Testimony of

Jon Knechtel

Director of Trail Management/ Acting Executive Director

Pacific Northwest Trail Association

RE: Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail Act of 2008

Before the

Subcommittee on National Parks

United State Senate

Washington, DC

17 June 2008

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, it is truly an honor to
appear before you today. My name is Jon Knechtel and I am the Director
of Trail Management and Acting Executive Director of the Pacific
Northwest Trail Association (PNTA). I am here today as the designee of
all of our members, volunteers, partners, and students who have kept
alive the dream of the Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT). To testify before
a Senate committee is a rare opportunity for any citizen, and I am
extremely grateful to Chairman Akaka for the invitation to be here
today.

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When President Johnson signed the National Trails System legislation in
1968, and the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails became our first two
National Scenic Trails, those people who were avid through- hikers and
explorers of new territory envisioned a network of trails crisscrossing
the United States. One such visionary was a young college student from
Georgetown University named Ron Strickland. In 1971, and on through the
early 1970's, he and some of his friends would spend their winter months
pouring over available maps of the Pacific Northwest, summers were then
spent hiking segments of what was to become the PNT. By 1977 segments
had been put together, Ron and his hiking friends had hiked these
segments and the trail was born, along with the association that bears
its name.

A feasibility study was completed in 1980 on the PNT, and though it met
all the criteria that a National Scenic Trail needs the cost of
implementing the trail was astronomical, around \$95 million dollars.
Much of this cost was intended to acquire a wide right-of-way for the
Trail. Since that time much of the route of the Trail on lands that were
not in public ownership has been acquired by the cities and counties
that the Trail passes through. Also, at the time the Feasibility Study
was done, commercial use of our national forests was in full swing and
the opportunity cost of removing these lands from the timber base was
high. Since the early eighties, commercial forest use has dwindled, and
many new wilderness areas have been designated along the route of the
Trail. Today the majority of the trail is protected by its very
location. Sections of the Trail, in the lower elevation areas, often
employ the use of old rail corridors. Many of these corridors have been
acquired over the last two decades by local municipalities and converted
to trail. There are still areas where the trail crosses state or private
land where commercial use still takes place. The PNTA has worked very
diligently over the years to work with and not impede the various
guidelines under which these lands are managed. Adopt-a-Trail agreements
are in place with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources
(as well as a Land-use Agreement) and the Washington State Parks,
through which the trail goes. Land-use Agreements are in place with some
of the private landowners and these continue to be obtained as needed.
Help and support by the Pacific Northwest Trail Association for land
purchases and exchanges for the trail and trailheads have been
negotiated with cities and counties along the trail, as well as with
federal land managers.

The PNT is a conglomerate of trail types under the Recreational
Opportunity Spectrum (ROS). There are rural-urban trails, front country
trails, back country trails, and wilderness trails. There are sections
of the trail that only receive 50-100 hikers per year, while other
sections (like Deception Pass State Park) receive over 3 million
visitors per year, most of whom set foot on the PNT. There are sections
of the trail where use may be restricted to protect Threatened or
Endangered animal species such as the Grizzly Bear or Woodland Caribou.
Maximum group size is restricted in federal wilderness areas and limited
entry permits are required in some sections. Illegal use by Off Highway
Vehicles (ORVs) is a problem on some sections of the Trail. The PNT is,
and should always be a hiker, equestrian, and where permitted, bicycle
trail. Existing trail management objectives set forth by the governing
agencies or land owners will govern the maintenance and use of the PNT.
Trails will not be upgraded to meet a minimum PNT "standard", as is the
case for the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. Changes in management
direction would be done on a case by case basis, based on other
recreational management objectives, with the caveat that the trail use
remains non-motorized.

When I first became an employee of the PNTA in late 2003 (having been a
board member for three years prior to my retirement from Weyerhaeuser
Corporation), my first job was to travel the trail, meet with all my
partners and the agencies through which the trail traverses. There were
many issues that were brought forth by the 1980 study that I personally
wanted to rectify if at all possible without jeopardizing the scenic
beauty and wild places through which the trail passed. Starting in
Glacier National Park, the Flathead, Kootenai, Idaho Panhandle,
Colville, Okanogan National Forests, North Cascades National Park, the
Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie, the Olympic National Forests, and the Olympic
National Park, I met with the recreational staff from each park, forest,
or district and asked the same questions. What are the concerns? Because
there are hikers hiking the trail, whether you recognize it or not,
where would you like to see them hike? I talked with local groups who
used trails in their areas and relied on their expertise to determine
the most feasible routes for the Trail. By doing these things, all but
one bushwhack has been removed from the trail. The Trail route has been
relocated in numerous spots to locate it on system trails and/or
abandoned logging roads. The PNT, with agency support, will probably,
like the other National Scenic Trails, continue to evolve.

Although the PNT was not originally recommended for National Scenic
Trail Status, the members and volunteers would not let the vision of a
Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail die. In the mid 1980's the PNTA
formed a partnership with the British Army. The Army crew worked for
three summers building new sections of the trail on Blanchard Mountain,
in Skagit and Whatcom Counties, in the State of Washington. Our
volunteers worked to keep the trail in Skagit and Whatcom Counties
maintained along with some new trail construction in Island County
during the late 1990's.

