08/03/07 Endangered Trail

Just when I thought I'd heard everything, silliness raised its voice and I realized I really hadn't heard it all. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be right back to share my new awareness. I was just reading in my local newspaper that mountain trails can be considered endangered. Now, I know how out of control the endangered species act can get so I just had to find out more about endangered trails. Seems as though a group called Washington Trails Association puts out a list of the top ten endangered trails in Washington state and one of them was an eastern Washington trail that was included because of the damage suffered from what was called the Tinpan Fire. Quoting the report, "Hikers should expect to become soot-blackened as they clamber over abundant blow down and should be careful when choosing campsites as dead-but-still-standing trees can topple without warning." According to the area Ranger District fire never got closer than 100 yards of that trail and it was only a small spot fire. The trail also had a sprinkler line running along it acting as a firebreak. Just a hint  if Mother Nature wants to wipe out a trail with a summer cloud burst, it won't matter whether there had been a fire or even if it had been listed endangered. The most endangered aspect of this story is the lack of common sense and validity of the Washington Trails Association report. Maybe we should list our stock trails as endangered, but that would be unnecessary, our horses still have horse sense. I'm Jeff Keane. The Wenatchee World 7/23/07