Lewis Fork Addition B was added to the Lewis Fork Wilderness leaving the additions considered here without the protection offered by wilderness designation. The Forest Service has conducted a survey of their lands to determine the potential for wilderness designation. Wilderness designation provides a high degree of protection from development. The areas that were found suitable are referred to as inventoried roadless areas. Later a Roadless Rule was adopted that limited road construction in these areas. The rule provided some degree of protection by reducing the negative environmental impact of road construction and thus promoting the conservation of roadless areas. Except for Lewis Fork Addition A, the areas considered here were not inventoried in the roadless area review, and therefore not protected from possible road construction and timber sales. Most of the area is managed as part of the "5100 acre Crest Zone Special Area" with 2200 acres of the Crest Zone designated as "open area management" that allows grazing, prescribed burning, mechanical cutting, and herbicides. Livestock grazing across 3661 acres of the Crest Zone (65%) was allowed by the Forest Service in 1997 with permits generally given from May 1 to October 31. In 2003 a new policy was adopted to monitor increasing demand. As a result, group size is limited to 10 persons across the entire High Country thus extending this restriction beyond the areas with wilderness designation. The use of horses and bicycles was restricted to designated trails; two trails and 64 backcountry campsites were closed; and camping was restricted to established sites. With the demands that horses place on soils and other resources, the surface of many horse trails have been hardened. Cultural history A survey of cultural resources found two prehistoric sites, a basecamp and a transient camp. References Further reading Stephenson, Steven L., A Natural History of the Central Appalachians'', 2013, West Virginia University Press, West Virginia, . External links George Washington and Jefferson National Forest Mount Rogers National Recreation Area Wilderness Society George Washington and Jefferson National Forests Southwest Virginia