The Wild Cascades The Journal of the Conservation Council Winter 2011

n all fairness to these two square miles of tortured Earth, it should be noted that Harlan Ridge, or parts of it anyway, has started to green up a bit since John Roper captured its beauty in this view taken not long after Weyerhaeuser skinned it bare Iover two decades ago. Now part of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie Na- tional Forest, the Forest Service is proposing to decommission some spur roads such as the ones seen here at midslope. But the worst offender, a ridgetop road system climbing to nearly 5000 feet, will be kept open, supposedly to facilitate a mysterious “collaborative res- toration” project, about which no details have been released. This ridgetop road system provides a highway for ORVs to ride into the Wild Sky Wilderness, which is just on the far side of the ridge as seen here. There would be no need for restoration if these roads were closed back and barricaded. But the Forest Service instead says it can stop ORVs with a gate. If this works it could be the first instance ever of a gate actually succeeding at keeping ORVs out of a place.

visit www.northcascades.org • americanalps.blogspot.com/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011  1 The North Cascades Conservation Council was THE WILD CASCADES  Winter 2011 formed in 1957 “To protect and preserve the North Cascades’ scenic, In This Issue scientific, recreational, educational, and wilderness values.” Continuing this mission, NCCC keeps government 3 President’s Report — Marc Bardsley officials, environmental organizations, 4 Updates: and the general public informed about Time runs out for Alpine Lakes Wilderness Bill issues affecting the Greater North Hydro projects proposal for Hancock and Calligan creeks Cascades Ecosystem. Action is pursued 5 Being green — The Disgruntled Bugcatcher through legislative, legal, and public 6 dNR launches SEPA process for ORV trail construction at Reiter participation channels to protect the Forest — Karl Forsgaard lands, waters, plants and wildlife. 8 Bear — Jim Scarborough Over the past half century the NCCC 10 Cascade Roads: Crumbling Away — Rick McGuire has led or participated in campaigns 13 Cascade Roads: Hall of Shame to create the North Cascades National Park Complex, Wilder- 14 Raging rivers, roads and recreation — John Edwards ness, and other units of the National 15 My early days on the Whitechuck road and trail — Philip Fenner Wilderness System from the W.O. 16 Flooding threatens old growth forest at Bumping lake — Marc Douglas Wilderness north to the Bardsley Alpine Lakes Wilderness, the Henry M. 18 Books and video available Jackson Wilderness, the Chelan-Saw- tooth Wilderness, the Wild Sky Wil- 19 A tale of two valleys — Rick McGuire derness and others. Among its most NCCC membership application dramatic victories has been working with British Columbia allies to block the raising of Ross Dam, which would have drowned Big Beaver Valley.

The NCCC is supported by member Harlan Ridge with Mount Fernow behind. dues and private donations. These contributions support the full range ­— John Roper photo, see page 16 of the Council’s activities, including publication of The Wild Cascades. As a 501(c)(3) organization, all contribu- tions are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Membership dues for one year are: Living Lightly/ The Wild Cascades Student $10; Individual $30; Family $50; Sustaining $100; Other, $______. Journal of the North Cascades Conservation Council

Editor emeritus: Betty Manning North Cascades Editorial Board: John Edwards, Philip Fenner, Tom Hammond, Conservation Council and Rick McGuire P.O. Box 95980 University Station Printing by EcoGraphics Seattle, WA 98145-2980 The Wild Cascades is published three times a year (Spring, Summer/Fall, Winter). Executive Director, Jim Davis Letters, comments, and articles are invited, subject to editorial review. 1-360-296-5159 The Wild Cascades Editor North Cascades Conservation Council NCCC Website University Station, Seattle, WA 98145-2980 www.northcascades.org

The Wild Cascades is printed on recycled paper with soy-based ink.

2  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011 NCCC Board president Marc Bardsley board chairman Founded in 1957 Patrick Goldsworthy SEATTLE, vice president Charles Ehlert treasurer Winter 2011 Tom Brucker The President’s Report secretary On several occasions I have used this space to discuss conflicts over Phil Zalesky access to back country. Typically there will be a particular road situation executive director that is of concern to those of us that prefer to reach our favorite places Jim Davis by hiking or sometimes by horse, canoe, or kayak. Many times there is a road washout or other reason that a well-used road will become unavail- able, making customary access to certain areas more difficult. Examples Bruce Barnbaum would certainly include the upper Stehekin, Suiattle roads, the Mountain Loop Scenic Byway, and even the Dosewallips road on the Olympic pen- Polly Dyer insula. In general, I think our members prefer to scale back such roads

John Edwards that have been determined to be too expensive, redundant or inappropri- ate by government agencies. Examples of these would include the eastern Philip Fenner several miles of the Illabot road and the upper Middle Fork Snoqualmie road. Dave Fluharty The dilemma facing environmental advocates is often the strongly held

Anders Forsgaard feeling by some, that scaling back road access to backcountry areas will detract from support for protecting these areas. The general belief here Karl Forsgaard is that making access easier will provide a larger group of enthusiasts to work the political and administrative protection processes more effective- Kevin Geraghty ly. The other side of the argument is, of course, that many of these areas need the physical protection from too many of these same enthusiasts. Tom Hammond You get the idea. Fayette Krause Sometimes overlooked is the fact that often these very roads are the cause of severe environmental damage. One might also point out that the Dave LeBlanc extraordinary sums of money to rebuild roads could certainly be put to work by these same agencies in much more suitable ways. Betty Manning So what should we do? Should the North Cascades Conservation Coun- Carolyn McConnell cil continue to advocate for keeping the road network at an environmen- tally and financially sustainable level? Should we support keeping exist- Rick McGuire ing and customary access to traditional areas more or less the same in order to keep a robust base of supporters? Thom Peters You have likely guessed my opinions, but I would be interested to Mike Town hear what the folks reading this article think. The editorial committee would appreciate receiving emails or letters with your ideas that could be Laura Zalesky printed in a later edition of this magazine.

