A sacred trust

"The good citizen knows that the land is a sacred trust. He feels that, when he passes it on to future generations, it must be as good as when he found it, or better."
-- Sigurd Olson, "Conservation and Citizenship," Gopher Historian, April 1953.
(Borrowed from the Sigurd F. Olson Web Site quote for the month of Feb. 2012)

Virgin Falls, Tenn., Nov. 2010

Some places are of such intrinsic wonder that we, as stewards of the earth, should preserve them forever. Virgin Falls is one such magical place. The falls are formed by an underground stream that emerges from a cave, flows downhill about 50 feet, then drops over a 110-foot high cliff before disappearing into another cave at the bottom, giving the impression of a freestanding waterfall with no river. The wonders of this amazing place are free to anyone willing to walk an 8 mile round-trip trail. To leave this area anything but pristine would be unconscionable.