Wandering Daisy wrote:You certainly CAN require PCT permits and quotas in the Sierra! Just have the PCT general permit for everything EXCEPT the Sierra.
I'm a little confused - I'm not sure there is an official "PCT permit". Rather, the $50 fee the PCTA charges is for coordinating the paperwork among the dozens of different national, state & local parks and forests the trail passes through. That way, hikers are issued a single permit recognized by each separate legal jurisdiction. In this context, it's important to distinguish between 'honoring' a document issued by a NGO, as opposed to an official permit produced by the respective department(s).
However, if one wanted, they could simply hike/camp in areas that don't require permits (eg the first 250 miles of the desert section), and then personally pick up permits in areas that do require them. Also, many zones that do require permits are self-issue at the TH, so that makes it easier as well to just keep trucking along.
Since we @ HST are approaching this issue from the perspective of the high Sierra, we're conditioned by the high demand and extremely officious process of getting into the parks/wilderness. But, we should be cautious about projecting that experience to other areas, most of which are wide open.
So, back to controlling traffic through the Sierra. Right now, anyone can enter the trail below the JMT @ Trail pass which doesn't even have a quota. Or, go in via Cottonwood or (New) Army, which do have quotas, but are extremely high. The further south you go, the less control via permit/quota. In this situation, the parks/forests further north cannot control exits, since the permits - self-issue or office - are already issued.
In order to be able to control traffic through the entire Sierra, the entire range would need to come under the type of local entry/exit control mandated for the Whitney zone. From personal experience, while that may (sort of) work for a single trail where a ranger can be parked @ the TH, it would literally require a police presence across multi-trailheads north & south. Also, while the WZ has (grudging) public support due to its single, high use nature, I don't see how it would be possible to start restricting access south/north of the Sierra just to control flow through the entire JMT section.
Lastly, to bring up the classic Valley argument against access control, you are advocating restrictions derived from your own personal experience. That is, as if you personally have the right to continue to use the park in the fashion that you may have become accustomed to. In actuality, the right to peaceful & quiet enjoyment you are attempting to assert doesn't actually exist. Rather, it's a form of discrimination aimed at denying comparable enjoyment to those who may not have been fortunate enough to have been born in an earlier era where peace & quiet prevailed.
Throw in some of the hot button triggers covered in the OP, such as age, gender, orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, income, nationality, etc - fabricated or not - and Katy bar the door. (Ex: students off for the 2-3 month summer break - why are they to be barred from the Sierra during their one open period during the year?) Also, please note I'm not personally accusing you of this, it's just the general argument made in response to any attempts at restricting access to public areas, whether it be the coast, deserts or mountains. It's why the Valley is a parking lot in summer - the park cannot do anything about it.