands also are involved. Overnight camp sites and other accommodations are being considered.

A Trailway bears the same relationship to a trail as does a Parkway to a road. A Pacific Crest Trailway along the route of the Pacific Crest System is under study.