A Wandering Soul

The Trail At Hagg Lake

Hagg Lake is home to The Kincaid’s Lupine. A very rare lupine that is host to a very rare butterfly called Fender’s Blue.

There is a dilemma involving Hagg Lake. A decision between providing the much needed clean drinking water for the area or preserving the habitat for these endangered species. You can read up on both sides of the debate in this link here.

http://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=10918

Walking the trails I see some serious problems occurring. I see the invasive Scotch Broom and the Black Berries on nearly every section of the lake. The tiny safe zone for the plants has small paths cut through it as anglers cut their way through to the shores. The amount of trash around the lake is unacceptable. Bait containers and beer cans litter the banks.

I feel the responsibility lies with the visitors of the lake. There are trash cans at the ends of many of the trails and what is carried in should be carried out. The tiny area of land where these lupines grow should be respected. The Hagg Lake trail is 14.5 miles. People can easily sacrifice this small section of land so that some tiny butterflies can survive.

Whether we use this resources as a dwindling home for butterflies, a recreational space or as a more sustainable source of drinking water it still needs to be taken care of by the people who use it. Tossing trash and going off trail is not ok. We must think of the long term effects of our actions so that future generations can have a place to create good memories.

1 month ago -

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