Bollards and Trail Closures

In the last issue of WSEN we published an article by Concerned Citizen (CC) entitled Closures. The writer mentioned that there were quite a few trails along the McCarthy Road blocked by wooden bollards and posted with “No Motorized Vehicle” signs.

The article cited federal regulations concerning trail closures and asked some questions about the legality of the bollards and

signs. We were hoping to hear from WRST Superintendent Gary Candelaria concerning these issues as we know he is an avid reader of this publication. (He even bought a spare copy of our last issue from the Pilgrims at the Welcome Booth at McCarthy.) Sadly, nothing was forthcoming.

In fact, at a recent public meeting, Candelaria was asked about these bollards and signs. He disavowed any knowledge of them. In fact, all of the WRST management present at the meeting seemed to be in total ignorance of their existence.

One of our readers was at the meeting and heard the exchange about bollards and signs. He kindly sent us photos of the ones at mile 29 near the Gilahina trestle.

As our columnist said in the last issue of WSEN, “So, what type of trail closures are we dealing with in the Wrangell-St. Elias? Are they emergency closures? I doubt it. Expired in 30 days and unrenew¬able. Temporary closures? Over in 1 year and unrenewable. I doubt that, too. If we have permanent trail closures on the McCarthy area trails and all other blocked trails in the park, where are they “published as rule¬making in the Federal Register?” When was our 60day comment period? And where were the public hearings “in the area affected?” I, for one, would like to know which closure classifi¬cation was used for our trails to see if proper NPS procedure was followed.”