The Wild Cascades The Journal of the North Cascades Conservation Council

Winter 2018

inside: Roadless Rule, or tracks everywhere?

visit www.northcascades.org • www.facebook.com/northcas/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018  1 The North Cascades Conservation Council was THE WILD CASCADES  Winter 2018 (February-March) formed in 1957 “To protect and 3 President’s report — Tom Hammond preserve the North Cascades’ scenic, 4 National Park System Advisory Board members quit over concerns scientific, recreational, educational, about Trump administrative park priorities and wilderness values.” Continuing Gothic Basin a candidate for state-funded protection — Marc Bardsley this mission, N3C keeps government 5 Ramping up on Skagit River Hydroelectric Project relicensing officials, environmental organiza- — Dave Fluharty tions, and the general public informed NCI Youth Leadership Summit about issues affecting the Greater Join our N3C Facebook page! North Cascades Ecosystem. Action is 6 Snohomish P.U.D. forges ahead with Sunset Falls — Rick McGuire pursued through administrative, legal, 7 N3C objects to proposed South Fork Stillaguamish vegetation manage- and public participation channels to ment project — David Gladstone protect the lands, waters, plants and 8 Suction dredging threatens Illabot Creek and other rivers in Washing- wildlife. ton — Dave Fluharty Over the past half century N3C has 9 The Southern Picketts, a fence chiseled out of rock — Ethan Welty led or participated in campaigns to 10 A short history of the Roadless Rule — Scott Crain create the North Cascades National 11 Encroachments threaten Roadless Rule — Tom Hammond Park Complex, Glacier Peak Wilder- 12 On the road again to Monte Cristo —Ed Henderson ness, and other units of the National 14 Find the true believers, get them involved, make one last push to finish Wilderness System from the W.O. what was started 50 years ago — Brock Evans Douglas Wilderness north to the 16 Bad news for bears in the Cascades, good news in British Columbia — Alpine Lakes Wilderness, the Henry M. Rick McGuire Jackson Wilderness, the Chelan-Saw- 17 Members submit comments for Snowy Lakes tooth Wilderness, the Wild Sky Wil- 18 Corvid’s eye derness and others. Among its most 20 Celebrating 50 years of North Cascades National Park dramatic victories has been working 21 Recent books highlight North Cascades, conservation movement — Phil with British Columbia allies to block Fenner the raising of Ross Dam, which would 22 In Memoriam: Ted Beck have drowned Big Beaver Valley. 23 Membership application N3C is supported by member dues and private donations. These contri- butions support the full range of the COVER: The track to Monte Cristo is narrow, with no ditches, and very little surface gravel. With poor—or rather, no—drainage, puddles will become Council’s activities, including publica- potholes when subjected to the wheel impact of vehicle traffic. And the Roadless tion of The Wild Cascades. As a 501(c) Rule means the track shouldn’t be there in the first place! Read more about the (3) organization, all contributions Rule on page 10. —Ed Henderson photo are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Membership dues for The Wild Cascades one year are: Living Lightly/Student $10; Individual $30; Family $50; Sus- Journal of the North Cascades Conservation Council taining $100. Editor: Anne Basye Editorial Board: Philip Fenner, Anders Forsgaard, North Cascades Tom Hammond, Ed Henderson, and Rick McGuire Conservation Council P.O. Box 95980 Pat Hutson, Designer | Printing by Abracadabra Printing University Station The Wild Cascades is published three times a year (Winter, Spring/Summer, Fall). Seattle, WA 98145-2980 Letters, comments, and articles are invited, subject to editorial review. N3C Website The Wild Cascades Editor www.northcascades.org [email protected] North Cascades Conservation Council PO Box 95980, University Station, Seattle, WA 98145-2980

The Wild Cascades is printed on recycled paper.

2  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018 N3C Board

Officers president Tom Hammond vice president Founded in 1957 Carolyn McConnell SEATTLE, WASHINGTON treasurer Tom Brucker The President’s Report Winter 2018 secretary Marc Bardsley

March 2018 will mark the end of my third year as president of the North Other Directors Cascades Conservation Council. Given the timing of our board elections and the production schedule of this fine publication, I am set to begin my fourth Scott Crain year as president between editions, so allow me to say I am pleased the board wishes for me to remain president. I will also retain my role on the Editorial Philip Fenner Committee. I have been very fortunate to serve the past three years, and I am thankful for the opportunity to lead such an amazing group of people that is the Dave Fluharty N3C. I take very seriously the responsibility of leading one of the last remaining all-volunteer conservation organizations in our area. I had the honor of being Anders Forsgaard president as our organization celebrated our 60th anniversary, and now have the David Gladstone honor of leading during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of North Cas- cades National Park. The creation of North Cascades National Park is arguably Ed Henderson the zenith of the accomplishments of the N3C (Glacier Peak Wilderness area, Boulder River Wilderness area, and a host of others notwithstanding)—and the Rick McGuire N3C was the LEAD organization in its creation, which is why Patrick Goldswor- thy is photographed with President Johnson at the signing of the law in October Thom Peters of 1968. This also calls attention to the importance of and need for legislative protection for our public lands. Thom Schroeder One year into the Trump regime, the need for conservation activism is obvi- ous. The leaders of the Department of Interior (Zinke) and the EPA (Pruitt) are Advisors going directly against the stated missions of the organizations they “lead” and are selling out the American public and our shared heritage to extractive indus- Brock Evans tries. Not even the highest bidder is required—any will do. It is breath-taking and deeply disappointing to watch this happen, and the need for the N3C and Karl Forsgaard volunteerism in general are more imperative than ever. The N3C is actively engaged with the greater conservation community as we share information, Kevin Geraghty develop strategies and implement actions to protect our natural places—from the coastal strip of Olympic National Park to the low valleys of the Methow and Fayette Krause Entiat. I would offer that the conservation community can no longer depend on administrative protections—notably the Roadless Rule and National Monu- Dave LeBlanc ments—for our most important and vulnerable ecosystems. If ever there was a clarion call for seeking protection in the form of designated Wilderness and Na- tional Park, this is it! That’s why we’ve been supportive of American Alps Legacy Project and other initiatives seeking such protections—going along to get along and avoiding conflicts with other stakeholders just won’t cut it. Become more involved: write letters to your newspapers and to your elected representatives in government and let them know that formal protections for our last remaining wild places is not just a matter of economics, it is about our livelihoods and our quality of life. continued on page 5

visit www.northcascades.org • www.facebook.com/northcas/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018  3 National Park System Advisory Board members quit over concerns about Trump administration park priorities

Nine of the 12 members of the National ous administrations met with the board “For the last year we have stood by wait- Park System Advisory Board quit in Janu- immediately. ing for the chance to meet and continue ary, citing concern over the Trump admin- “Here we were just being basically the partnership between the NPSAB and istration’s priorities regarding the national stonewalled. ... They had no interest in the DOI as prescribed by law,” the letter parks, CNN reported. learning our agenda, and what we had to reads. “We understand the complexity of A letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke brief them on,” Knowles told CNN. “The transition but our requests to engage have written by former Alaska Democratic Gov. board said we need to make a statement. been ignored and the matters on which we Tony Knowles says the group has been We can’t make a statement to the secretary, wanted to brief the new department team unable to meet with Zinke and the Interior then we need to make a public statement.” are clearly not part of its agenda. Department during his first year in the Eight of the nine who were part of the “I have a profound concern that the position. The board is supposed to meet letter had terms expiring in May, and sus- mission of stewardship, protection, and twice a year, and Knowles said that previ- pected Interior was running out the clock. advancement of our National Parks has been set aside.”

Gothic Basin a candidate for state-funded protection By Marc Bardsley

by such peaks as Del Campo and Gothic, and accessed primarily by a stiff hike from Barlow Pass and the Weden Creek trail, this Alpine area sees hundreds, possibly thousands of day hikers and overnight campers every year. With no facilities for protection of the Basin environment, a very serious amount of damage has been documented over the years from lack of sanitary facilities and hardened campsites and an abundance of social trails—all the features of unregulated use cropping up more and more frequently in our very best alpine areas. At the request of the DNR, N3C mem- bers and other interested persons spent most of 2017 reviewing Morning Star NRCA to help determine where State resources could best be used for environ- mental protections. Field trips were taken to areas such as Ashland Lakes, Greider Lakes, and Gothic Basin. An extensive list of areas needing protection was developed and prioritized for the expenditure of Gothic Basin. ­—© Athena Pangan photo State time and money. Gothic Basin was almost unanimously voted as the most deserving of help and protection. Possibili- Many of us have been unaware that the in some cases mirror provisions of the ties discussed here were sanitary facilities, State legislature has authorized an excel- federal Wilderness Act. This program is hardened camp sites, a permit system to lent program for protection of some State administered by the Department of Natu- limit usage and a temporary closure to land in many areas of the State. Some of ral Resources (DNR). Of particular interest allow some recovery of the Basin. At this these areas would include islands in Puget to N3C members is the large area known time, the State DNR has not decided which Sound, Alpine areas of the Cascades, and as the Morning Star NRCA, an amalgam of choices will be adopted and whether forested areas, both logged and unlogged. chunks of State Land in the Spada Lake, Gothic Basin itself would actually “make These areas are called Natural Resource South Fork Stillaguamish River drainages. the cut.” The Wild Cascades will keep our Conservation Areas (NRCA). The legisla- One of the premier areas of the Morning readers up to date as decisions are made. tion has outlined many protections that Star NRCA is Gothic Basin. Surrounded

4  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018 Ramping up on Skagit River Hydroelectric Project relicensing by Dave Fluharty

