science · 11 December 1975 · 50 years ago
death
Died 11 Dec 1975 at age 96 (born 6 Mar 1879).
American forester and conservationist and regional planner, who was as "father of the Appalachian Trail" was instrumental in creating a 2,000-mile footpath from Maine to Georgia. As a government planner, he spearheaded the idea of the "townless highway." Early on, he advocated preserving cultural and recreational areas in an increasingly urbanized environment. He proposed the Appalachian Trail in an Oct 1921 article. He was one of the founders of the Regional Planning Association of America (1923), through which he held a two-day "Appalachian Trail Conference" in Washington, D.C. (Mar 2-3, 1925). By 1934, 1,937 miles of the trail had been blazed through the efforts of volunteers.
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