visit www.northcascades.org • americanalps.blogspot.com/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011  3 Updates

other projects have been proposed in the Time runs out for Alpine is considered the green gold standard of North Fork Snoqualmie and in virtually ev- Lakes Wilderness bill land protections. ery other major watershed outside of park The groups working on the effort intend and wilderness areas all around the North Despite determined last minute efforts to pursue enactment of the bill in the new Cascades. Falling water is what gives the by Senator Patty Murray, the Alpine Lakes Congress and again look forward to work- Cascades their name, but there are those Wilderness additions bill was unable to ing closely with the sponsors. Good things who would like to see much of that water make it across the finish line in the closing take time, as the recent Wild Sky Wilder- diverted into pipes and spinning turbines. days of the 111th Congress. The bill had ness effort showed. Look for updates in The European Alps offer a unfortunate passed the House earlier in the Congress, future edition of The Wild Cascades. example of what can happen. Natural free but was unable to clear the Senate. Both flowing streams are a rare sight there since main sponsors, eight district Congressman Hydro projects proposed most of the water in streams big and small Dave Reichert and Senator Patty Murray, has long since been diverted for power have indicated their intent to make an- for Hancock and Calligan generation. The sound of falling water, other run at it and reintroduce bills in the creeks always somewhere in the background in 112th Congress. Snohomish P.U.D. has filed for permits the Cascades, is seldom heard there. The bill would add about 22,000 acres to construct hydroelectric projects on In Washington state many large dams to the western side of the Alpine Lakes Hancock and Calligan creeks, both tribu- have already been constructed on almost Wilderness, including much low elevation taries of the North Fork Snoqualmie north all major rivers. Small projects like those old growth and mature second growth of Mount Si, at the very western edge of proposed on Hancock and Calligan pro- forest in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie and the Alpine Lakes region. Although the area duce only tiny amounts of energy com- Pratt River valleys. It would also designate in question is private land and not at all pared with big existing dams, and the vast the Pratt and part of the Middle Fork un- pristine, NCCC and other conservation- majority of what power they do produce is der the Wild & Scenic River Act. ists nonetheless regard the proposals with generated only during high spring runoff NCCC is of course disappointed that the concern. when need is lowest. NCCC believes measure was unable to make it all the way. Experience has shown that once some Cascades streamwater is better left flowing But in the conservation business, patience projects like this get built in an area, over rocks rather than diverted through and tenacity are not just virtues but neces- others tend to follow once the infrastruc- pipes, and questions whether the extreme- sities. Wilderness is the strongest legal ture of roads and powerlines is put in. ly small incremental increase in electric- protection any piece of land can have. It is Although these two projects may not seem ity supply is worth extending generation difficult to enact, by design. But it is just that harmful if looked at in isolation, many facilities like these into undeveloped areas as difficult to un-enact, which is why it of the Cascades.

Sperry Peak sporting a win- ter coat of rime and , December, 2010. —Tom Hammond photo

4  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011 Being Green

“Annihilating all that’s made To a green thought in a green shade” Andrew Marvell ­— “The Garden,” 1681

s Kermit, representing all October 9, 2010, maintenance; but at what price? Nestlé the vanishing frogs in the gets a much-needed greenwash and NPCA world, said, “It isn’t easy being Dear Mr. Kiernan, promotes the use of throw-away bottles. green!” Some weeks ago I communicated by That partnership seems to me to be so But for the corporate world email my concern about the implications lop-sided, that unless I receive convincing Ait is getting easier. Partnerships! The Clo- of NPCA’s new “partnership” with the arguments for the partnership I will, albeit rox Company, for example, now promotes Nestlé Bottled Water labels. I received a reluctantly, resign from membership in its Green Works products through partner- response that did not address the issues NPCA. ship with the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club I raised. I then asked that my concern be brought to the attention of the governing imprimatur is supposed to lend credibility On November 23, 2010, I received the body, but I have, to date, no response. I to the claim that the chlorine-free prod- following letter: ucts really work. Established in 2008, the write as a member of NPCA who is active partnership has already added over $1 mil- in conservation matters in Washington “NPCA’s Marketing Department contact- lion green to the Sierra Club coffers. State, to ask you for the justification of the ed me today to request that I thank you decision to enter into a partnership that The partnership is not without dissent; once again for taking the time to contact flies in the face of environmental ethics at the 35,000-member Florida chapter has us about our partnership with Nestlé several levels. been suspended for four years, and its Waters. leadership removed, for questioning the The entire practice of marketing bottled As we indicated in our two previous club’s decision. Not all conservation or- water in plastic is environmental- responses to you, after careful consider- ganizations have decided to go this way. ly reprehensible. Not only does it ation we determined that Nestlé Waters The Natural Resources Defense Council, contribute to massive problems would be a suitable partner in support for example, does not accept fees or of litter (last summer volunteers of our mission to protect and enhance contributions from any corporation in removed 24 tons of trash from our national parks for present and future the mining, oil, timber or other natural beaches during Washington generations. resource industry. State’s Cleanup Day. Leading For specific questions about Nestlé the list of trash items: plastic But Green Partnership is catching on. Waters environmental practices, please water bottles). The same is The National Park Conservation Associa- contact Rebecca Manikian at 617-939-8397 true elsewhere — national tion now has a cozy relationship with (email [email protected]), or Lisen parks included. The market- Arrowhead Mountain Spring (plastic Syp at 617-939-8430 (email lsyp@coneinc). ing of water in disposable bottled) Water (visit arrowheadwater. We appreciate the support you have pro- plastic bottles can be justi- com). According to full-page ads in recent vided for NPCA and our national parks.” fied where water is unsafe, issues of “National Parks,” the NPCA’s Sincerely, but throughout the United magazine, Arrowhead is “working to States, where drinking water Bruce Marshall protect those special places in nature supplies are regulated NPCA Member Services you’ve grown to love,” but nowhere do we and safe, the use of find mention of the need to ensure that disposable plastic water the empties are taken care of. And only By the time you are reading this, the bottles is entirely unneces- in tiniest of print is the true source of the NPCA will have received my resignation sary, pandering as it does partnership revealed: Nestlé Waters North letter. to the throw-away culture. America Inc. Nestlé! The company that NPCA should be in the promoted their baby formula in prefer- forefront advocating against ence to breast feeding in Africa where ­— The Disgruntled Bugcatcher the throw-away culture and the use of contaminated water caused promoting the use of perma- widespread infant diseases. It matters nent water bottles instead. not to the NPCA, it seems, that about In neither of the full-page ads 47 million gallons of oil a year are in the summer and fall issues used to make plastic water bottles, of “National Parks” is there any of which only a quarter are recycled. mention of litter prevention. Having received a bland P.R. response to Who benefits from the an initial email regarding the rationale for partnership? Yes, some funds the partnership, I addressed the follow- are made available for park ing letter (here slightly abridged) to the president of the NPCA. visit www.northcascades.org • americanalps.blogspot.com/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011  5 DNR launches SEPA process for ORV trail construction at Reiter Forest

