Byline: Dennis Bragg - KPAX News

(Mark R Thorsell) -- Click here for updates on this story

TROY (Mark R Thorsell) -- TROY Co The tenth anniversary of the formal creation of the Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT) is just months away and weCOre expecting to see more attention on this still-developing 1,200-mile hike between Glacier National Park and the Olympic Coast.

Some of that attention is on the intensifying debate over re-routing the trail to protect grizzlies in Northwest Montana while helping hikers at the same time.

The PNT isnCOt a new idea as it was first proposed during the long-distance backpacking boom of the 1970s.

Stretching from the Continental Divide peaks of Glacier National Park the route crosses multiple ranges -- including the Cascades and Olympics -- before terminating at Cape Alava in Olympic National Park.

The route is stitched together from existing trails and Forest Service roads and requires frequent bushwhacking.

But the PNTCOs route west of Lake Koocanusa is in dispute. Members of the Yaak Forestry Council want to see it re-routed to the south, following the Fisher River instead of hugging the border through grizzly country in the Yaak to prevent conflicts.

C[pounds sterling]The Yaak is very low elevation. Very limited in alpine habitat that grizzlies use late in the summer, when...