PCT_Americas_Wilderness_Trail

PCT Americas Wilderness Trail

     In The 1920s and early 1930s visionary thinkers started talking and writing about the value of long-distance trails through wilderness settings. In 1935, eight leaders came together to form the Wilderness Society.  Led by Forest Service employee Robert Marshall, Benton MacKaye , and also Harold Anderson. The first meeting of the Pacific Crest Trail Conference took place the same year. In 1937 to 1939 Bob Marshall and Clarke exchanged letters about a range of issues regarding the preservation of wild lands and the development of the PCT. Bob Marshall and Clarke were planning to a meeting in September of 1939. After the death of Bob Marshall we see two things take place that shake the assumptions for the development of the PCT and wilderness preservations.  Within months of Marshall's death the regional forester in California abandoned participation in the PCT project. Without Marshall’s leadership within the agency, we see two things take place that shake assumptions for the development of the PCT and wilderness preservation. Within months of Marshall’s death, the regional forester in California abandoned participation in the PCT project. Through the next several years, despite many obstacles, Clarke and the PCT Conference continued to advocate for the PCT. Integral to that advocacy was a push for setting aside additional wilderness and expanding the areas that had been administratively designated by the Forest Service or legislated by Congress within national parks.

- What I learned from this article is the background history of how the PCT was created. I learned of how many people took the time to create the PCT. I also learned why it was so important to create the PCT.


I have two questions about this article: 
-Why was this place was so special to start a PCT in this particular place?
-Why when Bob Marshall suddenly died that the other people did not help to continue the PCT trail?