Pleasant Canyon Grading...Posted by kris on January 07, 2004 at 14:10:24: In Reply to: Re: Vandals Big time up Pleasant Canyon posted by Last Chance Rand on January 06, 2004 at 17:12:43: Do I want to feed a fire here ? No, I dont. So dont take this the wrong way... ok, ok... (I mis-took him for a greenie...) I was up there on the 11th of October, I drove Pleasant into Mddle Park and back. Thru the wet area, the metal plates were all set aside just out of the vehicles path. The vegitation was very recently cut but there was almost no evidence of a blade clearing a path but in a few places where it appeared the ground was only leveled. I do remeber one area near the bottom where debris was pushed off to the south side of the road. A bit of an eyesore, but it did create a small pool for watering purposes, and there were various fresh tracks in the mud... On the way down (almost at the bottom) we had a vehicle breakdown that we could not move out of the road (no room). In the hour we were there, the workers from the World Beater came up on us and we talked for a good 1/2 hour. They said that they try to do as little as possible in the wet areas but that they still need to get their truck thru. Its a full size long bed with a good amount of rocker damage. If in fact they had been given a "Right of Way" permit for access to the World Beater then the following may apply... You can interpret that any way you want, unfortunately I dont have the time to find it stated any clearer in the cfr's. I dont "really" want to talk about Surprise as that is another topic in itself, but as far as your "Wild and Scenic" comment goes, you may be correct. The problem that will need to be addressed in Surprise is that there was no mention in the report of there ever being a road in Surprise Canyon above Chris Wicht. The report refers to that section as being considered as "Scenic" but with a road there, that designation creates a conflict in that for Scenic designation, there cant be a road crossing (or occupying the same space as) the creek as Surprise Canyon Road does... The other closures... Im not condoning what Manele Bay did to the road, but I dont like to see name calling when the only reason that area is open to the extent it is today is because of mining interest. If they do expand operations, then the "recreational" opportunities and value will definately change. Until then, I just wouldnt make waves. kris.
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