Steve, I see your point, although I am not in favor of accessing wilderness by way of something that fundamentally alters the character of wilderness. I don't think you meant to included that.
Dune buggies, for example.
But I agree with you that doing what is possible to increase access is not only desirable, but important. People only seem to value things that they experience. Even a single experience as a child can influence a person's value of wilderness for their entire lives. This is why I think that it is so important that there be places like HD and Whitney, where a large number of people who would not otherwise have the experience, get to do so.
We'll never see cables put up anywhere else. Wilderness managers are usually zealous in their protection, and such things as cables, wilderness toilets, etc....are viewed as a desecration, and only tolerated because they are "legacy", but to be removed if there is any way to do so. Often, I've found their views to be narrow on the subject.
Of course, allowing people in, but doing so in a manner that causes little or no damage to the wilderness is the critical thing.
It's finding the balance that is the thing.
Trails are the compromise. Constructed trails are NOT natural. They require a huge amount of work to maintain to standards that allow easy progress. There is a lot of effort expended to hide the work that is done, so you won't know it happened. Cutting off branches at the trunk, so that won't see a "bird perch"; Taking the cut branches and throwing them off the trail downhill (so they won't fall back on the trail), with the cut ends facing away from the trail so it won't be seen; rubbing the cut surface of a stump with dirt to disguise that it was recently cut; Cutting down a small tree within 3 feet of the trail, rather than cutting off all the branches on the trail side, creating a bizzare looking tree with branches on one side----that's a lot of work to create an "appearance" of no work.
But doing all this creates a corridor of impact. Very few people leave the trails to any degree, except at camp. So as a percentage, the trail is tiny, tiny. And that is where the impact is concentrated, to spare the surrounding areas.
But, I will admit that stock has always, and continues to, bother me. The impact is obvious, and their impact extends beyond the trails, as George notes.
