38
Wednesday, November 21, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
WILDERNESS:
Restrictions to take
effect in 2020
Continued from page 1
same-day and next-day per-
mits will be available for
people who want to head to
the wilderness on the spur
of the moment,” said Kim
McCarrel, spokeswoman for
Oregon Equestrian Trails.
“Many equestrian trail riders
are concerned that the soaring
popularity of our wilderness
trails is having a detrimen-
tal effect on the wilderness
experience. While not every-
one agrees a permit system is
the right answer, most of us
believe that steps need to be
taken to limit the damage.”
Deschutes National Forest
Supervisor John Allen and
Willamette National Forest
Supervisor Tracy Beck
believe this decision strikes
a balance between provid-
ing access to current users,
providing a quality recre-
ation experience, and pre-
serving the opportunity for
future users to experience
the wilderness character of
these areas as intended by
Congress.
Local trails advocates are
supportive of the plan.
Catherine Hayden,
board chair of Sisters Trails
Alliance provided The
Nugget with a statement on
the draft decision:
“As a trails organization,
STA is a strong advocate
for trails and trail access,”
Hayden wrote. “But we also
consider ourselves to be
stewards of our natural pub-
lic lands. We recognize that
not all trail users are human.
We also have first-hand
experience seeing the impact
of unintentional overuse on
trails we maintain. We rec-
ognize the difficult decision
to balance trails access with
trails protection in order to
preserve a good trails experi-
ence — especially in wilder-
ness — for both current and
future users. Whether it is
urging trail users to practice
common-sense trail etiquette,
to carry out their trash, STA
urges all trail users to respect
our trails — even if that may
sometimes mean waiting for
a permit. Rafting on popular
rivers is often by permit only,
because too many users at
one time spoil the experience
for all users. Certain trails in
wilderness areas are the same
as some rivers. The Obsidian
Trail has been on a permit
system for years, which has
helped maintain the quality
of that trail.
“Everyone has a dif-
ferent threshold of what is
crowding or a degraded trail
experience, but the proposed
system aims to protect areas
that are at most risk for what
almost anyone would con-
sider overuse and degrada-
tion. Once a wilderness area
is degraded, it may never be
fully restored; better to take
action before it is too late.
“STA supports this action
by the Forest Service —
both because it is right and
because the FS is putting in
place an adaptive, data-driven
system that can be modified
depending on how it works
for users.”
Sharri Bertagna, propri-
etor of Hike-N-Peaks, an
outdoor mercantile in Sisters,
offered one such modifica-
tion. She said she would like
to see the September ending
period on the permits pushed
Free Class
up to just after Labor Day to
allow locals free access to
the forest through most of
September.
“It’s my favorite time to
be out there,” she said. “For
us locals, give us something
to hold on to, making it a lit-
tle earlier.”
Forest Supervisor Allen
told The Nugget that the
decision allows for “adap-
tive management” based on
how the system affects users
and the wilderness. Some
adjustment of the timeframe
may be possible in some
areas. However, he noted,
use remains heavy through
autumn.
“We’re keeping our mind
open for specific trailheads,
but I don’t think we would
roll back that September 30
timeframe broadly,” he said.
Overall, Bertagna believes
the permitting is a valid
response to heavy use.
“I think it will make for a
better experience for all trav-
eling out in the woods,” she
said.
Allen said that the Forest
Service has more than two
decades of data to measure
against in gauging the effec-
tiveness of the restrictions.
“We’ve inventoried 90
percent-plus of the overnight
campsites in these wilderness
areas,” he said.
Other metrics include con-
dition of trails, including the
durability of waterbars (anti-
erosion trail features that
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used to last two or three years
and are now worn down or
displaced in a year due to
heavy trail traffic).
Allen said that “adaptive
management” could move
in a variety of directions, but
“we really don’t want to roll
back and be more restrictive.”
Brad Chalfant, chair of the
Deschutes Trails Coalition
said, “While members of the
Deschutes Trails Coalition,
a homegrown collabora-
tion between local trail user
groups, conservation orga-
nizations and business, may
differ on preferred solutions,
we all understand that por-
tions of the Cascade wilder-
nesses like Three Sisters have
seen unacceptable impacts to
the land, wildlife and wilder-
ness experience. The staff
of the Deschutes National
Forest are to be applauded for
taking a methodical, open and
thoughtful approach to devel-
oping solutions to ensure that
the Wilderness, its resources
and experience will continue
to be there for our children
and generations to come.”
The draft decision is sub-
ject to objection procedures.
The public has an opportunity
to file an objection within 45
days of the legal notice of the
proposed decision. Following
objection resolution, the for-
est supervisors will issue a
final decision in February
of 2019 and implementa-
tion is expected to begin
in 2020.
FIRE: Occupants
quickly evacuated
home
Continued from page 1
Fire District responded with
five emergency vehicles and
eight personnel. An additional
unit from Black Butte Ranch
Fire District and three addi-
tional units from Cloverdale
Fire District also responded
to the fire with a total of eight
additional personnel.
Shift
Commander
Thornton Brown said, “The
occupants did the right thing
by quickly evacuating the
home, calling 911 and alert-
ing the neighbors.”
Fire professionals note
that the incident is a good
reminder when visiting
unfamiliar places (vacation
homes, hotels, businesses) to
locate at least two exits in the
event of an emergency.
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