Nah....I reject your fantasy world. I like the CDT in NM fine just the way it is....in fact I loved the CDT in NM!! <br><br>I believe I now see why some hikers don't get along with the ranchers. I always had great conversation with any of them or their hands that I ran across. I see them as good people.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 1:11 AM, Brett <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:blisterfree@yahoo.com">blisterfree@yahoo.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
While there's little question that the CDT hiking experience of today is<br>
part and parcel with the ranching industry, I don't think it's<br>
inevitable that this will always be the case. It's an increasingly tough<br>
and unglamorous line of work (for the next generation, especially), and<br>
hikers (those willing to adapt, or who know no different) would be able<br>
to navigate a way through a landscape less beholden to the ranching<br>
business. Ironically, though, there might be some major caveats to this<br>
future landscape that might affect hikers adversely in other ways.<br>
<br>
In this hypothetical future world (where YMMV, no question!):<br>
<br>
- The land recovers from decades of overgrazing, in some cases slowly,<br>
as native grassland habitat slowly replaces cattle-induced mesquite<br>
forests in the arid zones, for example; in other cases, with surprising<br>
speed, as springs and riparian zones become viable, in some cases<br>
perennial again, maybe in the course of only a year or two. In general,<br>
the land heals, wildlife habitat improves, and the net positive effect<br>
is profound beyond our anticipation as we recognize how desensitizing<br>
the status quo cow-burnt landscape really was. (And yes, it really was<br>
cow-burnt!)<br>
<br>
- Naturally flowing surface water being more abundant, hikers are less<br>
dependent on the stock tanks (which have filled with sediment) and<br>
windmills (many broken or removed). Hikers have also learned to seek out<br>
water sources farther afield and have adapted their hiking route and<br>
itinerary to accommodate this water (the CDT route itself evolves).<br>
<br>
- Continuing a small trend of the latter days of ranching's reign, some<br>
of the old wells have been converted to serve the needs of wildlife and<br>
recreational users and are maintained by the USFS, BLM, etc. expressly<br>
for this purpose. Boy Scout projects and such also contribute to this<br>
effect, with rainwater catchments (rain aprons) replacing some of the<br>
old earthen tanks and providing better quality water as a result.<br>
<br>
- The USFS and other agencies more actively include recreational use of<br>
their lands in management plans, and court these groups in an effort to<br>
increase funding for their districts. User fees may become more<br>
commonplace, commensurate with services provided, and user groups may or<br>
may not include OHV's to a greater degree than before (ostensibly an<br>
appropriate use of the existing road infrastructure).<br>
<br>
- More land is set aside as designated Wilderness, especially BLM land.<br>
Non-motorized recreational use and interest steadily increase,<br>
domestically but especially from abroad.<br>
<br>
- The small communities near the trail transition to more of a<br>
tourist-based economy, although old ways die hard and some towns thrive<br>
while others do not.<br>
<br>
- Some of the ranches creak on, while many sell off to developers, as a<br>
growing baby boomer population spreads out in search of the good life.<br>
Pitched battles ensue between preservationists and developers, whose<br>
housing and community development projects lie adjacent to public lands<br>
in many cases, or are located on formerly public land 'swapped' or sold<br>
off by the government in order to boost struggling rural economies.<br>
<br>
- Decades later now, the landscape, in some areas along the Divide,<br>
bears little resemblance to the one hikers knew back in the early years<br>
of the 21st century. In some areas, a level of pristinehood once<br>
reserved for places like Yellowstone or Glacier has become the new norm.<br>
In other places, sometimes in close proximity to these oases, patchworks<br>
of development signal the encroachment of the modern world - the New<br>
West - where before the land was still, bucolic, dirt-roaded, and silent<br>
except for the distant bellow of a rancher's cow, or the discharge of a<br>
hunter's rifle.<br>
<br>
Again, YFWMV (your future world, that is!). But as for today, in many<br>
ways ranching remains the glue that holds the current motley assemblage<br>
together. It's an imperfect world, certainly, though it *is* at least<br>
the devil we know. Whether or not that bond breaks of its own accord, it<br>
may well happen, and the future world that emerges - for hikers, for the<br>
Divide - will be an unpredictable place indeed.<br>
<br>
- blisterfree<br>
<br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>_<br>-_-_-_-_- _ o<br>_-_-_- _ _-\<,_<br>-_-_--- _(_)/ (_) Stumpknocker<br>