From the PCT Trail Dirt:
"On the same day I returned home to Portland after hiking 126 days and 1,907 miles on the PCT, the Trump administration published its plan to repeal the Roadless Rule and end protections for many of the wild forests, pristine lakes, and vibrant ecosystems I had just passed through.
The administration is telling us that canceling Roadless Area protections will help combat wildfire. And anyone who has hiked on the PCT in recent years knows that fire is a serious threat. Many of us weren’t even able to finish our hikes this year because of the intense fires in Oregon and Washington.
But creating profit opportunities for the timber industry is not the answer.
Contrary to what the timber industry would want you to believe, logging forest lands doesn’t help prevent fires – in fact, it can makes it worse. Roads increase the likelihood of fires starting because they introduce humans into wild places, and most fires are human-caused. According to the Pacific Biodiversity Institute, 90% of all wildfires are started within a half-mile of a road.
If you love the PCT and agree that these wild places deserve continued protection, you can submit a comment in defense of the Roadless Rule to the U.S. Forest Service until October 6.
Visit the blog to read the full article by Selena Blick, an avid hiker, birder, environmental advocate, and lifelong Oregonian. Help us protect the PCT.
"On the same day I returned home to Portland after hiking 126 days and 1,907 miles on the PCT, the Trump administration published its plan to repeal the Roadless Rule and end protections for many of the wild forests, pristine lakes, and vibrant ecosystems I had just passed through.
The administration is telling us that canceling Roadless Area protections will help combat wildfire. And anyone who has hiked on the PCT in recent years knows that fire is a serious threat. Many of us weren’t even able to finish our hikes this year because of the intense fires in Oregon and Washington.
But creating profit opportunities for the timber industry is not the answer.
Contrary to what the timber industry would want you to believe, logging forest lands doesn’t help prevent fires – in fact, it can makes it worse. Roads increase the likelihood of fires starting because they introduce humans into wild places, and most fires are human-caused. According to the Pacific Biodiversity Institute, 90% of all wildfires are started within a half-mile of a road.
If you love the PCT and agree that these wild places deserve continued protection, you can submit a comment in defense of the Roadless Rule to the U.S. Forest Service until October 6.
Visit the blog to read the full article by Selena Blick, an avid hiker, birder, environmental advocate, and lifelong Oregonian. Help us protect the PCT.
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