It is hard to believe that round three of Joe and Margaret Miller). In turn we sup- SCL should perform to provide answers to relicensing the Skagit River Hydroelectric ported the Skagit river tribes and state these and other questions. Project is about to begin. Seattle City Light fisheries experts in mitigating fisheries In round two of the relicensing, N3C operates the three dams on the Skagit impacts and tribal entities in their agree- was the only environmental organization River (Gorge, Diablo and Ross dams) to ments with SCL on cultural resources. that had intervenor status so we worked produce about 18% of the power used by The question now is how to transform with other organizations that did not have Seattle. The original project licensed by elements of the previous Settlement Agree- that status, e.g., The Nature Conservancy the Federal Power Commission in 1917 ment into requirements for the 40-year on wildlife and recreational lands, North had been built over a period of 50 years term of a new operating license. Questions Cascades Institute on the mitigation of with the license term ending in 1977. As interested parties are seeking to address recreation impacts by providing on site part of relicensing, Seattle City Light ap- are: environmental education, wild river and plied to raise Ross Dam so as to flood over • Did we capture all of the continuing white water advocates, etc. According to 8,000 acres of Canada with a larger reser- environmental impacts of the Skagit SCL, some 60 potentially interested parties voir. N3C among others pushed hard not River Project? have been identified. N3C intends to be to allow construction to raise the height • Are there new environmental impacts integrally involved from now through the of Ross dam. Due to that opposition or the that should be considered? projected final operating license applica- realization that long-term power purchase tion date in 2023. If you have ideas for • How do we incorporate climate change from Canada was a cheaper way to go, the N3C to carry forward or wish to partici- into the calculus of environmental im- City of Seattle chose to strike a deal with pate, please contact us at skagitrelicens- pacts of the Project? Canada with the signing of the Skagit River [email protected]. Treaty in 1984. The first step is proposing studies that While technically the Treaty was not a relicensing process, it set the stage for round two of relicensing by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), in which N3C was recognized as an inter- venor. That process led to an innovative NCI Youth Leadership Summit Settlement Agreement on mitigation of Last November, N3C participated in the North Cascade Institute’s Youth Leader- continuing environmental impacts be- ship Summit. The Summit is an opportunity for youth aged 14 to 22 to participate tween Seattle City Light and the interve- in skill-building workshops, leadership development, and find opportunities nors in 1991 and that meant FERC agreed to be involved in outdoor jobs and internships. N3C tabled at the resource fair to extend the operating license for 30 and talked to dozens of outdoor-minded youth about the history of the North more years starting in 1995. The Settle- Cascades National Park, opportunities for citizen advocacy, and wilderness values. ment Agreement has been heralded as a We’re looking forward to staying involved with NCI at this event in the future and national model for effective mitigation and adding more members to our base! Meanwhile please encourage the youth you resulted in FERC instituting a new, more know to visit https://ncascades.org/signup/youth/YLA to sign up for upcoming collaborative process for hydroelectric Youth Leadership Adventures by March 26. relicensing nationwide. Now it is time to start ramping up for the third round of relicensing. In Sep- tember 2017, Seattle City Light and FERC President’s Letter invited interested parties to an Informa- continued from page 3 tional Meeting on Relicensing Process and a Project site visit. In January and I have a deep and abiding love February, Seattle City Light began meet- for the landscape that is the North ing with interested parties about scoping Cascades and I will let that love guide the nature of the relicensing process. my actions through every year of my Join our N3C Facebook page! Important topics for consideration in life—be it doing field work for the the last relicensing were fish, wildlife, North Cascade Glacier Climate Proj- We have over 100 friends recreation and aesthetics, erosion control, ect, attending meetings with the U.S. already. You can help build our and cultural resources. N3C was especially Forest Service on behalf of the N3C, clout by friending us and then involved with wildlife ($17.5 million for writing letters and articles such as this sharing posts with friends and wildlife land purchase), recreation and others concerned about pre- aesthetics ($10.7 million for construction one, and being present to support and maintenance of the North Cascades conservation in all forms. The time serving the North Cascades. Environmental Learning Center), and ero- for action is now, and I call on every While you’re at it, give a look to sion control (wild plant greenhouse and member of this organization to get the American Alps page as well. nursery named after N3C board members active! visit www.northcascades.org • www.facebook.com/northcas/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018  5 Snohomish P.U.D. forges ahead at Sunset Falls By Rick McGuire

The Snohomish Public Utility District on board the gravy train. The P.U.D. is through debt service, with the P.U.D. continues to pursue the construction of a theoretically run by a three-member com- raising the price of electricity in Snohom- destructive, wasteful, and totally unneed- mission, but the reality is that the commis- ish County. This is becoming a problem ed low power hydroelectric project on sion is always controlled by the P.U.D.’s with public utilities all across the U.S. the South Fork Skykomish river at Sunset large staff. and Canada. At least with private utilities, Falls. If built, the project would divert Looking at Sunset Falls, one can’t help shareholders provide some protection water out of the South Fork into pipes but think that the era of public power in against the organization getting fleeced in leading to turbines and a powerhouse the Northwest is one whose time has come the way that the P.U.D. is at Sunset Falls. near the bottom of Sunset Falls. It would and gone. Snohomish P.U.D. was formed Private companies usually have some sort produce a small amount of very expensive in 1949 to “cut out the middleman,” which of board of directors that is supposed to hydroelectricity. at that time was Puget Power, a private, in- look out for shareholder interests. Private It is becoming more and more apparent vestor-owned utility. The idea was that the companies have of course made innumer- that the real resource being tapped here P.U.D. would buy cheap power from the able bad decisions, but theoretically at is not the South Fork Skykomish river, but big Federal dams on the Columbia River least, there are people who are supposed the customers of the P.U.D. That includes and distribute it at low cost to Snohomish to keep the company from making wildly everyone who uses electricity in Snohom- County residents, without Puget Power in uneconomical decisions. ish County. In a low interest rate economic the middle taking a profit for doing so. That is not the case with public power environment, lenders are excited at the And it worked, for a while. Electric rates utilities. More and more public utilities prospect of loaning money to the P.U.D. went down, and Snohomish County had are throwing huge amounts of money into and collecting interest payments for years, some of the cheapest electricity in the projects that simply do not pay, and that at interest rates which will likely be higher country. But, slowly at first, the P.U.D. staff will put them in debt for decades. The than almost anything else they could put began to swell, and pay itself handsome Site C dam on the Peace River in British their money into. Snohomish County salaries. The P.U.D. gradually transformed Columbia is a giant, uneconomic project ratepayers will find themselves in a kind of from an entity providing cheap power to where good money keeps being poured debt peonage, with electricity bills going Snohomish County into an entity dedi- in after bad, in the billions. Perhaps the up far more than whatever the P.U.D. gets cated to providing well-paid jobs for its worst example is the Muskrat Falls dam in from selling the modest amount of power ever-growing staff. Newfoundland, where the government has generated by the project. Now the banks have joined in with the poured well over ten billion dollars into a The other beneficiaries will be the P.U.D. staff to provide financing for the fairly small dam built on unstable clay, that P.U.D. staff, who will be guaranteed cushy, unneeded, uneconomic project at Sun- will never produce much power. Despite high paying jobs for years, and large set Falls, so they too can make money numbers of consultants who will also be

6  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018 N3C objects to proposed South Fork Stillaguamish vegetation management project By David Gladstone

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has pro- that decommissioning and/or closing of sioning—that portion not paid for by the posed to cut/thin trees, under the guise these roads would occur after the end of logging operators; and fish passage via of restoring old-growth forest habitat the project (potentially many years in the affected culverts) be obtained prior to for spotted owls and marbled murrelets future), but that an unspecified portion project commencement. (euphemistically calling it a “Vegetation of the decommissioning would depend In response to the objections filed, the Management Project”) on up to 3600 acres on uncertain funding, and that some USFS set a meeting for 12/19 for objectors within a 65,000-acre portion of the South roads might be maintained for future use. to meet with USFS officials to discuss the Fork of the Stillaguamish River Late Suc- Another issue of concern was a proposal proposal. Subsequently, on 12/15, PAS and cessional Reserve (LSR)/Riparian Reserve. for “daylighting” along these 60 miles of N3C met with District Ranger Peter Forbes, This logging would include areas like the roads. To us this meant potentially sig- Project Leader Phyllis Reed and MBS Heather Lake trail area. nificant additional logging—although the Environmental Coordinator Lori Wisehart With Pilchuck Audubon Society (PAS) USFS representatives stated that “daylight- to discuss our objections. Then, on 12/19, taking the lead, PAS and N3C filed a ing” referred only to trimming of branches PAS and N3C, along with two other inter- lengthy Objection Letter response to the and other hazardous material overhanging ested objectors and two Sierra Club reps proposal, primarily focusing our objec- the roads. Since this “trimming” would by phone, met with five USFS reps in the tions on the use by the USFS of an Envi- be at the discretion of the loggers, we General Objector meeting. ronmental Assessment (EA), rather than have concerns that limited USFS staffing We are now awaiting the results of a US a full-blown EIS, in light of the size of the would not sufficiently oversee this aspect Fish & Wildlife biological assessment of Proposal. of the project. Since the project covers the project, and then further refinement of The proposal would target 97.5 million broad geographical areas in a 65,000-acre the EA before the USFS either asks for fur- board feet of thinning/logging, using ap- LSR, another of our concerns was to limit ther public comments or issues a Decision proximately 60 miles of new/reopened/re- trimming in only one unit at a time and to Notice (DN). It will probably be at least a constructed roads (approximately 31 miles decommission or close the new/reopened few months before this occurs. Together of new and reconstructed; and 29 miles roads in that unit after project completion. with PAS, we are considering our options, of ML1 reopened roads). The USFS stated Another of our issues was that funding including potential litigation. for related projects (e.g., road decommis-

