[pct-l] Letter of the Law

[CMountainDave at aol.com (CMountainDave@aol.com)]

In a message dated 3/19/04 12:15:12 PM, campydog@verizon.net writes:

<< Uh, not here. I don't believe anybody made an exception to the 
Wilderness Act in Olympic National Park. I believe it was contravened 
for convenience - UNLESS chain saw use was deemed necessary for public 
safety.  >>


The following was copied directly from the Wilderness Act of 1964 itself:

Except as otherwise provided in this Act, each agency administering any area 
designated as wilderness shall be responsible for preserving the wilderness 
character of the area and shall so administer such area for such other purposes 
for which it may have been established as also to preserve its wilderness 
character. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, wilderness areas shall be 
devoted to the public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, 
conservation, and historical use. 
PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN USES
(c) Except as specifically provided for in this Act, and subject to existing 
private rights, there shall be no commercial enterprise and no permanent road 
within any wilderness area designated by this Act and except as necessary to 
meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of 
this Act (including measures required in emergencies involving the health and 
safety of persons within the area), there shall be no temporary road, no use 
of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, 
no other form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within 
any such area.

"wilderness areas shall be devoted to the public purposes of recreational, 
scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, and historical use"

  I interpret this to mean that trails are allowed and maintenance of those 
trails also so that wilderness can be devoted for non motorized, non mechanical 
recreation. It also seems to have a loophole for "historical use" structures 
such as pioneer cabins and CCC shelters

   Section "C" starts out as, "except as specifically provided for in this 
act".and continues " except as necessary to meet the minimum requirements for 
the administration of  the area for the purpose of this act"

   I interpret this to mean that mechanized means are allowed in an official 
capacity for the "purpose of recreational activities"( one of the requirements 
of the Act) to be determined by "each agency administrating any area 
designated as wilderness", as long as they are "necessary to meet the minimum 
requirements for the administration of the area for the purpose of this Act"

   As I stated, mechanized means (specifically chainsaws) were apparently 
considered kosher by ONP administrators because they can get the most out of 
their volunteer -- and paid -- labor. Trail maintenance crews in ONP regularly use 
chain saws to cut through trees 5 to 6 feet in diameter in an hour that would 
take a week with a whip saw. With the limited amount of money that ONP has 
for trail maintenance, I for one, think this is a common sense approach.

   Although chain saws are mechanized and an intrusion, they DO facilitate 
recreation in wilderness areas

 I am just as willing to make an exception for them as I am for a father to 
push his disabled daughter several hundred yards down a wilderness trail in a 
wheelchair from a traihead

  Bridges are structures. They are nonetheless allowed because. they are 
deemed "necessary to meet the minimum requirements for the administration for the 
purpose of this act", specifically non motorized, non mechanical recreation. 
In my mind, chain saws for cutting giant and numerous trees across a designated 
recreation trail are in the same catagory for the same reason
   David C