Squak Mountain Access Trail — Thursday, Jun. 22, 2023

Whoever is doing “trail maintenance” on this trail is mowing all the vegetation alongside the trail down, including native plants such as bleeding hearts, Oregon grapes, salal, Salomon seal and a ton ferns, including the sword fern and others. They are whacking down all the plants 1 meter from each side of the trail, leaving behind piles of dead leaves. I saw this today on the West Access Trail, but I expect none of the trails on the mountain will be spared. My understanding is that this is a hiking trail, not a horse trail so such a wide corridor is not necessary. The beautiful flowers and ferns lining up the trail are gone and will not come back till next spring so we have the next 11 months to enjoy brown piles. Ironically there is a poster and brochures at the trailhead about the principles of Leave No Trace. I’ve tried to contact the agency responsible for this, but unsuccessfully so far.