The Trail Blazers and Washington Wilderness Lakes

Michael D. Swayne Trail Blazers, Redmond, WA

The Trail Blazers is a volunteer organization that has been assisting Washington State fish and wildlife agencies manage high lake fisheries since 1933. The Trail Blazers goal has been to help provide a quality high lake recreational fishery. This goal is pursued by carrying out fish introductions, fish surveys, trail maintenance, camp cleanup, public education on wilderness travel and fishing, cooperation with land and wildlife management agencies and other interest groups. The Trail Blazers have developed and maintain a High Lake database, which contains information on high lakes, ponds and streams in the Washington Cascades and Olympics. The database has information on 2,663 lakes and ponds in Washington wilderness areas. Data are considered to be nearly complete for lake identification codes and names, hydrologic connections to downstream reaches, XYZ coordinates, public land survey locations and sizes. The database has information on 5,356 fish introductions in wilderness lakes. Fish introduction records are considered to be nearly complete in the middle and North Cascades and about 90% complete in other areas. The database has information on 6,224 fish surveys at wilderness lakes. The database also includes much of the limited amount of data that have been collected by various agencies and members on littoral plant and animal observations including amphibians, inlet/outlet descriptions, water chemistry and plankton.

Statistics developed from the database show: the number and sizes of Washington wilderness lakes and ponds; the number that have had fish introductions or positive fish observations; the numbers and types of fish introduced, the numbers of fish planted per acre; and the locations of wilderness lakes with respect to Washington population centers.

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