High Sierra Topix

BillyBobBurro wrote:There is a certain idyllic notion of what a wilderness area is (outside of the legal definition . The areas of the high Sierras that we have protected as wildernesses have basically had people living in them since the glaciers retreated. These people intentionally altered the environment (hunting and intentional fires) for so long that they actually became part of the ecosystem. Should we remove the damns and return to a state of people living off of the land almost year round? This is what was normal for this "wilderness" for thousands of years. Or should we try to replicate the "Wilderness" of the high Sierras before man touched foot to this continent?

Could say the same about high sierra fish stocking.. but let's not go there..

Normal is a strong word. I prefer to use Current. and current means constant change.

Sierra has a lot of small dams across outlets of natural lakes that I'd prefer to have not to have been built though quite understand the reasons given farmers, ranchers, and fishermen downstream. Not a big deal either way as my reasons are for minor reasons of aesthetics and shore ecology. In any case better to leave what was built decades ago as is instead of upsetting was has since somewhat naturalized.

On Labor Day weekend I backpacked into 20 Lakes Basin past Saddlebag Lake. With the droughty year it was the first time I'd ever seen the water so low that there was a stream maybe a hundred yards long between the inside face of the concrete dam and what was the original area of the natural lake before the dam enlarged it. Still a rather sizeable lake though the natural shore showed just waterlines on barren rock. A couple centuries ago the shore probably had a modest number of trees that were all logged for firewood by time the dam was built.

Recall seeing lakes with short height outlet dams in Emigrant Basin where there were areas along shores with old dead trees drowned when the dams were originally filled. Rather ugly and should have been removed.

I couldn't agree more with Venturefars informative post. I just don't get that cattle thing, the damage they do is so easy to see. A few existing check damns only benifit the wilderness and it's wildlife!

Thanks for the perspectives everyone! Especially venturefar, extremely thoughtful.