By Karl Forsgaard

—Patrick Goldsworthy map he Department of Natural off-road vehicles (ORVs) including motor- area, and provided some protections to Resources (DNR) is gathering cycles, ATV “quads,” and 4x4s. nearby public areas: Wild Sky Wilderness, public comment on its con- Local conservationists do not oppose Wallace Falls State Park and Forks of the struction plan for a motorized construction of motorized recreation Sky State Park. Working with ORV users trail system at Reiter Forest. facilities and routes in Reiter’s motorized over the past three years in public, DNR- TUnder the State Environmental Policy Act area under appropriate conditions. We do led meetings, the conservation community (SEPA), DNR issued a “Determination of oppose substantive errors and omissions likes the non-motorized designations for Nonsignificance” (DNS) for the construc- in the SEPA approval process. Conserva- the most environmentally sensitive areas tion plan. This means that DNR does tionists are asking DNR to prepare a full of the Forest. Mitigation will help reduce not intend to prepare an Environmental EIS. The impacts from ORV use at Reiter ORV impacts on these public lands and Impact Statement (EIS) for construction of are too significant to be called “nonsig- streams. the motorized trail system. nificant” – which is why Reiter has been We previously reported on these historic DNR is also designing a separate non- closed to ORV use for the past 15 months. changes at Reiter, including the temporary motorized trail system at Reiter, for use by It is only by providing for mitigation that closure of the whole Forest to all but foot hikers, equestrians and mountain bikers. the impacts can be reduced to acceptable traffic (The Wild Cascades Winter 2009- The non-motorized trail system will be levels. 2010). We also reported that in mid-2010, analyzed under SEPA later. Reiter’s non- Last year a coalition of nine conserva- the ORV community urged DNR not to motorized area is in the northwest portion tion groups (listed below) supported reopen Reiter’s mainline road to ORV use of Reiter, closer to Wallace Falls. The mo- DNR’s overall Recreation Plan for Reiter. until after the ORV trail system is devel- torized area is in the southeast portion of DNR’s plan significantly reduced acreage oped, to avoid illegal ORV use that could Reiter, closer to the Index Town Wall. The open to ORVs, created the non-motorized “compromise the entire project” (The motorized area will be used by riders of Wild Cascades Summer/Fall 2010). Their

6  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011 extraordinary opposition to the proposed DNR must provide adequate analysis of restore and repair the damage caused by reopening reflects a cultural shift in the future operations and maintenance, park- past ORV use, both inside and outside the ORV community as its leaders recognize ing, and future phases of construction. motorized area, and we commend the that past “traditions” of unmanaged, DNR must provide a restoration plan volunteers who have worked with DNR “dispersed” ORV use are not sustainable. to address past environmental damage on restoration in the past year. However, It also underscores the importance of caused by ORVs. the SEPA checklist says only that restora- securing adequate dedicated enforcement • The impacts of ORV use on State forest tion will be undertaken adjacent to the before opening up an area to motorized lands have never been carefully analyzed new ORV routes; we know they are doing recreation. under SEPA. Prior EIS documents refer- more. DNR should provide a detailed The problem is that the new SEPA docu- enced in the SEPA checklist are about restoration plan for all sites significantly ments issued by DNR omit too many key logging, not ORV use. DNR should prepare damaged from past ORV use, including a elements, such as details of how DNR will a programmatic EIS for managing ORV use detailed map of where they are, regardless provide for enforcement when the new on DNR lands statewide. of whether they are adjacent to the new ORV system is opened. DNR also needs to ORV routes. DNR’s restoration plan should • DNR’s enforcement plan for Reiter include monitoring of restored sites. provide adequate analysis on ORV impacts needs to be spelled out in detail and ref- on wildlife and water quality, and detail its erenced in the SEPA documents, including • DNR should provide more detailed plans for restoration of areas damaged by (1) who will be on site; (2) when it will be analysis of ORV impacts on plants and ani- past ORV use. A full EIS is necessary. patrolled; and (3) the types of infractions mals, including owls, goshawks, peregrine The ORV community agrees that ad- that will be cited. Everyone – including falcons, salmon and steelhead, and a map equate enforcement and restoration are DNR and the ORV community – agrees of which streams are fish-bearing, showing essential to make the plan work. Reiter that adequate enforcement is key to mak- locations of planned stream crossings (in- planning can have a good result for ORV ing the Reiter plan work. Without enforce- cluding locations of bridges and culverts). users, quiet recreationists, DNR, and the ment, off-route ORV use will erode soil DNR’s analysis should include a review of land, water and wildlife that make Reiter from the forest floor, damage trees and scientific literature on the impacts of ORVs Forest such a special place. But the plan- other vegetation, and bleed sediment into upon wildlife, vegetation, soil and water. ning needs to be done correctly, especially streams, degrading fish habitat. DNR’s The SEPA checklist does not adequately since DNR intends to use Reiter as a tem- 2010 Reiter recreation plan said there address impacts from the construction of plate for ORV planning and management would be an enforcement strategy “prior ORV trails in “Next Best” timber stands on other state lands. to” development of ORV sites and trails, designated in the DNR’s Habitat Con- DNR’s Reiter Forest ORV construction but DNR’s new site-specific SEPA docu- servation Plan as Nesting, Roosting, and plan SEPA documents can be viewed at: ments fail to deliver on that promise. The Foraging (NRF) with the explicit objective SEPA checklist barely mentions enforce- to provide future habitat conservation for http://www.dnr.wa.gov/ResearchScience/ endangered species such as spotted owls. Topics/SEPAOthers/Pages?amp_sepa_oth- ment, and by saying so little, it fails to er_reitertrail_feb.aspx say how future enforcement will be any • DNR proposes some ORV construction different from the old approach that did in the aquifer recharge zone that supplies At this writing, the nine-member coali- water to the Town of Index. The impacts tion that submitted comments on the not work. In other words, there is nothing to prevent recurrence of their inadequate on the aquifer need to be analyzed in programmatic Recreation Plan a year ago more detail. are developing comments to submit to management and the extremely adverse DNR regarding the ORV construction plan. ORV impacts that led to the November • DNR needs to analyze stormwater These nine groups are Alpine Lakes Pro- 2009 closure of Reiter to ORV use. En- flow control and water quality treatment tection Society, Conservation Northwest, forcement is a key form of mitigation. It for parking areas, trails, and challenge Friends of Wild Sky, The Mountaineers, is ONLY by having an adequate enforce- areas. DNR needs to follow County Code North Cascades Conservation Council, Pil- ment plan (and designated resources) as provisions for determining the required chuck Audubon Society, Sierra Club, Wash- mitigation that the significant, negative number of parking spaces. To improve ington Trails Association, and Washington impacts of future ORV use can be reduced safety, DNR should prohibit consumption Wilderness Coalition. The SEPA comment to an acceptable level. Uncertainty of fund- of alcoholic beverages while operating period for the ORV construction plan runs ing is not an excuse for having no plan, ORVs at Reiter, and should designate Reiter from December 20, 2010 to January 31, since funding for enforcement is just as Forest a “No Shooting Area” under the 2011. important as funding for construction, County Code. restoration, or any other form of physical Specific recommendations: • DNR needs to provide a detailed mitigation. “Operations and Maintenance Plan” that • The EIS should analyze site-specific • Postponement of detailed environ- provides for ORV impacts, past practices, and the res- mental review constitutes improper 1) specific maintenance actions as trails or toration, mitigation, usage limits, enforce- phasing (or “piece-mealing”) under SEPA. facilities deteriorate; ment and funding that will be needed in The SEPA checklist states that after Phase the future. In particular, 2) routine monitoring of the entire length 2 is completed, there may be additional of the designated ORV route system; DNR must provide adequate enforce- construction (in effect, an undefined 3) routine monitoring of closed routes and ment resources, including a detailed “Phase 3”) including a campground, 3.5 areas; and enforcement plan, before proceeding with more miles of trail, and an additional 4x4 construction of this ORV trail system. challenge area. That planned future con- 4) )periodic preparation of publicly avail- DNR must provide adequate analysis of struction should be disclosed in detail and able reports noting trail conditions and impacts of ORV use on aquifer and water analyzed now. any violations of rules, including off- route travel. quality, and on wildlife habitat. • We support DNR’s 2010 plan to visit www.northcascades.org • americanalps.blogspot.com/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011  7 Bear By Jim Scarborough

