Unhappy trails as agencies try to do "more with less"

Ten years ago, I crossed the Bridge of the Gods and entered into Washington, on my way from Mexico to Canada via the Pacific Crest Trail. As I traveled the length of the Cascades between the Columbia River and the Canadian border, I wandered down knife-edge ridges in the Goat Rocks and wandered through deep, mossy forests. I watched black bear feeding on huckleberries and ate more than a few berries myself.

Along the western flank of Glacier Peak, I rose above timberline repeatedly for breathtaking views of the North Cascades, views that confirmed what I had long suspected to be true: Washington state is a hiker's paradise.

There are 9,000 miles of trail in Washington. I am humbled to have so many miles left to explore. What I have seen so far has been scenic and inspiring — and also troubling.

The Associated Press and several local media sources reported recently on the struggle of Washington's three national parks over declining dollars for staff, maintenance and overall operations. Dozens of permanent staff positions are vacant, and visitors this summer can expect shorter visitor-center hours and fewer interpretive and campfire programs and guided hikes.

The situation is even more dire in our local national forests, where budgets have been in a virtual freefall. The recreation budget for the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, for example, is half of what it was a decade ago. Meanwhile, the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has found itself in the business of providing recreational opportunities at places like Mount Si, Tiger Mountain and Sultan Basin — with virtually no appropriated funding from the state to help.

Like the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the DNR are doing more and more with less, but enough "more with less" ultimately means that less is done. Our parks and forests suffer as result — and so, too, do the people who would enjoy them.

With the official start to summer and another hiking season under way, Washington's most vulnerable hiking opportunities enter the spotlight in a report by the Washington Trails Association. "Hike It — Ten Threatened Trails in Washington State" names the state's most threatened hiking trails and offers common-sense solutions to help them. It encourages hikers to get out and experience the beauty and importance of these trails firsthand, and urges policymakers to act for their recovery and protection.

The featured trails are threatened by neglect, lack of funding and other management decisions that compromise the experience of hikers. For example, in the case of Rachel Lake, a very popular hike east of Snoqualmie Pass, deferred maintenance has rendered this trail a root-ridden, rocky mess.

A typical hiking trail costs, on average, about $1,000 per mile to maintain. Leave it neglected until it has eroded and is in need of serious reconstruction and you can plan on spending upwards of $50,000 per mile to repair the trail. Our failure to act today only compounds itself over time.

Gothic Basin and Big Greider Lake are two of several dozen natural-resource-conservation areas in Washington managed by the DNR. Both hikes are easily accessed from nearby urban areas and provide excellent opportunities for short day hikes or backcountry overnight excursions. Both hikes need more funding to preserve the high-country environment and to bring both of these trails up to standard for hikers.

How our trails weather the various threats they face often comes down to funding. Congress and the state Legislature have not stepped up and adequately funded outdoor recreation. The ongoing decline in public funding for trails can no longer be ignored.

Congress is in the process of working on fiscal 2007 budgets. Hiking, trails, recreation and conservation groups have asked for $275 million for the Forest Service's recreation budget and $1.868 billion for Park Service operations. We would like to see DNR be given a recreation budget that matches the service it provides to the citizens of Washington.

Our mountains and forests can provide us with a lifetime of exploration, but we need trails to get us there. The most powerful advocate for a trail is a person who has been there. Right now, these threatened trails need boots on them. They need us to hike with a new awareness of our own great fortune in experiencing such wonderful places — and the responsibility to care for them that comes as a result.

Elizabeth Lunney is executive director of Washington Trails Association (WTA), www.wta.org. The association's "Hike It" report is available through the Web site.