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Arthur Hawthorne Carhart (1892–1978) was a US Forest Service official, writer and conservationist who inspired
wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...
protection in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. He was one of the first to realize the importance of conservation and became a nationally recognized authority on conservation practices.


Biography

Carhart was born on September 18, 1892, in Mapleton, Iowa. He was the son of George W. and Ella Louise (Hawthorne) Carhart. His essay "The Downey Woodpecker" was published in ''The Women's Home Companion'' when he was eleven years old. In 1916, he was the first to graduate from Iowa State College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Landscape Design and City Planning. During his time at Iowa State College, he was a member of
Acacia Fraternity Acacia Fraternity is a social fraternity founded in 1904 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The fraternity has 24 active chapters and 3  associate chapters throughout Canada and the United States. The fraternity was ...
. He worked for a Chicago landscaping architecture company until 1917, when he entered the United States Army for World War I. His education was put to use and he was made a lieutenant as a bacteriologist and public health officer in the Sanitary Corps at Camp Mead, Maryland. On August 16, 1918, he married Vera Amelia VanSickle. He left the Army after the war ended and moved to
Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, to work for the
United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...
. He worked for the Forest Service from 1919 till 1922 as a recreation engineer.


Work

In 1919, Carhart surveyed a road in the White River National Forest, near Trappers Lake for the Forest Service. Upon completion of the survey, he decided that the land should be preserved as wilderness. In December 1919, Carhart met with
Aldo Leopold Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American writer, Philosophy, philosopher, Natural history, naturalist, scientist, Ecology, ecologist, forester, Conservation biology, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a profes ...
, his superior at the Forest Service, in Denver, Colorado. Carhart later submitted a memorandum to Leopold advocating for the Forest Service to preserve areas throughout the National Forests from human development. The Forest Service canceled plans to build a road and summer cabins at Trappers Lake. The protection of Trappers Lake was the first of its kind in the history of the Forest Service. In 1975, Trappers Lake was officially designated as a U.S. Wilderness Area as part of the Flat Tops Wilderness Area. Carhart was the driving force behind recreational-use programs in national forests, first at San Isabel National Forest in Colorado and then at Superior National Forest in Minnesota. In 1922 Federal funding was lost, and he left the Forest Service for private practice in land architecture and city planning as a partner in McCrary, Culley & Carhart. He sold his first book in 1928 and sold his interests in the firm to work full-time as a freelance writer in 1931. He made a living selling books, short stories and magazine articles for eight years. He then became the Colorado co-ordinator for the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration program, a position he held until 1943. He worked as the U.S. Office of Price Administration's information executive for the Rocky Mountain Region from 1944 to 1946. In 1946, he returned to writing. He wrote twenty-four books and over 4,000 articles. Carhart wrote historical novels, westerns, and books, stories and articles about forestry, wildlife management, and conservation. From 1960 to 1970, he served as a consultant to the Conservation Library Center At the Denver Public Library.


Memberships

Carhart was an honorary member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, and the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the American Forestry Association. He was a member of the Desert Protective Association, Colorado Authors League, serving as President, and was a founder and president of the Denver Posse of the Westerners. He served as a trustee, J. N. "Ding" Darling Foundation, was a member of the Citizens Committee on Natural Resources, and served as a member of historical advisory committee, American Forestry Association Centennial Celebration from 1970 to 1972.


Awards

He received a number of awards. He received the Izaak Walton League of America's Founders Award in 1956, the Outdoor Writers Association of America's Conservation Award in 1958, the American Forest Products Industries Award for conservation in 1966, and the American Motors Conservation Award. In 1968, the Colorado Game and Fish Commission made him and Honorary Game Protector. In 1972, the Alumni Association of Iowa State University gave him a Distinguished Achievement Citation.


Death

He moved to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
when ill health required that he live closer to his niece after the death of his wife. He died on November 27, 1978


See also

* Flat Tops Wilderness Area


Sources


Arthur Carhart Wilderness Training CenterArthur Carhart Papers, University of Iowa LibrariesArthur H. Carhart Papers, CONS88, Conservation Collection, The Denver Public Library.
*''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008
Reproduced in Biography Resource Center
Document Number: H1000015663.
Superior National Forest - History
* ''Arthur Carhart: Wilderness prophet'', by Tom Wolf (University Press of Colorado, 2008);


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carhart, Arthur American conservationists Forestry academics 1892 births 1978 deaths American foresters People from Mapleton, Iowa Acacia members