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aestivate
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PostSun Jan 30, 2005 2:36 pm 
WhiteJacket wrote:
Thank God I live in Canada where this "blight" just simply does not exist. Still a pioneer spirit up here! biggrin.gif What a drastic step to take to have to ban climbing and fishing in wilderness areas. Apply this measure to north of the border and you'd have to shut down almost the entire country! campfire.gif
You've been trolled. You need to pay attention to implied tone in these threads. REJ is just having fun. He likes his illicit lopping and flagging and is pretending that stopping that is somehow the same as banning travel in wilderness areas.

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WhiteJacket
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PostSun Jan 30, 2005 2:55 pm 
doh.gif

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Jamin Smitchger
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PostMon Jan 31, 2005 7:11 pm 
I think aestivate said it better than me. smile.gif

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REJ
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PostTue Feb 01, 2005 11:55 am 
Sorry about the "tongue in cheek" responses. No disrespect was intended for other opinions. The issue of recreational impacts to Wilderness (and wildlife for that matter) are increasing concerns for Wilderness advocates and managers. The solutions to recreational impacts increasing rely on user restrictions (e.g. group size, no fires, etc) and limits. In the places I visit, (mainly Cascades north of Steven Pass) I rarely if ever see any evidence of lopping and flagging in areas other than those along formal trails. In general, I don't believe that flagging a route is necessary because it takes most of the adventure out of travel in the backcountry. I have seen some temporary flagging used by Forest Serivce authorized trail builders, engineers and biologist. Flagging for adminstrative purposes seems reasonable. Yes, I am occasionaly guilty of lopping as I will carry a small pruning shear and sometimes a short pruning saw when hiking trails that I know or expect to have maintence problems. These include formal hiking trails (e.g. Pacific Northwest Trail on Anderson Mtn and Lyman Hill; Middle Cascade River; Newhalen Creek), formal trails that have all been abandoned (e.g. Ridley Creek, Rocky Creek, Swift Creek, South Cascade River, Round Mtn) and historical trails (e.g. Lower Sauk Mtn, Granite Pass, Finney Peak). Trails need our help in Western Washington because of the lack of funding, the high cost of maintance and the high vegetation growth rates. In opinion we have lost enough trails due to neglect and road development since the high point of the trail system in 1930s. Do we need more trails? Yes! Is trail system on Tiger Mtn or Blanchard Mtn bad? No! Do we need more formal trails in Wilderness area? No! We do need to take care of what Wilderness trails we have? Yes! There are so few trails and so much roadless land that I don't see trails as a significant danger to Wilderness (By the way, I take Wilderness to be legal term defined by Wilderness Act therefore the trails to Mailbox Peak, Lake Serene and Rattlesnake Ledge are not Wilderness although they could have some of the characterisitics of Wilderness) I might not any any say in determining the budget priorities in the federal government, but at least I can do something by my actions to prevent the loss of a couple trails. I recommend that everyone volunteer for one or more days of trail maintenance with an organization such as the WTA, PNTA or the FS. User defined "bootleg" trails are a fact of life when people are in the backcountry country and are headed to the same location (e.g. lakes, peaks). There were numerous climber defined trails that I traveled in the 1990s that were not present in the 1970s. For example, the approach to Cutthroat Peak from Highway 20, the approach to standard route on Liberty Bell, the approach to Wine Spires, connecting paths on the Ptarmigan Traverse route, and approach to West Ridge North Twin Sister. Even the the route from Colchuck Lake to Aasgard Pass was a rough cross country scramble in the 1974 whereas by the 1990s it has became a much easier route to travel with a well defined path with numerous switchbacks present. Have my experiences in the high country changed with the presence of a user defined trail? Yes! Is it worse? No, just different! The view, the air, the nature, the flowers, the bugs, the reasons I visit the high county are just the same in 2004 as I recall they were in 1974.

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Jamin Smitchger
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PostTue Feb 01, 2005 5:48 pm 
But what about in a hundred years when there is an increase in the lopping and flagging? What will your grandchilden know about wilderness? bawl.gif

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mvs
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PostTue Feb 01, 2005 10:08 pm 
Jamin Smitchger wrote:
But what about in a hundred years when there is an increase in the lopping and flagging? What will your grandchilden know about wilderness? bawl.gif
Ecch, don't worry about it Jamin, the sprawling Alpine Resettlement Projects of 2120 will have a nice paved "Segway" through that lopped area biggrin.gif

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