[And thanks to the Sanger Paranormal Society for the h/t.]

From SierraTrails.com:

While this is a bit out of character for us (usually posting feel-good trail information), we felt the need to make folks aware of an issue that has recently affected our local Forest Service. In a 2011 settlement agreement, the US Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to evaluate a certain number per year of 479 requests to list different species of animals and plant as endangered. The USFWS is moving forward on two of these: certain variety of frogs and toads covering 2 million more acres of California’s forests.

As in:

“Human Activities That Will Be Restricted Or Forbidden: 2 million more acres of California’s forests will be sealed off to recreational photography, off-road vehicles, packstock use, hiking, mountain biking, banning of pets, grazing, timber harvest, fire management, farming and ranching, mining…… the list goes on.”

And where?

“14 Counties: Alpine, Amador, El Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Tulare, and Tuolumne. This is an area covering 2/3 of Sierra and Plumas Counties.”

Do we have a map?  Check the above.

However:

Certain science indicates the single most effective approach is the elimination of trout from areas they are historically not native to. This action does not require a critical habitat designation. Studies have shown as high as a 10,000% increase in populations if amphibians when non-native trout are removed from their habitat.

Imagine that.  Logic.  Not proscription.

Yet, let not your hearts be troubled, the federal government intends to double-down on removing the human salient from the equation entirely.

An “eco-friendly” site suggests:

This is happening in our community and will greatly affect areas located in Plumas and Sierra Counties (an area covering 2/3 of Sierra and Plumas Counties), including the Lakes Basin Recreation Area. If granted, here is what human activities could possibly be restricted on more than 2 million acres throughout the Sierra Nevada in California: recreational photography, off-road vehicles, packstock use, hiking, mountain biking, banning of pets, grazing, timber harvest, fire management, farming and ranching, mining…… the list goes on.

In the meantime, the Obama Administration wishes nothing more than to restrict human beings to the smallest footprint possible, in high-rises, in cramped conditions, away from suburbs, into cardboard box housing with the greatest amount of governmental control possible.

Including the impetus to not seek solace in our wilderness areas.  Those areas are for animals and plants, not people.

BZ