VALLEJO, Calif. — May 2022. The USDA Forest Service (USFS) is releasing its Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (PCT) Foundation Document — that will guide the future preservation and protection of the PCT — right as the season opens for northbound trail users starting their journey.
Since the Trail’s designation in 1968, the USFS has been the administrating agency for the iconic PCT and has collaboratively managed the Trail with other natural resource agencies and partners.
“Until this point, the PCT Comprehensive Management Plan has directed the management of this unique recreation resource,” said Jennifer Eberlien, Regional Forester for the Pacific Southwest Region of the USFS. “Today, we are honored to release the PCT Foundation Document, a companion document, which will ground us in a shared understanding of the Trail’s nature and purposes, and will be used as a cornerstone in future management discussions.”
This foundation document combines legislative history, legal and policy requirements, special mandates, and administrative commitments, and illustrates the nature and purposes of the PCT in one comprehensive communication and management tool. Partners, stakeholders and the general public helped identify the interpretive themes and fundamental resources and values threaded throughout the document.
“The development of the PCT Foundation Document allows us to explore and root ourselves in the intrinsic values of the PCT that led to its designation as a national scenic trail,” said Lindsey Steinwachs, Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail Administrator with the Pacific Southwest Region of the USFS.
By fostering a deeper understanding of the Trail, the PCT Foundation Document will help the USFS and partner land managers protect the fundamental resources and values of the PCT for this and future generations. To read the document, please visit: http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/pct/land-resources-management.
PACIFIC CREST NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL
— Is a continuous recreation facility extending from Canada to Mexico and consists of
the trunk trail, designated connecting and side trails, trailheads, campsites, signing,
interpretive devices, and related public use facilities.
— Is located, designed, constructed, and maintained to a standard commensurate with
its National significance, while reflecting the type and volume of traffic planned: limited
by the standards established for special legislated areas (national parks, national
monuments, wilderness, state parks) through which it passes.
— Is a linear interpretive facility that: displays throughout its length a changing
landscape reflecting a diversity of land and resource management objective from
preservation (national parks and wilderness to industrial, agricultural and urban
development; and affords opportunities to reflect on the history of the development and
growth of the Nation and its people by identifying and interpreting nationally significant,
cultural and historic sites.
— Across segments of private land is primarily a travel route to provide continuity of the
trail and safe and enjoyable passage for the traveler.
— Provides for a diversity of appropriate outdoor recreation opportunities limited
principally by the carrying capacity of the area and the Congressional restriction on
motorized use.
Characteristics of Pacific Crest
Trail adopted by Advisory Council
May 16, 1980
