Aiguilles Rouges National Nature Reserve 2.71

The Aiguilles Rouges National Nature Reserve is a nature reserve located in the Aiguilles Rouges mountain range in the Haute-Savoie department in southeastern France.HistoryIn the 1960s, a small reserve was created outside the alpine village of Argentière. In 1968, the Aiguilles Rouges mountain range became a game reserve. At the insistence of Jean Eyherald, the priest of Argentière, and a geologist, Yvonne Gubler, an observation site for the Alps was installed above Argentière. Accessible via chairlift, it became difficult to access following an accident. A site at the Col des Montets mountain pass was chosen. In 1971 with the support of mountaineer Maurice Herzog, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc and Vallorcine created la réserve intercommunale du col des Montets (Intercommunal reserve of the Col des Montets). The reserve was created by ministerial decree on 1974-08-24. It covers 3279ha in the communes of Chamonix and Vallorcine. The nature reserve is managed by the ASTERS association, which is responsible for all the nature reserves in Haute-Savoie.Since 2006 the reserve has been under consideration for either declassification or reclassification, because of contention over a private landowner not being covered under the constitution in 1974. A public inquiry regarding the reclassification began in 2008 and is currently in progress.