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Show 14 lessons are ignored. On paper at least, the prognosis is favorable. Multiple- use policy recognizes the special character of the crest zones within the National Forests and sets guidelines for their maximum disturbance. The Intermountain Region Multiple Use Management Guide, for example, says this about the crest zone: " The ecologic balance is delicate; hence, protection of watershed values is the most essential consideration in all uses and activities." But, while the guiding principles are understood ( the Austrians understood the principles, too, three- quarters of a century ago), their application sometimes is uncertain. Today we stand in pressing need of more research on the kinds and amounts of use our American timberline zones can sustain without damage, and the dissemination of the knowledge among administrators responsible for the management of these zones. There are many instances in the U. S. mountain west where timber- cutting at high elevations during the early mining era resulted in new avalanche paths. Fire and overuse by livestock have also contributed to this situation. More serious today are the problems raised by winter sports developments, road construction and clearing for utility lines. Any such activity which diminishes or alters sub- alpine vegetation requires the most careful and cautious planning, which, as the Austrians have learned, cannot be left to the sole concern of a private profit economy. The current importance of this requirement, as well as the problems raised by inadequate planning, have been illuminated by unusual avalanche activity at a number of ski areas and above highways in the winter of 1965/ 66, especially in the Pacific Northwest. A recent proposal for |