warning after warning, the government and transports them to a point upstream The Sunset Falls project benefits no one utility went ahead with the project in of the three falls, Sunset, Canyon and except P.U.D. employees, their consul- 2010. The current premier, who replaced Eagle, that block anadromous fish from tants, and the banks which will finance the one who approved Muskrat Falls, calls reaching the upper South Fork watershed. the project in order to collect interest the decision to build it “ill-conceived and Young fish moving downstream descend payments for decades. Electricity rates reckless.” The tremendous debt burden the falls, which are more like steep rapids will rise because of the debt burden. The will double electricity prices in the prov- rather than a vertical “falls,” apparently small amount of power generated will do ince, adding $150 per month to everyone’s with few ill effects. But there will be no nothing to offset the expense of the proj- electric bill - forever. effective way to keep the young fish from ect. Everyone in Snohomish County will The Sunset Falls project may not be going through the powerhouse turbines, end up paying the price of this folly. Fish quite as outrageously stupid as Muskrat which will chew up and kill many or most populations, already under assault, will be Falls, but it is only a difference of scale. of them. decimated. Snohomish P.U.D. can buy all the cheap Snohomish P.U.D. is claiming that a one- The Snohomish P.U.D. has become a power it will ever need from the Bonn- time upgrade to the trap and haul facility self-serving, out of control bureaucracy. eville Power Administration. The amount will be an “extraordinary environmental It was formed with noble motives, but of power from Sunset Falls will be a drop benefit” that should allow them to build much has changed over the nearly 70 years in the bucket, but a very expensive and the project in the protected river reach. since it was created. With the Sunset Falls unnecessary drop. It will also be very But the Tulalip Tribes are not buying it. project, it is harming rather than benefit- damaging to the fish in the South Fork They know that the fishery will be greatly ting Snohomish County. Perhaps the time Skykomish. The South Fork is in a North- harmed by young downstream-bound has come to ask whether it still serves any west Power and Conservation Council fish getting sucked through the turbines. public purpose. Perhaps it is time to ask “protected area,” meaning dams should In their comments on the Draft License whether the county would be better off not be constructed unless there is some Application, the Tulalip Tribes stated that if it were privatized. Snohomish P.U.D. is “extraordinary environmental benefit.” “the project threatens to do irreversible starting to look like Exhibit A of the failure Currently, a trap and haul facility cap- damage to populations at risk as well as of the public power movement in the tures salmon at the bottom of Sunset Falls to critical habitat required by Chinook Northwest. salmon.” visit www.northcascades.org • www.facebook.com/northcas/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018  7 Suction dredging threatens Illabot Creek and other rivers in Washington By Dave Fluharty

Many of us have seen recreational suc- tion dredging. Despite the recent decision The Trust has protected more than 2,000 feet tion dredging taking place in North Cas- by Congress to include Illabot Creek in the of critical salmon habitat along the federally cade rivers and streams. It seems incon- Skagit Wild and Scenic River designation, designated Wild & Scenic Illabot Creek. gruous to see divers in wetsuits bobbing the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest —Skagit Land Trust photo. around with a hose connected to a loud seemed reluctant to exercise its respon- pump sucking up bottom sand and gravel sibilities to protect its lands in the Illabot in pursuit of elusive riches of gold…in Creek watershed. Fortunately, as best we As the price of gold on the world market the same reaches of rivers where salmon, can discern suction dredging under this fluctuates and trends upwards, interest bull trout and other species are spawn- HPA did not take place and the permit is in recreational suction dredging seems ing or rearing and caddis fly now expired. to increase. However, we have yet to hear larvae and other tasty and Besides degradation of stream of anyone who has gotten rich or even nutritious foods are collect- N3C has taken habitats, the practice of suction repaid the cost of equipment and opera- ing. Washington State still dredging is likely in violation of tions by destructively dredging for gold permits this arcane practice a position to the Clean Water Act and the En- in cold clear mountain waters. Should the to the detriment of benthic support ban- dangered Species Act. N3C has public trust allow recreational activities, habitats in streams, water taken a position to support ban- however rewarding, to diminish river and quality and salmon recovery. ning suction ning suction dredging from State stream habitats? Why not encourage the California and Oregon have dredging from waters. N3C is in support of the wet-suited recreationist to help perform banned suction dredging efforts announced January 10, stream counts of fish and contribute to from state waters. State waters 2017 by the Center for Biological fish habitat assessments? NCCC’s initial interest in Diversity and Cascadia Wild- As important as either litigation or leg- recreational suction dredg- lands to bring suit against the islation may be, we should not expect that ing was prompted by the Department of Washington Department of Fish and Wild- the Legislature will prioritize a suction Fish and Wildlife issuing approval of a life to stop allowing this activity. N3C also dredging ban. According to Washington Hydraulics Permit Application for Illabot supports the efforts of the state legislature Watch, legislators introduced 2,365 bills Creek in the Skagit drainage. This seemed to reduce the impacts of suction dredg- in 2015 and submitted another 1,251 bills to be totally contrary to the concept of ing, e.g., HB 1077 introduced by Rep. Joe during the 2016 session. “Of these, 363 DFW protecting salmon species and bull Fitzgibbon and HB 1106 introduced by were enacted into law in 2015 and another trout in this watershed, much less its Wild Rep. Gael Tarleton. However, we feel these 270 in 2016, less than 18 per cent of the to- and Scenic character. Seattle City Light, legislative efforts are too timid for such a tal number of introductions.” 2018 seems with the support of NCCC, notified the complex problem and urge the legislature to be on the same course. N3C continues HPA holder that it would not permit its to amend these actions to promote a com- to track this legislation and litigation and lands in Illabot Creek to be used for suc- plete ban on suction dredging. will report back to members in the TWC.

8  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018 The Southern Pickets, a fence chiseled out of rock By Ethan Welty

This trip was to the Southern Pickets, a separating Terror Basin from the Crescent The Southern Pickets at sunset from The Roost, range that looks like what it sounds like: Creek drainage to the west, to access the North Cascades National Park. a picket fence chiseled out of particularly Pyramid. Once at the base of the Barrier, —Ethan Welty photo hard rock. About 99 percent of Washing- though, after watching a herd of moun- ton’s North Cascades National Park is pure tain goats climb nearly vertically up the wilderness with only a few roads running harrowing ascent route, we changed our through it. minds. you’re doing and the conditions have to Most months out of the year the region Instead, growing weary, we decided to be right. But whenever I do manage to get is covered with snow, but there is a brief set up camp for the night and each of us there, I am abundantly rewarded. period each year when flowers and water- made beds for ourselves on the heather falls glimmer together in the sun. It’s hard benches. When we awoke, the waterfalls Ethan Welty, a former member of The to gauge when exactly that will happen were flowing playfully among clumps of Climbing Club at the University of Wash- since the timing changes every year, but wildflowers and the sun was shining. It ington, studies tidewater glacier dynamics on this trip I got lucky. looked so beautiful. in the Arctic with time-lapse photography We set out on our adventure with North Cascades is different from other and photogrammetry for a PhD at the only helmets and ice axes as climbing national parks. Its focus has not been on University of Colorado. He walks, talks, gear, scrambling up the modestly-angled access and infrastructure – it’s really been eats, and photographs his way across West Ridge of West McMillan Spire (3rd the opposite – and that’s why I love going continents. class). From there, we had planned to there so much. If you want to see the continue over the Barrier, a wall of rock core of the park, you need to know what visit www.northcascades.org • www.facebook.com/northcas/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018  9 Roadless Rule, or tracks everywhere?

The Swen Larsen quarry prior to its impending expansion against the Twin Sisters roadless area, from a Weyerhaeuser clearcut.

towering achieve- ment of Northwest A short history of the Roadless Rule conservation- By Scott Crain ists, the Road- less Rule helped Thousands of acres of wildlands in System in the context of multiple-use Washington State are moderately, but management. thwart the U.S. Forest Service’s A not permanently, protected through the In the final version of the published decades-long strategy of building Roadless Rule. They have been removed rule, the Forest Service noted the prob- new roads quickly to pre-empt from consideration for road building lems with maintaining the existing road Wilderness designation—which and resource extraction and have been system, including the harm that rebuild- takes many years to achieve— designated Inventoried Roadless Areas. ing roads causes to the environment, the Even with this protection, we continue to and then logging at their lei- fragmentation of ecosystems, and the see proposals that would undermine the sheer lack of funding to maintain exist- sure. By ending roadbuilding in purpose of the rule, including proposals ing roads to meet current standards. Put many places, the Roadless Rule to maintain or build new roads in Monte simply, maintaining the roads to meet the has protected ancient forests Cristo and Twin Sisters in the Mt. Baker- “multiple use” mandate is simply not an Snoqualmie National Forest. The failure or in Washington State. But the option and would create greater harm to success of these proposals to punch roads the forest than benefit. Roadless Rule is an administra- into roadless areas depends on the Forest Even before the adoption of the rule, tive, not a legislative, protection. Service and citizen advocates willing to industry groups and some states fought its This section gives a brief history go to court to uphold the law. The Forest adoption through the Bush administration of the Rule, summarizes major Service’s website describes the purpose of and the courts. Starting in 1998, when the the rule: incursions like the Monte Cristo Forest Service began to review the need The 2001 Roadless Rule establishes for a permanent rule, industry groups track and how N3C is working to prohibitions on road construction, challenged the roadbuilding moratorium prevent or end them, and offers road reconstruction, and timber the Forest Service put in place during the Brock Evans’s perspective on harvesting on 58.5 million acres of in- creation of the rule. These challenges were how we can protect lands out- ventoried roadless areas on National dismissed. After the most extensive federal Forest System lands. The intent of the side Wilderness. rulemaking in the history of the federal 2001 Roadless Rule is to provide last- government, spanning 16 months, and re- ing protection for inventoried road- less areas within the National Forest continued on page 11

10  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018 racks everywhere?

