Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Why California’s Trails Are Disappearing

Dr. Ken has written an article:

Why California’s Trails Are Disappearing From Our Maps

The Sierra Once Provided Refuge for the Central Valley; Now, Access to These Forests Is Being Threatened

by Ken Murray|January 24, 2014

On Zocalo Public Square

It ran in the Fresno Bee on Saturday.
Google also shows it on other websites:
Valley Public Radio
The Bakersfield Californian

A good piece. He should have added that there are so few volunteers also!

Thanks, Chris!

I'm coming to the belief that social media is the way to go. I organized a volunteer wilderness ranger program for the Sierra NF last summer, mainly using Meetup. I was astonished to get 30 serious responses, of which 20 actually followed through and worked on the forest. Only two were what you could call local, all the rest came from far away, on their own time and dime. I was impressed.

Much better response than I've gotten doing it otherwise in the past. I'm thinking this is the way to recruit.

You've got a tough section, as there are not many of what you could call "locals", and it is not the lush pine and fir forests that are so attractive.

Yeah you might be right about recruiting in that fashion. Many people really just don't know the options exist to get out and help with the trails. If more did than we might be better off.

As for my section I suppose there might be some locals but I have yet to find any that work on the trail. Luckily Section G of the PCT is in really good shape. Other than the annual blow downs there is nothing of major importance to get done. Just all fine tuning to perfection.

Concur, it was a good read. I don't want to sound picky, but I didn't get the tie-in to the folks living in the Central Valley. In my experience, they are a small minority of the hikers and especially the backpackers in the backcountry. It doesn't distract from the article, but one of the comments had a strong opinion about that point.

Also concur with the value of using social media for recruiting. The Tahoe Rim Trail Association does this extremely well with lots of year-round training and positive PR work.

What we need are more groups like SGWA.

If you hike the San Gorgonio area it is better condition than most because of this volunteer group.

They are expanding into the Cucamonga Wilderness this coming season. If you are interested in either area, contact SGWA through their web site.

http://www.sgwa.org/

Hmmm I seem to remember while climbing the Vivian Creek trail passing through a very large tree that was cut not much wider than a hiker with a pack on.

I'm sure they do great work up there but I always remember thinking why would someone cut a tree so narrow?

To keep the elephants out.....

Will be interviewed on Fresno's Valley Public Radio tomorrow (tues) at 9am, repeated at 7p, sometime within their hour show.

Will be available on their website after tomorrow.

Had the interview recorded today, seemed to go well.

http://kvpr.org/programs/valley-edition