Connie (& Tweets),

I well imagine there'll be some controversy around the two points you
raise. Here are my reactions.

I walked the new bark trails through Yesler Swamp quite recently.
I'll be surprised if they get much usage other than by birders or
young people looking to toss back a few six-packs out of the public
eye. The trails themselves are narrow and seem of minimal impact
(especially compared to earlier plans to construct a boardwalk
through the same area), and the surrounding vegetation is dense
enough that I don't anticipate a lot of people wandering off the
trails. So all in all it doesn't bother me at all to have an extra
hundred yards or so (rough estimate) of access.

On the other hand, if there has now been a decision to aggressively
end access to all but the main gravel trails at the Fill, I find that
to be problematic. I periodically travel from Kirkland to do some
bird photography at the Fill. Today I found I was restricted from all
the better areas for photography. Whereas I'd usually return with a
couple of dozen "keeper" shots, today I came away with just one
mediocre photo. I am not saying that recreation should prevail over
the welfare of the wildlife, but this is such a major new restriction
that it will result in my dropping the Fill from my list of usual
haunts. Especially as grasses get higher during late spring and
summer, it is impossible to view many areas of interest with either
camera or binoculars from the gravel trail.

I think UW should consider that drastically limiting birders access
to the Fill will result in fewer nature lovers maintaining a
connection to that area, which will translate to less public advocacy
for the thing they are trying to preserve. It's debatable how to
strike a balance between the needs of people and those of nature, but
to be practical some balance must be maintained. A solution might be
to convert some of the more established social trails to gravel and
designate them as within limits.

Marc Hoffman
Kirkland, WA
tweeters "at" dartfrogmedia "dot" com

At 11:20 AM 5/15/2010, Connie Sidles wrote:
>Friends of Yesler Swamp, in conjunction with the CUH, have laid a
>twisty chip path through Yesler Swamp (aka Surber Grove). It starts
>on the northwest side of Surber, where the parking lot is for the
>greenhouses, winds into the heart of the grove, then curves around
>to the west, parallels the fence line from a distance of about 15
>feet, and exits at Yesler Cove, north and well away from the beaver
>lodge. I'd appreciate your reaction to this trail.
>
>The second development is the posting of signage forbidding people
>from walking off the gravel trail on the main part of the Fill. The
>signs are posted so that they effectively close access to Main Pond
>except for one place at the southeast end. it also closes the social
>trail between Main Pond and Shoveler's Pond. So no longer are you
>supposed to walk along the east side of Main Pond or the north end
>of that pond. Neither are you supposed to get any closer to
>Shoveler's Pond than the gravel trail itself. Finally, you're
>forbidden to walk across Hunn Meadow West from Southwest Pond to
>Main Pond. These social trails have been in existence for 25 years or more.
>
>IMHO, this is a good thing despite the fact that it reduces birding
>opportunities in some of the hottest spots of the Fill. For one
>thing, the signage should put an end (I hope) to the creation of
>ever-increasing additional social trails. For another, they make it
>clear that the Fill's main fields and ponds are there for the sake
>of the habitat and the wildlife. I like this openly signed
>commitment to preserving a little piece of the wild in the heart of
>a city. People are welcome to enter the wild as long as we don't
>love the place to death. It's a good balance of mixed use.
>
>Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think. - Connie, Seattle