History of Roadless Rule continued from page 10 Encroachments threaten sulting in more than 2.5 million individual Roadless Rule comments (95% supportive) and more than 600 public meetings, the Roadless Rule was eventually adopted in the last The difference between administrative • The Draft Decision Notice and Final days of the Clinton administration. protections and legislative protections Environment Assessment does not ad- During the Bush administration, of- matters—here’s why. equately identify and acknowledge the ficials friendly to industry groups settled impacts to Old-Growth and late succes- some lawsuits that allowed logging in The Roadless Rule is an administrative sional forests protection. Because of this, it is suscep- previously off-limits areas, demonstrating • The Draft Decision Notice and Final tible to interpretation and ultimately can the potential weakness in any administra- Environmental Assessment does not pro- be rendered meaningless when it comes to tive protection like the rule. Most recently, vide meaningful mitigation to the loss of actual protection of the landscape. federal courts dismissed the last of the Inventoried Roadless Area. possible challenges to the rule in which With more than one-half of America’s the state of Alaska tried to overturn it, and National Forests already open to logging, Excelsior Mine by doing so the courts barred logging and mining, and drilling, the Rule was intend- We joined many of the same organiza- roadbuilding in the Tongass National For- ed to preserve the last third of undevel- tions in drafting a letter to Todd Griffin at est. This dismissal is an important mile- oped forestlands as Inventoried Roadless the Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest stone in the history of the rule because Areas (IRA) as a home for wildlife, a haven to provide scoping comments on the pro- further challenges to the validity of the for recreation, a source of clean water posed plan of operations for the Excelsior rule are barred by the statute of limita- and a heritage for future generations. A Mine located in the Mt. Baker Ranger tions. wide-range of activities is permissible in District of the MBSNF. We stressed that Some of the Inventoried Roadless Areas inventoried roadless areas, but building building a new road into the Mt. Baker in Washington include stunning and wild roads is not. North Inventoried Roadless Area is unac- places that surround North Cascades Yet people keep trying! Indeed, locally ceptable. Access can still be provided to National Park, Lake Chelan-Sawtooth the Roadless Rule has been compromised, the mine site using existing roads outside Wilderness, and the Alpine Lakes. On the as there is an incursion in to an IRA to the roadless area. As well, the mine would east side of the Park, the Liberty Bell and build the mine remediation track in to encroach on the Eligible Wild and Scenic Pasayten Rim roadless areas surround Monte Cristo. While the intent may be River designation of Wells Creek, a tribu- Highway 20 and are designated within the positive, the fact the track is there is very tary of the North Fork Nooksack River, Inventoried Roadless Areas. These designa- disturbing, as now some folks want to impact Spotted Owl Critical Habitat, and tions cover over 100,000 acres, though the make the track in to a permanent road. take place in a Riparian Reserve area. Forest Service has recommended less than This would negatively impact water qual- 15,000 acres for Congressionally desig- ity, and habitat for marbled murrelet and Tongass National Forest, Alaska nated wilderness protection. bull trout. We joined 66 signers in a letter asking Like any protection that lacks a formal There are two other planned incursions: all members of congress to strenuously Wilderness designation, the Roadless the Swen Larsen mine and the Excelsior oppose two particularly egregious, poison Rule can be undermined in several ways mine near Mount Baker each require addi- pill riders affecting Alaska’s national by an administration looking to do so. tional road miles through IRA to support forests in the Senate’s fiscal 2018 spend- The rule is not the permanent protection operations. There are also attempts to ing bill for the Interior Department and envisioned by the Wilderness Act. The rule exempt the entire state of Alaska from the related agencies that would undo exist- does attempt to avoid future road con- Roadless Rule. ing protections for extraordinary public struction through areas with potential for N3C has signed on to letters objecting to resources and open the doors to even Wilderness designation, and these lands all three of these incursions. broader attacks on public lands. are still constantly threatened by resource Section 509 of the spending bill would extraction. Environmental advocates like Swen Larsen Quarry bar application of the Roadless Area Earthjustice fought to protect the rule N3C was one of nine conservation Conservation Rule to national forests in through litigation for nearly two decades, organizations that wrote to Mt. Baker-Sno- Alaska, including the largest remaining without which millions of acres of forest qualmie National Forest Supervisor Jamie intact temperate rainforest in the world, would have been open to logging. Wilder- Kingsbury to object to the U.S. Forest Ser- the Tongass. Section 508 would nullify a ness lovers must be vigilant over the Forest vice’s draft decision to move forward with Forest Service plan for moving the Tongass Service’s administration of these lands to the Swen Larsen Quarry expansion into away from taxpayer-subsidized old growth prevent encroachment, as the history of the Mt. Baker West Inventoried Roadless clearcutting long since abandoned else- the rule demonstrates. Area after completing an environmental where in the national forest system. Far assessment on this issue. Our objections: continued on page 13

visit www.northcascades.org • www.facebook.com/northcas/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018  11 Roadless Rule, or t

past two years the track has been used for motor vehicle access to the town site for monitoring of the waste repository. The monitoring is expected to continue for at least another three years. The Darrington Ranger District of the Mount Baker Sno- qualmie (MBS) National Forest has been lending gate keys to property in holders and members of the Monte Cristo Preser- vation Association (MCPA) allowing them motor vehicle access along the temporary track to the town site. N3C has objected to this policy as contrary to the terms of the exception granted to the Roadless Rule for the CERCLA Mine remediation and the explicit instructions in the Removal Action Memorandum (RAM). It is not too soon to start thinking about the long-term management of the Monte Cristo area. The Forest Service is seeking public comment on the scope of the NEPA process. Before commenting let’s consider the current situation. • There hasn’t been motor vehicle access to the town site for the general public since a gate was installed at Barlow Pass and a flood wiped out the road in 1980. • There hasn’t been motor vehicle access for anyone since another flood washed out the old Snohomish County mine to market road in 2006. • The CERCLA track was deliberately built below Forest Service Maintenance Level 2, 4WD, high clearance vehicles stan- dard and is unsafe for public travel. • The CERCLA track passes through an IRA that is potential habitat for Marble Murrelets, a threatened species. • The Forest Service acknowledges that they have no obligation to provide mo- tor vehicle access to the Monte Cristo On the road again to Monte Cristo town site. • In 2017, 70 percent of the vehicle traffic By Ed Henderson on the CERCLA track (41 of approxi- mately 60 trips) was by private individu- century and a quarter ago Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) als who borrowed a gate key. Monte Cristo evoked dreams to protect the environment. • The Forest Service estimates in 2017 of untold riches. The miners As reported in TWC Fall 2015, Spring/ over 6,000 individuals parked at Barlow hauled away a modest amount Summer 2016 and Fall 2016, a temporary of gold but left behind huge track was punched through an Inventoried continued on page 13 Apiles of mine tailings and waste rock. For Roadless Area (IRA) to allow access for nearly a hundred years, Monte Cristo town heavy earthmoving construction equip- site slept in its mountain valley, becom- ment to remove the mine waste to a repos- ing a popular recreational destination. itory. This work was accomplished during The CERCLA temporary track to Monte Fifteen years ago a court determined that the summer of 2015. The Monte Cristo Cristo, which N3C believes should be the mining waste constituted a hazard area was then reopened to the public in removed as planned and legally required. and ordered remedial action under the 2016. The temporary track has been closed —Ed Henderson photo Comprehensive Environmental Response, to the public with a locked gate. For the

12  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018 Roadless Rule, or tracks everywhere?

On the road again continued from page 12

Pass and hiked into the Monte Cristo pleted there will be very little need for be by muscle power, either on foot or by town sites and points beyond. Forest Service motor vehicle access to mountain bicycle. The Area should retain • If the public is allowed to use the administer the Monte Cristo area. They its wild character. CERCLA track, the track will have to be were able to manage the area for ten years Personal comments to the Forest Service rebuilt to bring it up to safety standards. without being able to drive in and can do to: comments-pacifisnorthwest-mtbaker- • If the CERCLA track is not removed in so again. [email protected] by accordance with the granted exception Since the county road was closed to the March 5, 2017 to the Roadless Rule and the RAM, it public in 1980, the four-mile hike from will require administrative action by the Barlow Pass to Monte Cristo is a rare op- Secretary of Agriculture to adjust the portunity to experience a beautiful forest IRA boundary. valley without contending with motor A number of issues must be considered vehicle traffic. Harvey Manning says it so in planning for the long-term manage- much better. (100 Hikes in the Glacier ment of the Monte Cristo area. N3C will Peak Region, Hike 27, page 82): focus our attention The authors don’t Encroachments and comments on the want to hear any hik- continued from page 11 ers whimpering about removal of the CERCLA from ending that practice too fast as the the December 26, 1980 track and protection region’s vestigial timber industry and its flood that ripped up the of the environment. Wilderness lovers political protectors claim, the plan is for a road to Monte Cristo We will leave to others 9-15 year transition, slower than requested must be vigilant over and forced them to the preservation and by hundreds of thousands of Americans walk the 4 extra miles, interpretation of the the Forest Service’s who commented on the plan. historic mining village. each way. The flood administration of If these lands were protected through N3C believes that was the best thing that these lands to prevent happened to this valley congressional/legislative process, we the CERCLA temporary wouldn’t need to keep fighting these track should be re- encroachment, as since the railroad shut down. The four miles incursions and writing these comment moved as planned and letters. While the Roadless Rule is good, legally required. The the history of the rule now free of automobiles are the most scenic val- lands designated as Wilderness Area and/ Monte Cristo area has demonstrates. or National Park are by far a better deal managed without mo- ley walk, forest walk, river walk in the area, and our members are encouraged to speak tor vehicle access for up and speak out to the conservation com- ten years. Upgrading the track to accept- with many excellent backpacker campsites, a terrific munity and our lawmakers in support of able safety standards will require expen- Wilderness and National Park sive construction, money that MBS doesn’t place to introduce little children to have. It is well documented that MBS has a life away from automobiles. Fur- backlog of road maintenance and only 25 ther, those four mile multiplied by percent of the necessary funds. Upgrad- 2 convert certain former day walks ing the track will take money away from amid crowds to lonesome wildland needed projects on existing roads. In backpacks. addition upgrading will require widening There is no question that a public motor the road, straightening curves, excavating vehicle road will release a flood of day trip to reduce steep grades, extensive drainage visitors into an area that isn’t capable of work and generally cutting trees. absorbing them. N3C is opposed to that. Records this past summer show that The Forest Service is collecting public the vast majority of motor vehicle use comments on the potential scope of a was by private individuals, both property NEPA process. Two public meetings have in-holders and members of the MCPA. We been held, heavily attended by MCPA do not believe that the Forest Service and members who are very much in favor of ultimately the American citizens should maintaining the CERCLA track at least for build and maintain a road for the exclusive their use beyond the monitoring period. use of any private group. So if the road N3C is preparing comments reflecting our is opened to the any of the public, it will belief that the CERCLA track must be re- have to be opened to all of the public. moved and access to Monte Cristo should Once the CERCLA monitoring is com-

