Thoreau Falls Bridge Removal?

[psmart]

My interest was piqued by a guest post suggesting that the WMNF was planning the removal of the Thoreau Falls Bridge. There was certainly nothing in the quarterly SOPA email I last received on April 3rd, but on checking the current SOPA report, there it is:

Thoreau Falls Bridge Removal
Developing Proposal - Est. Scoping Start 06/2015 - Decision Expected: 08/2015 - Expected Implementation 09/2015

Description: Dismantle bridge using Wilderness-appropriate tools, break up and scatter wood component and break up and bury or scatter concrete abutments at least 100 feet from perennial water, pack out any hardware. Monitor crossing, harden banks if necessary.

Web Link: http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=46602

At present there are no additional details on the project page. They are still "developing proposal".

 

[Becca M]

Thanks for posting. This essentially closes the Thoreau Falls Trail. Unfortunately, the alternative for a lowlands traverse is the Shoals Pond Trail which is basically a wetland as the bog bridges disintegrate into the marsh. It is sad to see the wilderness become restricted to fewer and fewer people as the congestion increases on popular trails. I am not surprised that those who use these areas have no input (as with the other bridges that were removed). *THEY* know better than us.

At this point, why have trails in any wilderness area????? Why is trail maintenance/preservation *at all* an appropriate use? The trails should just go to the wilderness boundary signs and then you should just see a pile of brush blocking the trails and a sign of the fines you will incur for performing *ANY* trail maintenance - wilderness CLOSED - don't expect a rescue/etc.... you are on your own folks!!! Think of the money saved/wilderness preserved....

I am waiting with a sad face to see the calls/pleas for volunteers to help these people destroy *THIS LAST* bridge and remove the remains so the powers that "be" don't run out of taxpayer funds to do so.

 

[Becca M]

On Google Earth it does look as though about a half mile east of the TFT/Wilderness Tr junction the river does look possibly crossable if a bootleg trail is created from the Wilderness Trail to bypass the bridge site and that crossing. I will look into the option this summer.

 

[JustJoe]

I'm not an engineer but being an all wooden bridge, about 30-40' long, you'd think they could just rebuild it without breaking the rules for very long.

July 2012

Down stream/west from bridge.

Up stream/east from bridge.

 

[Hillwalker]

Is this the bridge that is on the AT?

 

[Hillwalker]

Whoops I just answered my own question. It is not.....

 

[HAMTERO]

How can we follow this process? I'm not in favor of removal.

 

[peakbagger]

Unfortunately unless you have a congressman on speed dial, the process is rigged to allow the forest service to do what they want to.

 

[TCD]

Unfortunate vandalism - I feel for you folks. Every now and then someone starts militating to try to get the Feds involved over here in the Adirondacks. I see one of these threads and I say "Please keep these destructive people out of our Adirondacks!" Sorry this is happening...

 

[psmart]

How can we follow this process? I'm not in favor of removal.

There will be a public comment period after the formal proposal is released.

Additional details will be posted here as the project develops:
http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=46602

 

[Becca M]

Unfortunately, public input was accepted but not considered when the other bridges were removed. Same again.

"We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force." - Ayn Rand

 

[psmart]

Unfortunately, public input was accepted but not considered when the other bridges were removed. Same again.

While submitting comments does not guarantee the outcome you may want, I know from personal experience that comments do make a difference. Failing to comment certainly doesn't accomplish anything.

 

[TJ aka Teej]

It's not on the AT?

Whoops I just answered my own question. It is not.....

This isn't on the Ethan Pond trail?

 

[TJsName]

This isn't on the Ethan Pond trail?

This crosses the East Branch, just east of the North Fork (which the TFT follows). Weight limit: 1 person!

 

[Becca M]

While submitting comments does not guarantee the outcome you may want, I know from personal experience that comments do make a difference. Failing to comment certainly doesn't accomplish anything.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, "public comment" is merely an item to be checked off on the task list prior to bridge removal. Same old same old.

 

[trailbagger]

This isn't on the Ethan Pond trail?

It's on the Thoreau Falls Trail, close to where the trail leaves from the Wilderness Trail. The actual falls are very near the other end of the trail, where it joins with the Ethan Pond Trail.

I've only crossed the bridge once, when the water was high, and it didn't seem like a rock-hop would be doable in the immediate vicinity of the bridge. How does this crossing compare with the Lincoln and Franconia Brook crossings that the WMG warns us away from during high water, and which also don't have bridges? That is, would the Thoreau Falls Trail become a trail that can only be done in the dry season?

 

[TJ aka Teej]

This crosses the East Branch, just east of the North Fork (which the TFT follows). Weight limit: 1 person!

Thanks, TJ & trailbagger!!

 

[psmart]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, "public comment" is merely an item to be checked off on the task list prior to bridge removal. Same old same old.

I've seen projects modified and even canceled as a result of public comments. And there are lots of interesting issues here, for example, what are the alternate means of crossing the stream? What are their environmental impacts vs a bridge? What are the safety implications? Should an alternate crossing/ford be designated? It's all part of the planning and scoping process. Frankly, I think it's great that a public comment process even exists.

 

[peakbagger]

When attending a public comment period a few years ago the forest staff member spent 45 minutes showing us slides of chapter and verse of federal regulations justifying their right to do what they darn well please. At the end of the presentation the FS employee stated that she would gladly receive comments as they were required by statute but did not have to take any of them into account. Realistically unless it is elevated to a high level early on the general publics comments are typically ignored. If it gets to the point where the WMNF supervisor is getting phone calls from politicians, things may happen.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, "public comment" is merely an item to be checked off on the task list prior to bridge removal. Same old same old.

Developing Proposal - Est. Scoping Start 06/2015 - Decision Expected: 08/2015 - Expected Implementation 09/2015

It would seem so, given the wording "Expected Implementation..."

Tim