High Sierra Topix

Put me on the list of folks that think not making those roads was one of the better decisions for the area. Either the Humphreys Basin or Dusy Basin would have been roadside waters. Evolution Valley with a two lane hwy through it, no thanks . I had not heard of Regans involvement with stopping Hwy 168, but had heard tales of his involvement in stopping the road to Mammoth. I still have an old Madera County road map that shows the route as "proposed." Local lore contends the road was pretty much a sure thing, but someone in Regans cabinet was an outdoorsman that liked to hunt and fish out of Clover Meadow. A pack trip was set up that took Ronnie and his group up around Isberg Pass and Fernandez Pass. Legend has it that he loved it, and so he opposed it. Again, this is all just anecdotal and I don't know if any of it is all that accurate, but I'm one that was glad those roads weren't built. Likely wasn't really wanted by the powers at hand, or they would have been built.

As to which party has done better. Neither. Both are controlled by the same special interests and nothing seems to change regardless of whos in the majority.

What is really interesting is that there's a 3 part PBS special on this week about Ronnie's presidency. He had other issues going on obviously. Hoping to catch a glimpse of this part of his history.

Interesting topic. My first thought was T. Roosevelt because of Yosemite and the National parks. But looking over the previous posts, many have shown that it wasn't one political party or one presidency that made the forests what they are today. Even well intentioned ideas have had terrible or great consequences (depending on view).

Hard to say what would of happened if hwy 168 and even the Disney ski resort at Mineral King had been completed. But I will say, since the hwy 168 project was dropped, road maintance in the Kaiser area has been nearly non-existent, limiting those from enjoying the area. Last time I drove to Edison with my boat, the pounding took a toll on my trailer, boat, fishing equipment and me. Broke a tie down strap, my transom saver bent, my rods nearly bounced out of the boat.....and its a light 15' aluminum boat and sturdy trailer. I do not care to take it back in there unless the road is fixed/re-done and that's sad since Edison and Florence are beautiful lakes with decent fishing.

Here is the Hwy 168 Concept Report: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist9/planning/docs/tcr_sr168.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks, Mav. Found that report the other day but found it to lack the history i was looking for. The extent of that report's historical significance was:

SR 168 was originally planned as a trans-Sierra Nevada route, beginning in Fresno and
heading east through the Bishop area to the Nevada state line via modern US 6. This transmountain
route was never constructed for two important reasons. Steep and rocky terrain is
present throughout this area and the unconstructed portion lies within 2 officially designated
wilderness areas (created as a result of the 1964 Wilderness Act).

Since when has steep, rocky terrain ever stopped someone intent on landscaping with a D9 or a few hundred pounds of dynamite!

Snowtrout:

There's also an interesting story behind how the Kaiser Pass Road is maintained. From what I'm told, Edison basically takes care of most (if not all) of the cost and the FS is in charge of implementing the necessary work. Word has it, there was a dispute a few years back where Edison was paying their dues to the FS, but the FS was not keeping their end of the bargain which was using that money towards maintenance of the road. Edison subsequently stopped paying the FS. I know the road has never been good, but I recall it being particularly bad during that stretch (thinking it was about 4-5 years ago?). Anyway, I believe that issue has since been somewhat resolved because new patch and paving work is noticeable throughout the road's length.

Now, all that said.. I like the road as it is. Rugged.

Thank you for the info Eric. Hopefully they will fix or keep up the road for the future. It has been about 3-4 years since I have been all the way to Edison so I haven't seen the road lately but did have some friends go in early last summer with their boat, which is smaller than mine, and they got bounced around quite a bit and thought it was the worse they had ever seen......and he has been going there since the 60's.

Driving a car is not that bad on that road but towing a trailer or boat can be very difficult.....especially if you take in account the drunks and speed demons who take up every inch in their car/truck/rv/boat.

As Dave 54 said,

Local citizenry working for a common cause has done more than either political party. Or should I phrase it as in spite of either political party.

Last week, I re-watched a lot of the Ken Burns’ National Parks series. One consistent thread running through the series is that one or two incredibly dedicated individuals were responsible for preserving each one of the parks, not only Yosemite and SEKI, but the others as well. One subtext to many of those individuals was that they were incredibly wealthy and chose to use that wealth to buy the land and use their wealthy class connections to powerful politicians to make sure that land was preserved for all time. It’s one of those great ironies that in many cases a wealthy few individuals preserved this land for all the rest of us who never would be able to appreciate it if it was locked up as a private preserve, as was the case in much of the world until recent times. The fact the National Park idea has managed to take hold in so many other countries is quite amazing. The fact it began in the Sierra with Yosemite Valley is something that I appreciate every time I am fortunate enough to be there.

I have to say the concept of one or two dedicated individuals joined by not-quite-so-dedicated helpers is what preserved so much of the open space and parks where I live. My wife and I are good friends of one of those persons and we’re amazed at her dedication, persistence, and patience when it comes to dealing with the institutions and politicians who stand in the way.

I just have to say how refreshing it is to see a four page thread, on the internet, about politics, that has not degenerated into name-calling, angry rhetoric and bitter diatribes. Just about anywhere you look these days you find all of the above and more, and now even the simplest of news stories will descend into a political free-for-all if you read the comments section that follows them. It seems that everywhere you turn idiots (both left and right) are throwing around their untenable and apocryphal opinions on everything under the sun. Here people are doing what? Research? Spreading the blame and the praise equally? Debating in a respectful manner? I feel like I've fallen into some kind of strange, alternate universe.

That's all. I rarely read or contribute to threads such as this one and don't plan to start now. I'm only posting because it is so invigorating and stimulating to see healthy debate and discussion - it's been such a long time that it was beginning to look like a lost art.