visit www.northcascades.org • www.facebook.com/northcas/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018  13 Brock Evans: Find the true believers, get them involved, make one last push to finish what was started 50 years ago

In part two of our interview with hara Club”), which had 40,000 members bound together then, in smaller numbers Brock Evans the day before the 2017 solar nationally and 4,000 members up here— then of course, and of course we’d only eclipse, the former N3C board member we pleaded for unity among groups. The work on the issues we all agreed on, but and activist offered strategies for making Washington State Sportsman’s Council there were plenty of those. “one last push” to protect lands without fought us bitterly over the North Cascades Now, my perception is that people look Wilderness or National Park protection. Park because you can’t hunt in National at the 1963 map that N3C proposed for the Parks. I perceived a need for a statewide North Cascades National Park, at 1.3 mil- TWC: One of our challenges now, Brock, is group to bring us all together, and we lion acres, and if you draw a line around getting meaningful cooperation between did form the Washington Environmental them and all the areas that are Wilderness conservation groups. They seem to be Council. I was given the job of researching inside them you have almost all of it now. splintering and not working together. How what others were doing in other states. Plus the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness do we get conservation groups to rally to- And we formed it to somehow bring around Monte Cristo, for example, plus gether for lands protection like Wilderness together all the groups that were fighting designation and National Park expansion over the Park or whatever and get to know these days? each other. People in various groups didn’t Upper Snowy Lake and Mount Hardy on the BE: That’s a good question and reminds know each other! We did the same thing Cascade crest—the headwaters of the Skagit me of an old adage, you know, “be careful in Oregon and Idaho. We formed Environ- River (Snowy Lake) and the Methow River (be- what you wish for, because you might get mental Councils in 1968 because the WEC low Mount Hardy). Everything in this photo is it!” Back in the old days when we, well was so effective, and having it made us so unprotected save the backsides of the distant when anybody, even the powerful “Sahara effective in all those issues in those early high peaks, which mark North Cascades Na- Club” (it was described to me as the “Sa- days. And that was the way we were all tional Park. —© Tom Hammond photo

14  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018 my old Barclay Lake! Y’know, what’s left first time there’s a forest fire there. We can testified in Seattle was allowed to go. So of it is still in that. And Boulder River, I call ourselves “The New Conservationists”, we went to Wenatchee and called on High wrote an article back in 1966 about that, it “The New Wild Ones,” who really are for a School students to be witnesses, and they was my favorite place, it’s saved too, much wild One. Since I’m out here again I’d love spoke passionately. to my happy surprise, you guys did that! to go living room to living room, I’ll bet Once people know there’s a chance to So most people, I’ll bet, think “Well, it’s we can fire up all kinds of people about be involved, they’ll be there. The millen- all safe now. It’s all good, these are the finishing the job! nials will be there, too, if they feel they’re places I go to.” So what do we do now? I As you know now they allow hunting in going to lose something otherwise. Our would suggest something like making a National Parks, you can have Park Pre- way is to dramatize it, what’s there and new list of the real eco-warriors that we serve, we did that in the Alaska campaign what may happen to it. It doesn’t have to know. Not just people who talk a good in the 1970s. You can designate the, let’s be an immediate threat, we can just say game but we need people willing to fight say “Methow-Winthrop Park Preserve,” the “We’ve seen the Forest Service transpor- to protect more places, and really believe rich people around it shouldn’t be against tation maps for the National Forest, and in it. True believers, in other words. I it, you can smoke it out with them… we saw by God, they’re going to go up to would hold a not-too-well-publicized there are so many ideas! Get True Believ- Twisp to the War Creek Valley, did you conference, maybe, several get-togethers ers together, who are really willing to be know that? Here are some pictures of the around the State. The way we organized warriors, and I’ll bet they’ll flock to your War Creek Valley.” I’d like to see, I’ll bet WEC, we didn’t have one big Kum-By-Yah banner—our banner. that’s still on a map somewhere. It’s gonna conference in Seattle or someplace, we TWC: You wrote a book about 3 years ago happen someday, so you either force the had regional meetings called How to Fight and Forest Service to deny it, and take it off in Spokane, and Walla Win. You addressed your the list, or you stand and fight. Before I Walla, and Yakima, and Once people know book to “a new genera- did that I’d go to the movers and shakers get all the leaders there tion of eco-warrior.” But and leaders in the affected region and say so we could get to know there’s a chance to be some worry that the mil- here’s what we’re going to do, we’d love them better. I would involved, they’ll be lennials they encounter your thoughts and your input, there are suggest hire a dynamic don’t even follow Leave ways to do those things. Executive Director, who’s there. The millennials No Trace on the trail, There are always people, young or well spoken and knows will be there, too, if they leave big messes and old, who will fight for things if they feel these things too and can treat the wilderness like threatened, and so will the Millennials. A get people together. And they feel they’re go- a big playground—let lot of them are busy, but you don’t need a say “We want to make ing to lose something alone aspiring to be eco- majority. Margaret Mead once said it, don’t one last push.” We can otherwise. warriors. Do you share worry that you only have 4 or 5 people call it whatever we want. some of these concerns on your side, that’s all it takes! And that’s We want to finally finish about the millennials, true, I’ve found that to be true. And more the business that we and how do we reach will come. If you raise the banner, more started 50 years ago, and them? will flock to that banner. You don’t need now’s the time. BE: No, I don’t. Because it’s always been 100%, you need 50% + 1 vote, that’s all I went to the Hells Canyon Preservation that way. It’s always been one generation, you need. Normally, the other side fights Society’s 50th anniversary dinner last May the older one going harumpf and saying so hard back in Congress to keep any and spoke there and got elected President the younger one just isn’t doing it right, environmental issues coming to a vote, and so-on, and we had a table full of the and so on. I’m one of the ‘harumpfers’ because they know we’ll blow them away Originals who were still alive, and we in- now, maybe, but I was one of the younger on the floor. That’s why they stack all the troduced them all including Senator Pack- generation once. And remember, I’m the committees with all their biggest anti-envi- wood. There were all these new people one that went to all the meetings at the ros in Big Timber and Big Oil. Committee I didn’t know, and everybody was saying Conservation Committee of the Mountain- votes are close but once they get to the congratulations on the first 50 years, we eers and no one ever called on me. We floor—the Endangered Species Act passed saved this great Canyon, it’s safe, now let’s need to find those who love people and 390 to 12. So, they are there, the people finish the job in the next 50 years. And we know how to organize them and give them are there. If they feel it’s threatened. formed what we called a “connector’s pro- things to do that won’t hurt us if they don’t gram,” for wildlife connections. You can do them well, but can prove them in the give it any new name you want, call it the field of battle. Like coming to a hearing, “Ronald Reagan Save America Program,” I things like that, and we can train them. don’t care what you call it, but we can have You don’t do it like boot camp, but you do a conference of true believers, we’ve had sort of. If I was here and younger I’d want enough of this collaboration stuff, which to go into Winthrop, say, and talk to the Read Brock’s passionate argument usually means we only cut off one finger town council, and I’d go back to Chelan, for a North Cascades National Park, instead of four. I’m all for being nice and the old enemy bastion down there, and to published in the September 1968 collaborating, if we get something out of Wenatchee. The Wild Cascades published Land, the magazine of the Harvard it. If all we get is “nice” out of it, that won’t my story about the last chance hearing Conservation Club: do it. I’d make a list of all the places that for North Cascades Park, how the guy http://www.northcascades.org/ are really prized, I’d make a picture book who wanted to kill it in Congress [Wayne public_html/Evans_The_Land_ar- of them, “Washington’s Last Remaining Aspinall] decreed hearings on the spot for ticle_PDOC.pdf Wild Places.” Let the foresters deny that Wenatchee, but he said nobody who had they’re going to touch it—they will try, the visit www.northcascades.org • www.facebook.com/northcas/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018  15 Bad news for bears in the Cascades, good news in British Columbia By Rick McGuire