Middle Fork Paysayten —Jim Scarborough photo

n the San Juan Mountains of south- The big hindrances to North Cascades 20 grizzlies total on the U.S. side. western Colorado, the grizzly bear grizzly migration from Canada, though, Bill Gaines, wildife biologist for is more ghost than reality. Well over are the human-made obstacles which Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, a century of habitat degradation, have effectively severed the north/south is currently studying grizzly populations overhunting and trapping have travel corridors used by these bears for hereabouts. His initial results are due this essentiallyI extinguished the great bruin ages. Often, these impediments to grizzly spring. NCCC board member Kevin Ger- in what was its last southern redoubt. migration are narrow ribbons of asphalt aghty and I happened across Gaines and Sightings of grizzlies in and around the or agriculture, yet severe enough to turn his assistants in the Middle Fork Pasayten Weminuche Wilderness there, at least back even the most vigorous bear. Just as River valley this past August, near where since 1979, are highly infrequent and Yellowstone’s grizzlies no longer have a vi- several hair traps had been set. Accord- unreliable. There may not be a single griz able route to Colorado’s San Juans, a Brit- ing to Gaines, a “pretty good” but uncon- remaining in all of Colorado, even in that ish Columbia griz must run the gauntlet to firmed grizzly sighting occurred in 2008 state’s wildest corner. reach the otherwise high-quality habitat of in the Chiwawa River valley, again in the The situation in our own North Cas- the North Cascades. Glacier Peak area. One hopes his research cades isn’t quite as dire as that of the San We’ve seen the statistics. There are very will indicate the North Cascades griz is at Juans, but it’s close enough to generate few North Cascades grizzlies left, and least somewhat more substantial than a some serious angst among those still root- perhaps fewer now than ever. Between ghost. ing for the grizzly’s survival in the moun- 1983 and 1991, there were 21 confirmed When venturing deep into the North tains of northwestern Washington. To the griz sightings in the Cascades. Yet the last Cascades, it’s sometimes hard to fathom north, the province of British Columbia confirmed sighting on the U.S. side of the that so few grizzlies reside there. The has rarely been accused of pro-grizzly border was 15 years ago in the Glacier roadless lands are vast and available policy, though a sufficient population has Peak Wilderness. Even on the Canadian bear habitat is ample. Especially on the held on in the southern Coast Mountains side of the Cascades, there has been just eastern slope of the range, the place and Columbia Mountains to theoretically one confirmed grizzly sighting over the practically bellows ursus arctos horribilis. repopulate the North Cascades over time. past decade. Estimates range from zero to The black bear population continues to

