The United States Forest Service (USFS) formalized a comprehensive plan for the Pacific Northwest Trail last week in the latest move to spearhead the trail’s development. Under the plan, officials now have guidelines through which they can manage and develop the trail, as well as levy congressional support.
The Pacific Northwest Trail is one of that nation’s newer long-trails, stretching 1,200 miles between Washington, Idaho and Montana. First proposed in the 1970s, the concept for the trail has been around for at least a half-century, but it didn’t join the USA’s roster of National Scenic Trails until 2009. As the least-developed National Scenic Trail in the country, long sections of the trail are bushwhacks or roadwalks. But the new comprehensive plan could change that.
Liz Berger, the Acting Regional Forester for the Pacific Northwest Region of the Forest Service, wrote: “The comprehensive plan guides the development of the nonmotorized trail throughout its entire length, from the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean. The plan contains recommendations for trail maintenance, visitor services, and resource protection.”
While the development of long-trails is dependent on a number of different factors, it’s not uncommon to take several decades to build a complete thoroughfare. It took 16 years to complete the Appalachian Trail. The 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail took about 25 years to complete. The Continental Divide Trail has had a National Scenic Trail designation since 1978, but it has yet to be completed.
Fourteen years after its designation, swaths of the PNT are still undeveloped, but new attention and an easier line to government resources could begin to chip away at them.
In addition to providing land managers with guidelines for how to deal with the PNT, the comprehensive plan also allows officials to study specific trail segments to protect them as environmental conditions change.
“With the comprehensive plan in place, new trail locations can be studied, and new trail segments will be constructed as conditions allow,” said Berger,, “This will enable the trail to evolve and adapt to changing needs and environmental considerations, ensuring its sustainability for future generations.”
One notable difference between the PNT and more high-profile trails is that the PNT is much less popular: In a 2018 fact sheet, the Forest Service estimated that only about 65 people thru-hiked the trail every year. (That same year, around 1,200 people reported a successful thru-hike to the Pacific Crest Trail Association). Based on the plan, it seems like the USFS believes those numbers could get a lot higher: The plan identified the carrying capacity of the trail to be between 552 and 1,748 thru-hikers, and notes that land manager may have to take actions such as establishing a permit system and banning overnight camping within certain sensitive grizzly habitat as more hikers tackle the trail.
From 2023