The North Cascades Conserva- years of rule by the anti-conservation tion Council is saddened, though not “Liberal” party. The new government surprised, that the Department of the is a coalition comprised mostly of the Interior has pulled the plug on the New Democratic Party (NDP) along effort to reintroduce grizzly bears to with three members of the Green par- the North Cascades. After years of try- ty, who together provide just enough ing, money was finally found to do an votes to form a government under Environmental Impact Statement on B.C.’s parliamentary system. the project. But apparently word has For many years public anger over come down from the Trump adminis- the killing of grizzly bears in B.C. has tration appointees, including Interior grown. The revulsion was focused Secretary Zinke, to halt work. particularly against the “trophy hunt,” Abundant source populations to where mostly foreign hunters would provide bears which could be moved pay large fees to guide outfitters to Valhalla Wilderness Society photo to the Cascades were identified in the be taken out to some suitable spot Northern Continental Divide ecosys- Another horrible project that came back for killing a grizzly bear. Usually this tem, basically Glacier National Park and to life with the Trump administration is meant cutting off the head of the bear as a surrounding National Forest Wilderness the proposed Pebble mine near Alaska’s revolting “trophy” for mounting, some- areas. Other bears from areas in British Bristol Bay, home to the most productive thing straight out of the Dark Ages. Columbia closer to the Cascades were to salmon fishery in the world. The ore body The new NDP/Green government be also brought in to add genetic diversity. at Pebble is so low grade it would yield declared an end to the trophy hunt very The good plan that was taking shape to only about one part per million in gold, soon after taking office. But it was still make reintroduction of grizzly bears to and a bit more in copper. Mining it would legal to hunt and kill grizzly bears in the North Cascades a reality has now been require tremendous energy to move and general. Merely banning the trophy hunt thrown away by the Trump appointees at process vast amounts of earth. It was was unenforceable and did not solve the the Interior Department. The Trump ad- thought to be essentially dead until the problem. The “meat hunt” was almost as ministration has proven in countless ways Trump EPA gave it a new lease on life. In bad. Grizzly bears, while still fairly numer- that it is no friend of the environment and a rare bit of good news from the Trump ous in some parts of B.C., have been under its conservation. administration, EPA administrator Scott attack for years from hunting, logging, Long-sought land protections which Pruitt appears to have recently backed mining, roadbuilding, overfishing and were administratively designated under away from his support for the proposal. If other threats. the Obama administration, such as the ever built, the tremendous scale of earth- B.C.’s Valhalla Wilderness Society (VWS) Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, moving, roadbuilding and other construc- has been one of the lead groups work- have been rolled back in part. The con- tion would guarantee severe damage to, ing to protect grizzlies in the province. servation movement is gravely worried if not the effective end of the Bristol Bay VWS pushed for years to establish grizzly about the future of the Northwest Forest fishery, where 30 to 50 million salmon refuges, and along with others success- Plan. For the first time in many years, the return to spawn every year. fully did this in some areas, notably the resumption of large-scale, subsidized log- In the context of the many other Khutzeymateen valley in northwestern ging on the National Forests of Washing- anti-conservation moves from the Trump B.C., and the very large Kitlope valley to ton state seems like a real possibility. The administration, the stop work order on the south of it. administrative rules protecting National North Cascades grizzly bear reintroduc- In spite of these big steps forward, the Forest roadless areas are under attack, tion may seem almost minor. But it is a grizzly bear slaughter went on in the rest particularly in Alaska, but Washington’s big deal for the Cascades, negating years of the province, which is bigger than Wash- roadless forests are in danger too. of hard work, and likely setting back the ington, Oregon and California combined. The administration does at least seem to time when we might again see grizzlies in The grizzly population continued to have stepped back from some of the very the Cascades by years, or possibly decades. decline. VWS and other groups such as Pa- worst initiatives. The wholesale privatiza- N3C and others who hope to see the re- cific Wild, as well as many native peoples, tion of public lands appears to be off the turn of the Cascades’ top animal will just never stopped campaigning to end the agenda for the time being, thanks in large have to keep trying in years ahead, and grizzly hunt. The new government’s action part to pressure not only from conserva- restart efforts when the political climate in ending the killing is probably the best tionists but from sportsmen, people who turns more favorable. news ever for grizzly bears in B.C. Bear like to hunt and fish, and who realize that Good news to the north viewing already generates more revenue if America’s public lands are sold off there than grizzly hunting ever did, and has the will no longer be many places to do that In British Columbia, the recent news for anyone but the super rich. for grizzly bears has been good. A new government was elected in in 2017 after

16  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018 potential to generate far more. A number of First Nations bands are now in the bear- Members submit comments for watching business and have been among the most ardent and persistent advocates Snowy Lakes for ending the grizzly hunt. While N3C mourns the end of efforts to bring back grizzlies to the Cascades, N3C members Harriett Cody & Har- minding hikers of the requirements of we also celebrate the long-sought end of vey Sadis recently submitted the follow- dogs being on leash in the backcountry. the grizzly bear slaughter north of the ing comments to Kelly Baraibar of the Horses are managed and supervised, dogs border. We hope that the other threats Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, should be no less. can be addressed, and that their popula- which is asking for input from users of the 3. Necessity of latrines. The USFS tions will grow over time. The more these Snowy Lakes area as it finalizes plans for should provide one substantial latrine magnificent animals can find a home in improving the trail from the Pacific Crest in the Upper Basin. This would be an British Columbia, the more likely that they Trail to the Lakes, improving campsites, ideal area for a solar composting toilet, will eventually find their way back to the protecting the environment, and making like those the NP has in some of its most Cascades, despite the actions or inactions other necessary improvements to protect fragile areas. Because of the compact of politicians and agencies. and area from over-use and degradation terrain above treeline, and because of the by hikers and other backcountry users. N3C recommends that anyone inter- over-use of the area, the remains of human Their willingness to advocate for this area ested in grizzly bears read the material defecation and toilet paper are—or soon is a model for all N3C members. Their posted on the Valhalla Wilderness Soci- will be—out of hand. Again, this area is comments: ety’s website, including the “Reflections comparable not only to the Enchantment on the End of the Grizzly Bear Hunt” by 1. Limited use & required per- Lakes Basin, but also to the Robin Lakes Wayne McCrory, chairperson of VWS and mits. The Snowy Lakes Basin should Basin in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness— someone who has devoted most of his life be limited use during peak summer trashed by over-use and careless leftover to protecting the bears of British Colum- months, requiring permits for backpack- piles of human poop and toilet paper. This bia. ers planning to camp there. This area issues needs to be addressed as part of seems to be sort of the North Cascades your sustainability plan. “Enchantment Lakes”, with high alpine 4. Campsites should be designated lakes, fishing and swimming, amazing and limited in number—and subject scenery, and access to many peaks for to use by permits only. Because of the Wayne McCrory, well known B.C. bear climbing in the vicinity. We urge the USFS compact terrain, and fragile ecosystem, biologist and chairperson of Valhalla to open the conversation for discussion there should be campsite “pads” for tents, Wilderness Society, on the recent B.C. about requiring permits for overnight clearly numbered and designated and decision: camping use. This conversation could reserved for permit holders. Even if you When I learned that the government begin now, while the USFS proceeds to are unprepared to impose permits now, had banned the grizzly bear hunt, I was make the necessary trail improvements at a minimum, designated campsite pads too stunned for words. This battle- contemplated. should be prepared and clearly marked. ground for the grizzly bears has been 2. The Snowy Lakes Basin should re- (We saw these throughout the NCNP back- one of the longest and dirtiest political strict dogs and be off-limits to dogs country in the NW portion of the park, environmental campaigns I have ever accompanying those who wish to camp along the Copper Ridge Trail, Whatcom witnessed in B.C., not the least due to overnight there. We have witnessed, on Pass, and other high above tree-line hiking pro-hunting, entrenched government many occasions, dog owners giving their and camping areas. Campsite pads to pro- biologists attempting to discredit or dogs complete free off-leash reign of the tect the fragile and short-season plans and ignore any biologist who spoke out and entire basin, in and out of the lakes, rac- tell campers where to pitch their tents. documented that management of the ing all over, chasing birds, deer and other 5. Necessity of limited use to ac- hunt was not scientifically credible. To wildlife. AND pooping freely everywhere, company all improvements to the be honest, I thought I would never see with no owner clean-up! This fragile area trail and basin area. WITHOUT limiting the end of the grizzly bear hunt. should prohibit (a) dogs off leash entirely, use via permits for camping and stock The B.C. government’s decision to (b) dogs overnight, and (c) signage should camps, any and all improvements made end trophy hunting is a momentous be clear and obvious that dogs are not by the USFS to the trail to the Snowy milestone. While I regret their failure allowed either off leash or overnight. This Lakes Basin will only result in increased to acknowledge that grizzly bears face protection is basic in such a fragile area. use and degradation of the entire basin. serious risks to their long-term survival, Furthermore, the fact that a number of Both should go hand-in-hand. As you well nevertheless, at least they stepped out the more vocal opponents to including know, improving a trail, making it “easier,” of the conventional pro-hunting mindset this area in the North Cascades NP were only opens it up more to hikers and horse enough to recognize that the vast major- arguing in favor of unrestricted dog access groups, with increasing negative environ- ity of the public wanted an end to it along this entire stretch of the PCT, and mental impact of the area sought to be for both ethical and scientific reasons, the Snowy Lakes (and other trails north protected. and even to recognize the far superior and south of Harts Pass) in particular, economic return of grizzly bear viewing. indicates that there is much local contem- I hope that will be just the beginning of plation of free-reign-off-leash usage of the changes we need. this entire area—and the Snowy Lakes in particular. There is virtually no signage re- visit www.northcascades.org • www.facebook.com/northcas/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018  17 Corvid’s eye