8  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011 grow, though this by itself isn’t necessarily sive canyon. Before reaching the river, our Even with the preferred Fraser-Coqui- encouraging for griz numbers, suggest- grizzly would still need to cross Highway halla route from the Coast Mountains, ing instead that black bears are exploiting 1, though there’s been considerably less busy highways and a roiling river aren’t habitat formerly dominated by their larger traffic on this stretch of road since comple- the only concerns for the grizzly intent on cousins. So the problem isn’t what the tion of the highway over Coquihalla Pass reaching the North Cascades. Much of the North Cascades have to offer the grizzly in 1986. And yes, beyond the Fraser and route is hardly pristine. Although rugged bear, it’s the getting there that’s the issue. across the hills, the bear must still contend and mostly free of permanent human habi- In 2004, Bill Gaines, with Peter Single- with speedy Coquihalla Highway 5. tation, this connecting region is laced with ton and John Lehmkuhl, published an The divided Coquihalla Highway was logging roads, clearcuts, mining opera- article which assessed possible migratory constructed with miles of fencing to tions, campers, ATV enthusiasts, hunters, corridors for grizzly bears attempting to funnel wildlife under the road prism at and assorted yahoos. A griz here would reach the North Cascades from adjacent numerous points. These crossing mecha- do well to keep moving. areas of occupied habitat. Titled “Land- nisms have reduced automobile collisions One might speculate that a far-ranging, scape Permeability for grizzly bear move- with wildlife to near zero, though appear young male grizzly is likely the only one of ments in Washington and southwestern to be used mainly by ungulates like deer his kind to possess the motivation to un- British Columbia,” the study concluded and moose, rather than large carni- dertake the risky journey from the Coast the Fraser-Coquihalla fracture zone is the vores. It may be that these underpasses Mountains to the North Cascades. Upon most likely route for Canadian bears to are unattractive to grizzlies, though the reaching the vicinity of the international travel to the North Cascades. Less promis- Cascades grow increasingly wild south of border and discovering the expansive ing is the Okanogan-Kettle fracture zone the highway. There are also opportunities habitat to the south, he might nonetheless to the east. Both routes, unfortunately, are for passage to the south and west at lower soon realize that grizzly sows are scarce to fraught with hazards, and neither rated as elevations, where the highway repeatedly nonexistent, thus prompting him to return high in permeability as the Stevens Pass bridges the Coquihalla River, though the north to mate. For Coast Mountain sows fracture zone, far south of the border at extent to which these are used by griz- themselves, it’s difficult to think of why U.S. Highway 2. zlies is unknown. For a bear that makes they would be lured south aside from an For a grizzly residing in British Colum- it past the Coquihalla, one last, lesser im- excessive density of grizzlies in their home bia’s Coast Mountains, the long trip to the pediment is the Crowsnest Highway 3 in range. But the farther south one goes in North Cascades would be a harrowing Manning Park, which varies from season British Columbia, the less intra-species one, if not lethal. If said bear opted to to season and time of day in terms of its competition a sow will experience. venture from the Stein River, south to the treacherousness to wildlife. Perhaps any grizzly seen in the North Pasayten via the Fraser-Coquihalla fracture Grizzlies in the Columbia Mountains of Cascades these days is just a stray male, zone, she would have two unattractive Canada, including a remnant population searching fruitlessly for a chance to copu- options. One would be to head due south, in and around the Granby River basin, late. Bill Gaines’ research may help clarify past Harrison Lake to the Fraser River as well as a finger of Selkirk Range bears this. Yet it’s clear that if the situation is this between Chilliwack and Hope. Aside from dipping into the far northeastern corner of dire, active reintroduction is the only way vacationers around the lake, the big hin- Washington, would at first glance appear to ensure this keystone species’ long-term drances come in quick succession on the to have a fair shot at reaching the North presence in the North Cascades. Scientists valley bottom. After crossing moderately Cascades, assuming the considerable dis- and managers overseeing this particu- busy Highway 7, the bear would have to tance could be covered. Human communi- lar Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone, though, swim the Fraser, then immediately risk her ties on this big swath of land, especially on have been repeatedly stymied by budget life trying to get across Highway 1. the U.S. side of the border, are generally shortages, agency inertia, hostility from Highway 1 is the Trans-Canada Highway. small and well-spaced. Indeed, a con- state politicians and commercial livestock Although not quite as heavily traveled as firmed grizzly sighting near Chesaw in interests, and apathy from our 2nd District our own Interstate 90 (and with odds of a 2003 probably originated from the Granby congressman. This, despite polls indicat- successful crossing improving late at night population. ing broad support for the North Cascades and in the non-summer months), this high- The Okanogan valley, however, makes grizzly among surrounding communities. way acts as a moat against southbound grizzly migration from the Columbia 28 years after the Interagency Griz- grizzly migration. Perhaps a clever bear Mountains to the North Cascades virtu- zly Bear Committee was established, the would make her way under one of the ally impossible. On the Canadian side North Cascades have yet to see an envi- short highway bridges along this stretch, of the border, vineyards, trophy homes ronmental impact statement to study the but this is probably wishful thinking. A and golf courses stretch for many miles feasibility of reintroduction. Canadian record does exist of a Coast Mountain griz- up the Okanogan. On the U.S. side, such officials have gotten closer to releasing zly relocated to the North Cascades three development has been much less aggres- new grizzlies just north of the border – decades ago which returned to his home sive, though one is hard-pressed to find bears which would almost surely travel turf by this same route. Likely, after his even the smallest block of Okanogan River into the wilder territory on the U.S. side journey was concluded, he was relieved to bottomland that hasn’t been converted – but political opposition to this proposal have made it back in one piece. to agriculture. Grizzlies shy away from on both sides of the border has slowed The second option for the Fraser-Coqui- such modified landscapes as readily as it to a glacial pace. So it goes, as some of halla route would entail our bear swim- they avoid busy highways. The few that the finest grizzly habitat in the lower 48 ming across the Fraser River farther north reach the vicinity of the Okanogan River states is left largely idle, and one is left to and upstream, perhaps in the vicinity of from the east almost certainly beat a hasty wonder whether the reddish-brown rump Yale and its remnant stands of Garry oak, retreat before even contemplating an at- disappearing over the ridgeline was really where the river flows through an impres- tempt at crossing nearby Highway 97. there at all. visit www.northcascades.org • americanalps.blogspot.com/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011  9 Cascade Roads: Crumbling Away By Rick McGuire

