Field Reports
OUTDOOR EDUCATION
Teachers go wild
Wilbur Elementary school teacher JoAnn Wood said she’s had more fun in summer school than most of her students on summer vacation.
Wood took part this summer in the American Wilderness Leadership School near Jackson Hole, Wyo., sponsored by Safari Club International. The eight-day program covered classroom-applicable lessons in ecology, conservation, and wildlife while stressing teamwork and problem solving skills.
Woven into the courses are outdoor activities such as rafting, sightseeing, hiking, soaking in natural hot springs, target shooting and archery as well as climbing.
The school runs a graduate class for teachers and a section for high school students in outdoor education. Scholarships are still available for the Aug. 3-10 and Aug. 12-19 sessions. Info: Donna Hudson, (520) 620-1220.
Rich Landers
RIVERS
Spokane clean-up planned
Churches, youth groups, athletic teams, outdoor clubs and other groups are urged to volunteer for a major clean up of the Spokane River gorge area.
Sponsored by REI, the clean up is scheduled for Oct. 16, but the first planning meeting with group representatives is set for Monday, July 26 7 p.m., at REI, 1125 N. Monroe. Info: Andy Friedlander, 328-9900 or afriedl@rei.com.
Rich Landers
ICE AGE FLOODS
History route proposed
A plan to commemorate the route of massive Ice Age floods that reshaped the landscape of the Pacific Northwest with trails and interpretive centers will go before Congress this week, according to two Washington state lawmakers.
Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Rep. Doc Hastings expect to introduce a bill designating a route through four states following the course of the ancient Missoula floods.
The floods carved the Columbia River Gorge through the Cascade Mountains, deposited Volkswagen bug-sized boulders in eastern Washington and enriched the soil in the Willamette Valley, creating the agricultural conditions that later attracted Oregon Trail pioneers.
Interpretive trail proponents see the project as an economic boost for local communities while focusing attention on key scientific discoveries.
The National Park Service would manage the trail, which would link existing roads and public sites with signs and informational kiosks.
Associated Press
ENDANGERED SPECIES
Food issue simmers
Rangers in northwest Wyoming’s national forests are enduring a contentious first season with stricter rules aimed at keeping human food away from bears.
The new rules, which took effect this spring, are meant to reduce conflicts between humans and bears and make the Shoshone and Bridger-Teton national forests safer for visitors.
But they have drawn sharp criticism from outfitters and several Wyoming counties and prompted threats of lawsuits and disobedience.
Officials in conservative Fremont County threatened to sue the U.S. Forest Service over the rules, which spell out how human food, pet food, dead game animals, livestock grains and feeds, garbage and hygiene items should be stored by forest users so they don’t attract bears.
More than 700 human-bear conflicts have been reported in the forests the past two years, and the Forest Service believes expanding food storage rules to the south to include new bear territory may keep those numbers down.
Fremont County and other detractors argue the rules are unnecessary and will hurt tourism, calling the order a thinly veiled attempt to expand grizzly bear habitat.
Enforcement is another looming issue. While rangers stress their initial focus will be on education and not writing citations, some worry the rules will be hard to enforce due to limited manpower and could lead to confrontations.
Associated Press
BACKPACKING
Flood ravages PCT
Hikers traveling the Pacific Crest Trail between Mexico and Canada may find the toughest going in central Washington this summer.
A flood-ravaged 39-mile section of the route will be rerouted along steep, rocky and eroded trails northwest of Lake Wenatchee. The U.S. Forest Service is recommending that only highly skilled hikers use the detour, which may be impassible if rivers are running too high.
The route, along five trails and a dirt U.S. Forest Service road in the Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee Ranger Districts, is considered too difficult for horses.
“It’s not an easy bypass,” said Roger Ross, a recreation specialist for the districts. “People might do well to organize a pickup and be hauled around it.”
About 300 people a year hike the entire 2,650-mile-long trail, most of them starting at the Mexico border in the spring and ending at the Canada border in the fall. Thousands more hike sections of the trail each year, according to the Pacific Crest Trail Association.
Flooding last October destroyed seven bridges and huge sections of the trail where it loops around Glacier Peak in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The section is expected to be impassible for three to five years, said Dawn Erickson, a trails specialist for the Darrington Ranger District.
The damage is estimated at $1.4 million.
Hikers will be rerouted along the Indian Creek, White River, Boulder Creek, Little Giant and Buck Creek trails, and about a four-mile section of the Chiwawa River Road.
The worst section of the route is in the Napeequa Valley, where the river can be treacherous to cross and the trail up to Little Giant Pass, which has not been maintained by the Forest Service for 25 to 30 years, Ross said.
Associated Press