Inscrutable, obscure, abstruse, be- clouded. These are terms that warm the corvid’s heart, the more so when applied to mountains. Let the world revel in the overly known glories of Yellow Aster Butte, Cascade Pass, and Image Lake. These natural masterpieces well deserve their fame, their pilgrims and groupies, their social media saturation. All the better to concentrate the masses, thus leaving the lesser prominences and forests to carry on in comparative anonymity; reserved for probing sorts who derive no pleasure quite like encountering places where their friends and acquaintances ain’t, and perhaps have never been. One irony of the remain cartographically nebulous, which and until someone smarter comes up with North Cascades is that many such locales we shall call good. something better, these may be known as are notably closer to population centers The chief streams of this high-relief the Delphic Mountains. than the celebrated scenic highlights. terrain, Clearwater Creek and Racehorse Delphic for their obscurity and result- Not too deep into the windy wilds of Creek, both rivers in all but name, nearly ing mystery. Delphic for their views from Whatcom, “out in the county,” a cluster bisect the whole. But brawling torrents are on high to the bolder Olympic Mountains, of medium-sized peaks and ridges with everywhere, reminding us of the larger 70 miles southwest and county seat of precipitous canyons separating them rises chain of mountains of which this area is the gods. The Committee on Geographic abruptly from the Nooksack River bot- irrevocably part. Along with the aforemen- Names need not be bothered, for this title’s tomlands. Although impressive in their tioned Gallop Creek, counterclockwise we purpose is merely heuristic: a tool for ruggedness, recreationalists and sightse- may encounter Rocky, Cornell, Hedrick, awareness of and affinity with a far north- ers making a beeline for Mount Baker and Wildcat, Kenney, Canyon, Porter, and western corner of the North Cascades long beyond into the heart of the Cascades Falls creeks. Geographers may have been unappreciated. Ah, but let us not mistake scarcely notice these mountains (don’t call a bit less bashful with naming streams this for some new discovery. The Wash- ‘em foothills). Since last century, they’ve than peaks here, though a bevy of lesser ington Department of Natural Resources been the domain of loggers, hunters, as- cricks flow onward without the encum- and private lumbermen (currently Sierra sorted corvids, and a nascent movement brance of a moniker. Lakes, meanwhile, Pacific Industries) have been familiar with to restore a portion of the land to some aren’t abundant; though 45-acre Canyon the landscape hereabouts for some time. It hint of its former glory. And despite the Lake, believed to have been formed by an shows, too, with aggressive, Canadian-style long-running abuse from a conservation- earthquake-triggered landslide in the 19th logging nearly everywhere one looks, with ist’s point of view, a tiny fraction of the old century, more than makes up for their no slope or headwall too steep to pluck out wilds stands to this day as a reminder of scarcity elsewhere. Other small lakes may a bit more doghair for toothpicks. In the what used to be. be found above 4,000 feet and are known eastern reaches of the Delphics, though, This montane subregion, roughly cir- hardly to anyone. the U.S. Forest Service makes an appear- cular and amounting to thirty thousand By this point, the reader may have noted ance, while Whatcom County and the acres (give or take), has its periphery crisp- some uncharacteristic circumlocution on Whatcom Land Trust are players in other ly defined by the Middle Fork Nooksack to the part of the corvid. Beating around important spots. the south and southwest, followed by the the slash pile bush so to speak. How The big valleys, Clearwater and Race- North Fork to the north and northwest. does one write about and properly revere horse, were until recently an unbroken sea By contrast, the eastern extent is equivo- the attributes of this massif without also of second-growth forest. Now, however, cal, though may be practicably defined providing a catchy, easily-recalled handle; the good times appear to be coming to an by the ridge running generally south to coined by some renowned local natural- end, illustrating once again that unmolest- north from Stewart Mountain to Lookout ist who lived and studied at the base of ed, rewilding second-growth is well on its Mountain, thence down the Gallop Creek these slopes for some 114 years? Facts are, way to becoming the rarest forest class in gulch to the North Fork. Aside from this there was no such naturalist and no lyrical the Pacific Northwest. Even old growth will chain of named summits directly beneath name has been ascribed to these more- soon be more abundant, if it isn’t already. the menacing gaze of Baker’s west face, than- foothills, or at least none known to DNR’s Northwest Region, which no one where the high point of Groat Mountain the ever-nosey corvid. And although there would ever accuse of extractive reticence, gestures, only Slide Mountain is privileged is deeply held reluctance to superimpose has inflicted several recent pockmarks in to have a geographic name bestowed upon the labels of the English language upon the lower and middle reaches of Racehorse it across the rest of this ample acreage. natural features which have so far escaped Creek, as well as on the slope rising steeply Numerous Chuckanut sandstone peaks such a fate, flagrant advocacy as seen here west of Clearwater Creek. (The slope east of four-to- five thousand feet elevation compels it. Henceforth, with poetic license of the Clearwater has, for now, no active

18  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018 road and remains attractively green.) by the Whatcom Land Trust (WLT) and the revenue-generating chainsaws do Meanwhile, poor Porter Creek valley on now managed cooperatively by Whatcom come out. the southwest flank of the Delphics is see- County Parks and Western Washington For the national forest land, continued ing its regenerated forest vacuumed up by University. While the reserve allows benign neglect is agreeable enough if Sierra Pacific as we speak. formerly logged areas to regenerate along no new Wilderness designation is in the Still, the objective here isn’t merely to their natural trajectories, the slopes above offing, though it must be acknowledged lament the 20th century despoliation of Canyon Lake also sport several hundred that the Mount Baker Ranger District is the Delphics by way of an orgy of roading acres of ancient Alaska yellow cedar forest, currently overseeing two new incursions and logging, nor the renewed 21st century reputed to be a thousand years old. The into inventoried roadless areas elsewhere assault on part of what’s been able to grow ever-industrious WLT has also been busy (at Excelsior and along the northwest flank back. Better to take stock of what survived down on the Nooksack, at the foot of the of the Twin Sisters) on behalf of mining the initial onslaught, the areas of subse- Delphics, with holdings including the interests. Official roadless areas are useful quent recovery, and latter-century poten- big spruce floodplain at Wildcat Reach (a for preventing logging, but not so much tial. Where the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie favorite of the corvid), the mouth of Race- for staving off quarries and mineral specu- National Forest overlaps the eastern horse Creek, and the Kenney Creek Eagle lation. As for stricken private holdings like Delphics, a significant block of inventoried Roost, among others. Porter Creek, targeted conservation pur- roadless area remains: candidate acreage One might submit that the Delphics chases will be the happiest of outcomes for expansion of the Mount Baker Wilder- will serve as a barometer for the qual- where they make sense. The battered, ness Area. Contiguous with this same ity of the growing human community’s reclusive, yet noble soul of the Delphic block is DNR’s largest holding of primary interaction with its land and waters. This Mountains is braced for what comes next, forest in the area, draped across the upper pinky toe of the North Cascades, covered all while hoping for the best. basin of West Cornell Creek and with a in primeval forest since the final retreat of finger continuing into the headwaters of the Last Glacial Maximum and denuded Racehorse Creek. only in contemporary times, has become N3C supports Whatcom Land A few more isolated stands of old forest a subject of somewhat divergent philoso- Trust’s work to protect lands haunt the ridgelines nearby, but the real phies. There will be more logging, this outside National Forest near prize for both preservation and rewilding much is certain, though hopefully with an Mt. Baker Wilderness. To read is also the most (relatively) famous spot in improved conservation ethic on state land; more about the area described particularly if DNR’s Northwest Region can the entirety of the Delphics. The 2,260- above, see acre Canyon Lake Community Forest is the be persuaded that the 1980s are well and best of all worlds and a model for genera- truly over. Opportunities for designation http://www.whatcomlandtrust. of natural resource conservation areas and tions to come. Essentially the entirety of org/land-trust/canyon-lake- the broad upper basin of Canyon Creek is natural area preserves may present them- included in this nature reserve, conceived selves, preferably coupled with a lighter, old-growth-community-forest/ more landscape-conscious approach when

Yonder rise the Delphic Mountains of the North Cascades, hidden in plain sight between the north and middle forks of the Nooksack River and centered around Canyon Lake.

visit www.northcascades.org • www.facebook.com/northcas/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018  19 Celebrating 50 Years of North Cascades National Park

We’re kicking off our anniversary observance of the Park—which amounts to the 50th anniversary of NCCC’s greatest organizational accomplishment—with Harvey Manning’s comments from the December 1968-January 1969 issue of The Wild Cascades, immediately after the Park had been created.

So we’ve got our Park: What do we do with it?