Damage of this nature occurs to roads throughout the Cascades virtually every year. Repairing these roads costs fish even more than it does taxpayers. —tom Hammond photo

t is a truth, though not yet univer- Cascade roads are the product of very big machines that made these roads. As sally acknowledged, that the im- different times. From 1950 to 1990, federal anyone who has tried to move a boulder mense road system carved across money to build them flowed freely. A pow- knows, it takes a lot of energy to move big the Cascades in the latter half of erful Northwest congressional delegation, heavy things. Countless tons of rock and the twentieth century is crumbling including such legendary appropriators as dirt were dug up in constructing the road away, and poised to continue Washington senators Henry Jackson and network, all of it by oil. In terms of earth Idoing so at an ever-faster rate. The more Warren Magnuson, and Oregon senator moved, the National Forest road system heavily used pieces of it will continue to Mark Hatfield, brought home the bacon must qualify as one of the bigger construc- be maintained for some time yet, but the for the timber industry in the form of tion projects of all time. majority of roads will disappear, victim not hundreds of millions of dollars yearly to Another part of the mix was the relative- so much of local decisions as of converg- the Forest Service for road construction. ly strong price of timber during much of ing circumstances in the wider world. Those numbers still sound like a lot even that period when the U.S. economy came These look likely to alter, maybe even now, but they were real money back then. to be based more and more on suburban restore, much of the Cascades. Also high on the list of ingredients construction. Timber sale receipts never was abundant cheap oil to fuel all the came close to covering the real costs of

10  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011 building these roads, especially if the “ex- ternalities” of environmental damage are considered, which they never were. But with lots of creative accounting, returns were high enough to allow the Forest Service to just about sustain the illusion that, at least in the Northwest, timber sales made money for the federal government. The reality is that they never did. Roads (the main expense) were never counted as costs, only as assets. The Forest Service road and timber sale program was in real- ity an expensive make-work project, a mas- sively subsidized gift to a small segment of the timber industry. Also worth considering is the unusually stable and benign climate that prevailed during the roadbuilding decades. (See accompanying article by John Edwards in this issue of The Wild Cascades.) Even though vast sums were spent, Cascade roads were still built on the cheap. “Side- cast” construction meant that material dug from mountainsides to make roadbeds was simply thrown downhill. Drainage structures were primitive, with undersized culverts and ditches, guaranteed to fail if not carefully and frequently maintained, which they seldom were. All that money purchased quantity, not quality. Results were measured in miles of road built. The longevity of these roads pushed across difficult terrain would be, and now is, someone else’s problem. Things have changed since those days. The government faces a far different bud- getary situation than it did during those decades of roadbuilding, and is starting to lose financial muscle. As recently as a de- cade ago, the was financially healthy, but the Bush administration saw fit to initiate two major wars while cutting taxes deeply at the same time. Debt multi- plied, then really shot up as big banks and other entities that had constructed huge financial Ponzi schemes were bailed out after the crisis of 2008, a story of titanic private profits and even larger socialized losses. Big states, including California, top: Flood damage in 2006 resulted in the Illinois and New Jersey, are now bankrupt closure of popular Cascade River road a in all but name, and rely on federal money few miles from its terminus. to stay afloat. The debt burden at all levels has reached colossal size, and is growing bottom: By 2009, this multi-million dollar at an ever accelerating rate. Should inter- bridge/repair was in place. Note rip-rap at est rates rise even modestly, the cost of bridge foundation — commonly referred servicing that debt will overwhelm those to as “bank armoring.” Structures of this budgets. It can be difficult to come by hard type prevent natural stream channel numbers, but it appears that tax revenues migration, shifting river energy up and cover only about half of government downstream. Ultimately the river will expenditures. The other half is from debt overcome such structures, and we’ll be issuance, which has now reached such paying for repairs again (and probably a scale that the United States is having within a decade). trouble selling all its new paper. Money —tom Hammond photos visit www.northcascades.org • americanalps.blogspot.com/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011  11 Roads: Crumbling Away continued from page 11 printing, or “quantitative easing,” now fills ing suburban and exurban living steadily low elevation country, and hold to the the gap. How well and how long that will more expensive, and millions of McMan- view that high country is the only part of work is an open question, but historical sions of declining value now littering the the Cascades worthy of attention. Others examples are not encouraging. Finding landscape all across the country, demand will appreciate and happily embrace the money to maintain roads in the Cascades for wood is likely to stay low for the fore- greater extent of wild country. Many more will be difficult in such an environment. seeable future. Northwest national forests trails could be constructed in places that Adding to road woes is the end of cheap never were prime timberlands, and more aren’t at the end of a long expensive road. abundant oil. It seems pretty well agreed productive private timberlands, along with It’s possible that some who lament the loss that oil production worldwide probably low-cost timber producers in places like of easy motorized access deep into wild peaked around 2006. Oil will never simply Argentina and New Zealand, can easily country may come to view that loss as one “run out,” but the costs and difficulties meet projected needs for wood. of their lesser worries as the wider world of extracting what remains are growing It is also now clear to all but the most changes around them. steadily. The energy return on energy die-hard, head-in-the-sand deniers that Ultimately it probably won’t much mat- invested, or “EROEI,” is declining. Big oil- the climate, not just in the Cascades but ter what advocates for roads or advocates field discoveries of the early 20th century, across the planet, is becoming less predict- for more wild country want. In the Cas- such as Spindletop in Texas and Ghawar able and more extreme. Rainstorms are cades at least, it looks to be well past noon in Saudi Arabia, boasted EROEI numbers getting fiercer and more frequent. Terms for the empire of the motor, even though of 100 to 1, or greater. Oil from these like “100-year flood” have lost all meaning. the sun still shines brightly. Roads there “gushers” didn’t even need to be pumped The cheaply built roads of the Cascades are the product of circumstances unlikely out of the ground, it simply flowed up on are under assault as never before, far to be seen again. The money, resources its own. The only cost was refining it into beyond what they were ever built to with- and ability to maintain them are slipping end products. That stands in contrast to stand. away. Why not make the best of it and take most oilfields today, where 30 to 1 is a Since roads are the source of just about some satisfaction in the growing blank very good number, with most operating all things bad for wildlands, their dis- spots on the map of the Cascades? The closer to 10 to 1. Even much-touted new integration bodes well for the recovery forests, animals and fish will. finds like Tupi, off the Brazilian coast, will of wildness in the Cascades. Large parts be lucky to reach 7 or 8 to 1, since pump- of the range will see a decrease in hu- ing oil up from such great depths takes man activity, with wild country making a so much energy. Alberta’s tar sands, the comeback. The effects will be especially “Saudi Arabia of ,” barely great when roads in main valleys like the manage 3 to 1, not to mention the utter Whitechuck, Suiattle, and others disap- devastation that the difficult, dirty process pear. They may still be repaired a time or of mining the sands and cooking oil out of two more, but their days are numbered. A them leaves in its wake. It’s worth noting lucky few roads may be decommissioned, that tar sands oil now comprises 65 per greatly lessening the harm they do to cent of Alberta’s production, is piped to streams and fish. Most will likely just fall Puget Sound refineries, and is the source apart, doing considerable damage in the of part of the gasoline burned in Washing- short term until nature can stabilize them. ton State. Road bridges are particularly expensive. Even more alarming than general Since they are the bottlenecks in the tightening of oil supplies is a possible system, every one that is not replaced will decline in the ability of the U.S. to pay for likely be a big gain for wild country. the more than two thirds of its oil con- Not everyone sees the good side of sumption that is imported. Five percent of this. Some roads allow high country to the world’s population in the U.S. burn- be easily reached for day hikes, and roads ing nearly 25 per cent of the world’s oil penetrating deeply into once-wild valleys production has long looked unsustainable. make some hiking trips much shorter. The It is starting to look even less so now that Whitechuck road, for instance, trans- the U.S. is printing dollars. How long the formed Glacier Peak from the pole of rest of the world will be willing to trade remoteness into an easy weekend climb. oil for those dollars remains to be seen, Some guidebook authors, some hikers but again history is not encouraging. None who like short trails to high elevation of this bodes well for fueling the many beauty spots, along with at least one prom- large thirsty machines needed to maintain inent newspaper columnist, object fre- roads in the Cascades. quently to what they see as the loss of “ac- Another factor in the roads equation cess.” Certainly it is something remarkable is long-term lack of demand for timber to be able to drive far up a road and start from high-cost national forests in the hiking at 4000 feet. But wilderness begins Northwest. With rising fuel costs mak- where roads end. Some may disdain wild

