The plots represent one of the first U.S. efforts incorporating science into long-term land management and planning.  These are among the oldest study plots in alpine tundra or mountain environments in the world.  They are most likely the oldest permanent alpine tundra plots in the National Park System.  These plots have demonstrated the need for careful management of alpine tundra, to protect it from excessive damage from man.  The plots continue to be important to ecologists.  Willard’s studies of how people affect tundra, conducted on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, have influenced the administration of public lands throughout the country.