potential developments: sub-divisions for summer homes on Cabin Mountain, as a route for a proposed federal expressway (Corridor H) linking Washington, DC with the highlands, strip-mining of as many as six coal seams, which was already occurring within 3.5 miles of the Sods in the north and flooding by a huge reservoir as part of the proposed Davis Power Project just to the west. An ad hoc committee of stakeholders was convened by the MNF in Spring 1969. It advised that a scenic or botanical area should be set aside in the North Fork Red Creek area. In October 1970, the Forest superintendent announced the creation of "Dolly Sods Scenic Area". The Nature Conservancy played a major role in preserving the area. By 1972, it had purchased the coal rights under the future federal wilderness ( of the Sods and Roaring Plains, itself now a designated Wilderness) for $15 million. Dolly Sods finally became a federally designated wilderness area in 1975 which resulted in greatly increased numbers of visitors. The area had only an estimated 500 visitors in 1965; by 1997 there were 7,499 registered (and many more unregistered) users annually. In the 1970s and '80s, it was not possible to propose Dolly Sods North for wilderness classification as it was all privately owned – by the Western Maryland Railway Company and the Virginia Electric and Power Company (VEPCO) – and was largely outside the proclamation boundary of the MNF. Public acquisition could not go forward as the companies long refused to consider selling. In 1993, however, the Nature Conservancy paid another $6 million to acquire in Dolly Sods North (of the total of ) from the then-owner, the Texas-based Quintana Corporation. This land was then donated to the Forest Service. Most recently, the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 added of Dolly Sods North to the original of the Wilderness to make the present total of . Climate and weather The climate of Dolly Sods is classified as humid continental, similar to portions of Canada. Daily weather can vary greatly with large extremes in temperature occurring dangerously fast. Fog can form/roll in extremely quickly, dropping visibility to dangerous, disorienting near-zero conditions. Access roads can quickly become blocked by dense fog, downed trees from high wind, and snow/snow drifts. Summers are cool and wet. At 4,000 feet (1,220 m), the average afternoon maximum is around 70 °F (21 °C)