12  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011 Cascade Roads HALL OF SHAME

Evergreen Mountain yield more benefits to fish than just about upgrade it, making it suitable for passen- Surely the Evergreen Mountain road in any other, but it doesn’t seem possible ger cars. While they may be able to throw the Beckler watershed of the Skykomish given current mindsets. The road will un- away money doing that in the short term, Ranger District ranks near the top of any- doubtedly be abandoned once the money the road won’t stay together for long. stops flowing. An alternate hiking ap- one’s list of bad roads that should never Finney Creek have been built. Constructed to access proach to Three Fingers via Boulder River poor quality high elevation timber that is not that much longer. One of the great- While some of the hundreds of miles of was barely worth cutting even when prac- est salmon restoration opportunities in roads which were carved across the Finney tically given away, the road climbs nine Washington State is going begging because block area have been decommissioned, precarious, failure prone miles from Jack of the Forest Service’s fixation on keeping this one continues to soak up dollars, Pass up to the 4200 foot level, turning the open a long road to a short trail here. perhaps because it offers a long drive to a very short trail remnant climbing to Gee remnant trail to the Evergreen Mountain Squire Creek lookout into a short 45 minute stroll. Point. Such a long road to such a short A massive rockslide obliterated a large trail makes little sense environmentally or The Forest Service has thrown endless piece of this road some years ago, but the monetarily. money at this road for over forty years forest service keeps trying to find a way to now, obsessively trying to prove that reopen it. Apparently the extra mile and Illabot Creek they can triumph over washouts more a half of now-pleasant walking needed to The Illabot Creek road penetrates numerous than anyone can remember. reach the Squire Creek trail is just intoler- far into otherwise wild country off the A powerful new buzzword, “stormproof- able to them. northwest corner of the Glacier Peak ing,” was deployed in the epic struggle, Wilderness. It is yet another example of but to no avail as the road just kept on Whitechuck River an expensive road built many miles into a blowing out. Possibly the lookout’s status Yet another example of a road that once wild valley to keep it out of Wilder- as a “profit center” for the agency (it is should never have been built, the White- ness. The Forest Service is considering rented out nightly in summer for a small chuck road was punched far up the valley decommissioning the most problematic fee - never mind the cost of the road, that’s around 1960 to preclude its inclusion upper parts of it, and it is hoped they will a different budget!) has something to do in what was to become the Glacier Peak make the long overdue decision to put it with the quixotic fixation on keeping the Wilderness. It is but one of the numer- to bed. road open. This road has been a textbook ous examples of “wilderness preventative case of Forest Service willingness to keep logging/roadbuilding,” where the Forest South Fork Nooksack repeating the same mistakes over and over Service would use its limitless roadbuild- Yet another relic of the 1960’s roadbuild- again for as long as the money keeps flow- ing dollars to punch a road far up to the ing frenzy, this long route from Baker Lake ing, decades in this case. head of a valley, staking claim to all of it into the upper South Fork Nooksack is in San Juan Hill and settling the question of whether it terrible shape and serves no real purpose. might be preserved. Standing on the opposite side of the Wells Creek upper Beckler from Evergreen Mountain, A massive flood in 2003 erased a large piece of the lower road about ten miles be- This route climbs from the North Fork this classic “road to nowhere” has con- Nooksack all the way to near timberline sumed countless thousands of dollars over low its end. In a “cut the baby in half” de- cision, the Forest Service decided to give on Cougar Divide on the north flank of the decades in fruitless attempts to keep it Mount Baker. The forest service has ap- open. Without even Evergreen Mountain’s up on the upper five miles, a step in the right direction. But the lower part is still parently chosen to simply let it fall apart justification of a trail at its end, the re- as a “user maintained” route, ignoring the peated expensive and pointless repairs to being repaired at great expense. Expect a repeat of the 2003 event someday soon. ongoing damage to the Nooksack water- this road have been a monumental waste shed. Not only the road is a problem here. of taxpayers’ dollars. Rat Trap Pass Four-wheel drive vehicles are going off the end of it, churning the area into a muddy Canyon Creek This road climbing between the quagmire. This tributary of the South Fork Still- Whitechuck and Suiattle valleys east of aguamish once teemed with steelhead and Whitechuck mountain is apparently being Canyon Creek kept open to provide a loop drive (much salmon until the Forest Service punched The road up this northern tributary in over twenty miles of mainline road and beloved of the Forest Service,) up one val- ley and down the other. As with so many of the North Fork Nooksack cuts many many more miles of spurs. Some of the miles into wild country. Apparently it spurs have been decommissioned but the other roads, its yearly washouts bring emergency repair money to the Forest is kept open to provide easy access to Forest Service keeps doggedly trying to several remnant trail pieces. A number of keep the mainline open to Tupso Pass, ap- Service, keeping budgets up as long as money flows from the other Washington. steep failure prone spurs off it have been parently to keep the Goat Flat and Three repaired time and time again. Fingers trail as a day hike. Proper decom- Rather than closing it as should be done, missioning of this road would probably the Forest Service is instead proposing to

visit www.northcascades.org • americanalps.blogspot.com/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011  13 Raging rivers, roads and recreation

