I have spent allot of time on the Salmonberry over the last 15 years and that rail bed keeps having huge washouts most winters and was given up on because it is a very steep flood and exceptionally slide prone geology. In the steepest part of the canyon most of that rail bed is on human placed gravel. Without huge financial incentive provided by the height of timber extraction industry to cover the cost of the perpetual maintenance required to keep the line open as it continually blew out it quickly became unusable. The millions spent by the railroad and local state and federal grants to repair the line in 1990, again in 1996, and the last time around in 2006 were all blown out to sea along with the gravel. It is not clear to me at all why the river is not going to keep blowing that same fill out to sea as there is not enough room in that canyon for both the river and a rail bed as the history of the line has definitively demonstrated. I love the idea of a bike path there, but I just dont think the canyon cares about my or anybody else's wishful thinking.
I may not be understanding this well, but the Eastern section seems to be completely redundant. Why would you bother making that trail at all when it's basically a duplicate part of the Banks Vernonia Trail??? Wouldn't that money literally be better spent to create a trial section that connects to the rest of this project from the existing Banks Vernonia Trail??? I wonder especially with the amount of time that's involved. If the whole trail system is not going to be complete for decades, why waste so much time on a duplicate trail section instead of connecting to the existing trail??? I assume there must be a reason, but it's not explained well enough for me to understand it, and I'm generally in favor of more trails.
Great interview. Thanks Jonathan. Thanks Caroline. Something to look forward to for sure.
I have spent allot of time on the Salmonberry over the last 15 years and that rail bed keeps having huge washouts most winters and was given up on because it is a very steep flood and exceptionally slide prone geology. In the steepest part of the canyon most of that rail bed is on human placed gravel. Without huge financial incentive provided by the height of timber extraction industry to cover the cost of the perpetual maintenance required to keep the line open as it continually blew out it quickly became unusable. The millions spent by the railroad and local state and federal grants to repair the line in 1990, again in 1996, and the last time around in 2006 were all blown out to sea along with the gravel. It is not clear to me at all why the river is not going to keep blowing that same fill out to sea as there is not enough room in that canyon for both the river and a rail bed as the history of the line has definitively demonstrated. I love the idea of a bike path there, but I just dont think the canyon cares about my or anybody else's wishful thinking.
I may not be understanding this well, but the Eastern section seems to be completely redundant. Why would you bother making that trail at all when it's basically a duplicate part of the Banks Vernonia Trail??? Wouldn't that money literally be better spent to create a trial section that connects to the rest of this project from the existing Banks Vernonia Trail??? I wonder especially with the amount of time that's involved. If the whole trail system is not going to be complete for decades, why waste so much time on a duplicate trail section instead of connecting to the existing trail???
I assume there must be a reason, but it's not explained well enough for me to understand it, and I'm generally in favor of more trails.
I have wondered the same thing. It’s a good question.
Salmonberry trail Culvert clearing shovel and trash tongs please! 😜