Gaze back fondly now, still semi-delir- Baker, Glacier Peak, Lake Chelan, North just now they’re so busy moving in and ious, on a conservation administration Cross-State Highway, and other sectors looking around we’ll give them a breath- ranking right up there with those of the omitted from the 1968 Act. We’ll also set ing spell. (Ultimately the Irate Birdwatcher two Roosevelts. forth proposed boundaries for an Alpine may stage a shivaree, but the Park Service Almost it was much greater. Secretary Lakes Wilderness and Recre- deserves to be spared that Udall proposed a mind-expanding lame- ation Area and get down to for at least a few months. duck use of the Antiquities Act, creating by cases on the Cougar Lakes After all, the Forest Service presidential proclamation National Monu- Wilderness Area and bound- It is our fate to was allowed a half-century of ments in Alaska and elsewhere. But our ary revisions of Mt. Rainier fight for every peace.) friend from the 19th century, Congress- National Park. Nor have we We know from the terms man Aspinall, got wind of the plan and forgotten Mt. St. Helens, Mt. inch of ground. of the 1968 Act that within 2 succeeded once again in sabotaging the Adams, and the Goat Rocks. years the Park Service people efforts of the men with the grand vision. Meanwhile, how about the must recommend portions of What President Johnson did in his last far north, where the 1968 Act introduced the Park and Recreation Areas for place- days was good, but far from the Theodore a new federal agency and inaugurated (in ment in the National Wilderness Preserva- Roosevelt-style burst of glory that Udall theory) a new era of inter-agency coopera- tion System. They have little more than sought. tion? What’s going on up there? one summer — next summer — to rough To put an episode of North Cascades Plenty. The Forest Service is discover- out a proposal. That alone will keep them history in the public record, the N3C ing diseased trees that must be surgically (and us) busy. Directors heard last fall that something excised in the name of sanitation, Seattle The transportation system — by foot, splendid might happen and petitioned for City Light is bragging on the one hand that horse, automobile, tramway, boat, etc. inclusion of parts of the North Cascades it created the new Park and on the other is — must be studied. The Roads and Trails in the rumored “Christmas present to considering drowning the best parts of the Committee of N3C has delivered a pre- the nation.” For various reasons (mainly, brand new Ross Lake National Recreation liminary report to the Park Service and is perhaps, fears of massive Forest Service Area, Kennecott and other dirty miners conducting further investigations, involv- reprisals) we didn’t make the Udall list. are lurking (does a helicopter “lurk”?), and ing more people and more organizations; But only a tiny fraction of the proposals the highwaymen are cranking up bulldoz- further reports will be prepared — and were accepted anyway, thanks to a little ers, and golly knows, golly knows. described in WC to obtain membership old man from Colorado and a president The Park Service is busy too — doing comments. In brief, we’re proposing such who flunked his final exams. For us there what? How much different will the North things as trail-less areas, “super-wild” will be no easy way. It is our fate to fight Cascades be in 1969? Will there be new wilderness cores; limitation of automo- for every inch of ground. improvements, new restrictions? And what bile travel on certain roads, service to be And this we will, this we will indeed. plans are underway for 1970 and years provided by a Park Transit System; con- Phase One concluded with the 1968 North beyond? centration of trails on the peripheries of Cascades Act. Now Phase Two begins. We’ll My remarks, here, are made without wildlands; a routing of the Cascade Crest soon announce in these pages the next consulting Park Service officials. Later Trail from Rainy Pass south to Suiattle Pass objectives north of Stevens Pass, seeking we’ll ask them to outline in WC the gen- that is not only scenically superior to the proper protection for lands in the Mount eral nature of management to come, but

20  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018 route urged by the Forest Service, but avoids bringing heavy traffic into wilder- Recent books highlight North Cascades, ness cores which would be irreparably damaged by such use. conservation movement Will there be Visitor Centers in Sum- mer 1969? Park naturalists offering By Phil Fenner lectures and guided walks? Any new tourist facilities? We guess that time is too Crown Jewel Wilderness short, funds and staff too limited, and too Lauren Danner much long-range planning required. We suspect Summer 1969 will be little differ- Washington State University Press, 2017 ent from summer 1968. Except in a few Congratulations to the author for adding to the com- places where guns have been common posite history of the North Cascades National Park (aka they now will be absent; a few trails the NOCA). It’s certainly very useful for the public to be Forest Service opened to machines will reminded of how NOCA came to be in light of its 50th now (thanks! Thanks!) be blessedly quiet Anniversary this year. Ms. Danner offers a very thorough again. listing of key documents—a valuable bibliography for These are personal predictions and may present and future scholars. It’s a must read for NOCA be contradicted by events. But I believe employees and any serious user of NOCA. We might take we’ll scarcely notice the Park Service pres- issue with her frequently repeated claim in her public- ence in the North Cascades for a while. ity that no one had written a book about it before hers. Which doesn’t mean they won’t be there, One can find a pretty thorough discussion of it in Harvey and busy. Manning’s Wilderness Alps: Conservation and Conflict And we’ll be there, too, also busy. in Washington’s North Cascades*, which we helped edit Right? and published in 2007, and which will probably continue H. M. to be our primary reference book on the subject. But Danner achieves a certain academic-style detachment and thoroughness that are certainly enviable. We recommend it for all our members, who will just need to add a dash or two of Harvey’s passion to motivate. And as we know, there’s plenty left to be done! continued on page 23

Many events mark the Park’s anniversary

 The National Park Conservation discover/north-cascades-nation- Association and N3C are partnering al-park/50th-anniversary to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of North Cascades  North Cascades National Park National Park and the Wild and will celebrate in August (when Scenic River Act from 6:30 – 9:00 there are visitors aplenty, the p.m. on October 2 at the Seattle park is fully staffed, and the Program Center. weather is better) rather than October. Watch for details in the  Find a calendar of 50th anniver- next issue of The Wild Cascades sary events planned by the North or on our Facebook page. Cascades Institute (including a book signing by author Lauren Danner, (above) at https://ncascades.org/

visit www.northcascades.org • www.facebook.com/northcas/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018  21 In memoriam Ted Beck

heodore (Ted) Richard Beck died on May 28, 2017 at the Tage of 91. Born in Seattle, he earned BS, MS and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering at the Univer- sity of Washington, where he made life-long friends with whom he ex- plored the mountains and trails of the Northwest. He was a 50-year member of the Seattle Mountaineers and a board member of the North Cascades Conservation Council who was a stal- wart during N3C’s campaigns for the North Cascades National Park and against the High Ross Dam.

Ted Beck a personal remembrance and tribute by Dave Fluharty Ted Beck (left) was part of “The Elderly Birdwatchers Hiking and Griping Society,” whose other members included Harvey Manning, Pat Goldsworthy, and Dick Brooks, shown here on one of their annual North Cascades hiking trips. With the passing of Ted Beck last May, N3C lost another of the giants who led us through some tough fights. In Ted’s case I associate him most with the High Ross campaign, where his analyt- ical and engineering skills contributed to winning the war after losing the battle that went all the way to the US Supreme Court Ted Beck created (I am not making this up—see more detail graphics that helped in Harvey Manning’s Wilderness Alps). win the Ross Dam Ted was one of the original foursome, battle. threesome, fivesome gangs of N3C Board Members (including Patrick Goldsworthy, Dick Brooks, Harvey Manning and others) who did annual treks into the heart of the North Cascades to marvel at their jumbled beauty and to plot how to protect the area. High Ross dam was a tangible threat to the upper Skagit Valley with the proposal to raise the dam by 125 feet, flooding a lot of Canadian territory. Ted and others conspired to demonstrate to the Seattle Hydro. Seattle City Council eventually was him fondly as tall, handsome gentleman City Council that there was a cheaper, convinced by N3C and others that power with a distinctive shock of white hair. He less environmentally damaging and much purchase was the way to go and it with- was always eager to hear about N3C’s cur- more Canada-friendly option than raising drew support from Seattle City Light Plans. rent efforts to protect the North Cascades High Ross dam. The solution consisted of Ted left the N3C Board to attend to and encouraging us to do more. Thank long-term, 100-year contracts to purchase family and business concerns but stayed a you Ted! an equivalent amount of power from BC member. I ran into him often. I remember

22  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018 Recent books continued from page 21

Natural History of the Pacific Northwest Mountains Daniel Mathews Timber Press, 2017 *Remember, you can always buy a What an exceptional and fun nature guidebook this is! copy of Wilder- I was an avid reader of its predecessor Olympic-Cascade ness Alps at our Natural History but this new expanded edition is even online bookstore, more useful and enjoyable. Mathews is that rare combi- http://www. nation of scientist and storyteller who can portray the northcascades. facts about our region and its inhabitants as lucid depic- org/wordpress/ tions with anecdotes that entertain and amaze as well wild-alps-book as inform. You can open this book anywhere and start reading - no need to be linear - and you’ll be delighted at what you discover about our “wild nearby.” It’s a bit bulky and heavy to truly use as a “trailside reference,” but this new edition is also available as an e-book if you carry any e-reader with you outdoors.

Enjoy The Wild Cascades? Not a member yet? Join NORTH CASCADES CONSERVATION COUNCIL! Yes! I want to support North Cascades Conservation Council’s efforts working on many fronts to es- tablish new wilderness, defend our forests, support wildlife conservation and keystone species, and promote sound conservation recreational use. Be part of a vibrant grassroots network of advocates for protection of unique lands, clean waters, native plant life, and wilderness of the North Cascades. You’ll receive your copy of TWC three times a year.

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Support the N3C with a generous IRS tax-deductible contribution in the amount of: Name______$10 Living lightly/student $200 Defender Address______$30 Individual $300 Advocate $50 Family $500 Benefactor City______State_____ Zip______$100 Supporter* $1000 Patron Phone______$______Other Email______Please bill my Mastercard VISA for my contribution to N3C Name as it appears on card: ______Account #______Exp. Date______Signature______If paying by mail, send this form with check or money order to: North Cascades Conservation Council * Donors at the $100 level and above will receive a free copy of Wilderness Alps PO Box 95980, Seattle, WA 98145-2980 by Harvey Manning. ALL donations include N3C membership and a subscription to our journal, The Wild Cascades. N3C is a 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are tax deductible. visit www.northcascades.org • www.facebook.com/northcas/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018  23 The Wild Cascades Journal of the North Cascades Conservation Council Post Office Box 95980 University Station Seattle, Washington 98145-2980

Wildflowers (lupin and heather) and waterfalls below the Southern Pickets in Terror Basin, North Cascades National Park. Inspiration Peak (center) and McMillan Spires (right) are visible in the background.­—Ethan Welty photo 24  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2018