[cdt-l] Mount Taylor Appeal Denied

[Jim Wolf]

The Forest Service Southwestern Region has denied the Society's appeal 
regarding the need for reliable water sources on the Trail near Mount 
Taylor. Under the Forest Service decision, it is perfectly ok for the 
CDT to be routed so that users would have to hike nearly 50 miles, with 
thousands of feet of elevation gain, often under hot conditions, with no 
access to water.

We are urging the Forest Service to address this issue as it considers 
the Proposed Policy Directives that are currently out for comment. Our 
suggestion is to include a new statement, as follows:

       "In general, water sources will be limited to surface water
    natually occurring along the trail. Additional water sources shold
    be constructed/developed, or temporary caches provided, if the
    interval between usable sources (excluding dirt stock tanks) exceeds
    a full day's travel by an average experienced backpacker."

For more information, see the What's New section on the home page of our 
website www.cdtsociety.org.

Jim Wolf