| connect people,"
said Babbitt, "and this event is about partnerships and the citizens who have
volunteered their time, energy, and effort into developing and maintaining this
trail. "It is our obligation not only to protect and preserve our trails," he
continued,, "but see if we can't find and establish, particularly here in
California, a sense of harmony and a balance between 30 million people and the
state's diverse, extraordinary landscape and ecosystems." Cold winds and rain failed to dampen the spirits or enthusiasm of more than 200 avid hikers and trail enthusiasts who braved the elements for the event held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the National Trails System Act. Besides the Secretary, special guests included Forest Service Chief Dale Robertson; Douglas Wheeler, Secretary of the California Resources Agency; Al Wright, Associate State Director, BLM-Califomia; Don Murphy, Director of California Department of Parks and Recreation; Angeles National Forest Supervisor |
Mike
Rogers; Larry Cash, Pacific Crest Trail Association president; Susan Henley,
American Hiking Society executive director; and Alice Krueper, Region 1 Trails
Coordinator, PCT Association. Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Ronald
Stewart was Master of Ceremonies. According to Larry Cash, President of the Pacific Crest Trail Association, the PCT got underway decades ago in Oregon. Small, high country miner and sheepherder trails were tied together into one continuous trail, which became the Oregon Skyline Trail-.the first segment of the PCT. Disjointed trails in Washington State were then linked into a continuous path, known as the Cascade Crest Trail. These two trails were connected in the early 1930s to become what was then named the Pacific Crest Trail System. Lesser trails in California were eventually linked together. This combination of trails was ultimately linked to the PCT system to create a continuous trail from Mexico to Canada through the efforts of Clinton C. Clarke, who is known as the father of the PCT. |
 |
Multiple use in the desert does not mean each acre being opened to every recreational activity, the Bureau of Land Management's new California desert district manager said Thursday night, March 25 in Ridgecrest.
Henry Bisson, who took over as district manager in November, is in Ridgecrest for the district's quarterly advisory committee meeting. He spoke Thursday night to the Ridgecrest Resource Area steering committee, a loose-knit group of residents that advises the BLM area manager.
Bisson said he believes multiple use means setting aside tracts of the desert for certain activities, such as off-road vehicle use.
"Some users are appropriate in some places and some aren't," he said. "I think there is a place for wilderness, and ultimately Congress will determine how much."
Bisson, based in Riverside, said he thought he knew most issues affecting the desert after spending the last six years with the BLM In Arizona.
"What I discovered is I have no due as to the complexity of the issues here in California, the volume of issues and the intensity of public interest," Bisson said.
Bisson said he has spent the past five months focusing on internal issues, improving working conditions and providing information to the Interior Department on the Desert Protection Act that is working its way through Congress.
An evaluation of the district office in Riverside identified 23 positions that will be moved to the five desert resource areas, and Bisson said more positions will probably be freed.
"This will get more people out on the grounds where we get more accomplished instead of sitting around in Riverside," he said.
On the Western Mojave Coordinated Management Plan, Bisson said the agencies involved should strive for a balanced plan that protects residents' interests and endangered species.
The plan is being developed by several federal and state agencies and local governments to regulate development in the Mojave Desert. Ideally, the plan would streamline the regulatory hoops developers currently jump through while also protecting land for endangered species.
"We want to come up with something that's good and still preserves certain species," Bisson said. "What we're trying to do is get everyone to sit down and agree that this is a proposal that makes sense."
Blsson described himself as a balanced decision maker who will listen to the concerns of the 16 million people who live In the California desert district. He said the opinions of those who live outside the desert but use the area must also be considered.