2020 Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail Highlights

Pacific Northwest Trail Association (PNTA)

OUTREACH

Kiosks — A new kiosk was installed near the trail’s midpoint, outside of Oroville, Washington and another has been planned for the Anacortes Community Forest Lands in the northern Puget Sound. 

PROTECTION 

Maintenance — Despite the setbacks presented by the pandemic, PNTA was nearly 100% capacity at fielding trail crews and operating our trail operations program for the season. The crews addressed deferred maintenance and wildfire damage along the PNT.  The crews made significant gains at addressing deferred maintenance and wildfire damage along the PNT. 

Markers — PNTA continued with the Project Thunderbird campaign and made great progress on the number of thunderbird markers installed along the length of the trail corridor. This improved consistent coverage on national forest lands and installation signs for the first time within North Cascades National Park.

Data Gathering — The USDA Forest Service completed initial data gathering with national forests across the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail in support of identifying the trail’s carrying capacity. Building on guidance from the Interagency Visitor Use Management Council and the experience of other NSHTs, the agency developed a systematic approach and virtual tools to collaborate with agency land managers and the Pacific Northwest Trail Association to collect and review relevant data.

CAPACITY 

COVID-19 — PNTA, with the help of an early season intern, created a 45 page COVID-19 Field Safety Manual which the organization utilized to maintain full operational capacity throughout the field season. In addition, the plan was utilized by nationwide agency partners, as well as local partners, to maintain productivity through PNTA coordination.