In 2000 we developed our Service-Knowledge-Youth (SKY) Education Program
and Curriculum thanks to funding from the Ford Motor Company and Tully's
Coffee Company. This program was instituted in 2001 with help from the
Sedro-Woolley and Mt. Baker School Districts by putting at-risk youth
out to work on trails in the Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest.
Thanks to Title II monies from the Secure Rural Schools Act we were able
to provide a stipend to the students for their efforts, while they
earned additional school credits. In 2001, when falling budgets on the
Olympic National Forest threatened to eliminate an innovative youth work
experience program known as the Quilcene Ranger Corps, the PNTA stepped
in to manage it through a partnership with the Forest Service and
Washington State University 4-H.

In 2002, again thanks to Title II and Title III funds, we were able to
expand our youth programs to Jefferson and Clallam Counties on the
Olympic Peninsula. This enabled us to help our agency partners,
performing trail work for which they had neither the manpower nor
funding to accomplish. We also developed, through private donations, a
Native Plant Nursery in Mt. Vernon, WA. This had a three-fold purpose;
(1) to give youth an opportunity to learn about native plants and their
effect on the environment, (2) to supply native plants to local
communities and private developers for mitigation/restoration projects,
and (3) to replant native vegetation along impacted areas along the PNT.

From 2003 - 2007 we were able to expand the programs to the Okanogan,
Colville, and Idaho Panhandle National Forests under Title II and Grants
from the National Forest Foundation. Through other funding avenues work
took place in the Olympic and North Cascades National Parks. These
programs will continue through 2008 unimpeded, however with the Secure
Rural Schools Act not being renewed, some of the programs may be in
jeopardy after this year.

Also, in 2003 we developed a partnership with Cascade Job Corps in
Sedro-Woolley, WA wherein we provide work-based training to young people
prior to their going out in the workforce. This has proven to be a
wonderful year-round program where we can provide more services to our
agency partners. These students do a myriad of different projects where
they are needed. They have worked in Mt. Rainer National Park, Idaho,
Eastern Washington, the Olympic Peninsula, and the entirety of the Mt.
Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest. The crews have built new trail bridges
and removed damaged ones, built and maintained trails while obliterating
user made trails. They have removed toilet buildings from campgrounds
and trailheads in preparation for the installation of new ones, done
stream restoration for the protection of the Bull Trout, installed new
trailhead sign kiosks at trailheads, removed hazard trees from trails
and campgrounds and saved our agency partners large amounts of money. In
the winter they work on mitigation projects for local municipalities and
agencies, and have provided labor sandbagging during flooding in western
Washington.

With these programs, we've been able to get a tremendous amount of work
done for our partners, not only on the PNT but also on other trails on
federal lands. Over 950 youth have participated in our programs over the
last 7 years, the graduation rate at the schools where the programs have
been implemented has increased, juvenile delinquency rates have dropped,
at-risk youth who have never had the opportunity are getting out and
learning to be stewards of the environment, and the agencies have
benefited by getting projects accomplished.

The Department of Interior, under the National Trails System Act has
designated the PNT segments through North Cascades National Park (2002),
Olympic National Park (2003), and Glacier National Park (2005) as
National Recreation Trails, a total of 254 miles. Under the Clinton
Administration the entire PNT was named a Millennium Trail. These are
all great accolades; however the vision of all who have been involved
with the PNT is to someday see it become a National Scenic Trail. The
hikers who through-hike the PNT are astounded by the beauty, the
elevation changes, the variety of wildlife and flora, and the serenity
as they head for their final destination at Cape Alava on the Pacific
Ocean.

Creating a Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail makes sense! From
East Glacier National Park the PNT is a direct connector; tying the
already designated Continental Divide Trail and the Pacific Crest Trails
to one another, with the possibility of someday tying the PNT to the
North Country Trail and creating a Sea-to-Sea Trail. This was all part
of the vision in 1968 of a National Trail System tying the country
together, north-to-south, and east-to-west.

Over the last 30 years, since the PNTA was founded, more than 131,000
hours of labor on the Trail have taken place with a benefit to our
agency partners of over 1.5 million dollars. A breakdown on land along
the Trail where these hours were spent is as follows:

National Park Service 13,376

US Forest Service 79,337

Bureau of Land Management 272

Bureau of Indian Affairs 966

WA Department of Natural Resources 26,931

WA State Parks 4,337

County Lands 3.120

City Lands 305

[Private Lands 2,698]{.underline}

Total 131,342

The PNT is broadly supported by many groups such as the Backcountry
Horseman of Washington, Washington Trails Association, the Mountaineers,
Jefferson Trails Coalition, Quimper Trail Association, Peninsula Trails
Coalition, Colville Trails Coalition, Volunteers for Outdoor Washington,
Washington States Trails Coalition, and Tobacco Valley Highcountry
Horseman in Eureka, MT.

County Commissioners in Clallam, Jefferson, Island, Whatcom, Okanogan,
Ferry, and Pend Oreille counties support a Pacific Northwest National
Scenic Trail. The mayors of Eureka, MT, Metaline Falls, WA, Forks, WA,
have sent their support for the Trail.

Numerous through-hikers, members, students, volunteers, and corporations
have voiced their support either by sending letters, signing petitions,
voting and/or commenting on the Washington Watch website.