By John Edwards

ature never rests; its only known wet winters of La Nina years (the Footnote constant is change. From rain is pounding down and floods are The debate is over: the Carbon River local landslides to creep- expected as I write) and the drier winters road will be converted to a trail for hikers ing continents and from of El Nino years. Has the intensity and and cyclists, closed to motor traffic. The tomorrow’s weather forecast frequency of wet winter storms increased National Park Service has approved the Nto millennial climate change, nothing in in recent years? It certainly seems so, and closure of a road plagued by washouts nature stays the same for long. Even living the telling Disaster History of Washington since it was built in 1925, with major species come and go. And yet we see the State posted on FEMA’s website (www. damage in recent years culminating in the landscape as eternal and our treasured ac- fema.gov/news/disasters_state.fema) bears disastrous 2006 flood. The conversion to cess to the mountains a given — almost a this out. Its tabulation of flood events dat- trail will cost $3.2 million. Rebuilding the human right. It may be time to stand back ing back to 1956 lists only one major flood road is estimated to cost $11.4 million. for a moment and ask whether the way we year with landslides for the second half Superintendent Uberauga and his staff approach the mountains has to change of last century, while five such years are deserve applause and support for this too. listed for the young twenty-first century. difficult decision. In limiting motorized ac- Earth and weather meet in our young- The major floods of the past decade cess hikes will be longer, and Ipsut camp- ish Cascades. Their sharp topography have impacted many of the places we have ground a carry, but closure recognizes confronts the moving air mass as it comes been accustomed to visit for generations, the vulnerability of engineering to natural ashore from the Pacific Ocean to spill its with easy road access taken for granted, processes. Forest Service please take heed. load of water as rain or snow. That water thanks largely to Forest Service roads. works relentlessly at eroding the peaks Roads have been washed out by floods and transporting the spoil to lower val- in the Stehekin, the Skagit, the Sauk, the leys as it returns to the sea. Ever since the Suiattle, the Whitechuck valleys in the great ice-cap of the last glaciation started Cascades, the Dosewallips and others in to retreat northward around 15,000 years the Olympics. In Mount Rainier National ago the annual cycle of the seasons has Park the West Side road has been closed played out, with wide variations on the since 1987 due to repeated washouts. The theme. The history of those variations at tremendous floods of 2006 washed out ac- the broadest scale has been reconstructed cess roads along the Nisqually and Carbon from the record of fossil pollen, tree rings Rivers. and sediments: after the ice retreated the Should all these roads be rebuilt to climate was cold and dry. Vegetation re- their former destinations? Or should we turned to the bare post-glacial landscape. accept the fact that rivers do what they Later the area became warmer and moist, have always done, long before humans forest came to the Cascades and for the built roads and trails. They flood, they last 6000 years it has been predominantly change course, they attack their banks, cool and moist, as we know it. There were and they rearrange their beds. Decisions fluctuations nonetheless — the Medieval have been made for some roads. They Warm Period from 950 to 1100 for exam- have been truncated, leaving the old road ple, and the Little Ice Age from the 14th to beyond washouts to become trails as in the 19th century that followed. In Europe the Whitechuck and the Carbon. Or they roads and trails, even entire villages, were have been rebuilt as in the Sauk along the obliterated when the glaciers advanced Mountain Loop, and the Nisqually access during that well documented period. to Paradise on Mt Rainier. Other roads are Closer to the present, and at a finer in contention, as in the Stehekin and the scale, the western United States has Dosewallips. Detailed studies of recent warmed about 1 degree C (roughly 2 de- weather patterns raise the probability of grees F) during the 20th century. That may more frequent flooding. Given the pros- not seem much but it doesn’t take much to pect of limited funding for road repair or change the weather. Our rainfall patterns re-routing in coming years it may be that are influenced by ocean surface tempera- we should, albeit reluctantly, accept loss tures far away in the tropical Pacific where of access to some our treasured destina- cyclic fluctuations are recognized as the El tions with good grace and recognize that Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). ENSO some of our traditional weekend trips will works, along with the Pacific Decadal become weeklong expeditions. Oscillation. Together, sometimes in phase, sometimes not, they give us our well-

14  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011 My early days on the Whitechuck road and trail

By Philip Fenner

e couldn’t believe what strike” against Wilderness designation, in than the Whitechuck. The road itself was we saw — a “freeway” the heat of the battle over the future of the a quick end-run around the time required of a trail with logs on lands surrounding Glacier Peak. Rather for the process of expanding a Wilderness either side laid 3 feet than build road and cut trees gradually up Area. In a way, the shock of it galvanized apart and gravel built- a valley as the Wilderness boundary came the environmental movement and NCCC Wup between them a foot off the ground, down from the upper end, and be shut-out especially to work that much harder to and this went on for a mile or more from of half the valley, the Forest Service had expand the boundaries of the Glacier Peak the road end, where in adjacent valleys the punched the road as far up as the com- Wilderness elsewhere. trails were narrow old tracks in need of mercial timber grew, and cut out a piece Today of course the Whitechuck road maintenance. Something else didn’t make at the end, in advance, so they could log lies in ruins, washed out in so many places sense: the clearcut just a few yards up the rest of the valley whenever they chose. as to be a total loss. The old campground the old road from the campground at the This came to be known as “legislation by we stayed in that summer at Owl Creek no road’s end. But unlike most nearby valleys chainsaw.” Since Wilderness by definition doubt is likewise decrepit and Kennedy we’d been up, there were very few patch could contain no roads, they’d “captured Hot Springs simply is no more, covered cuts above the main river valley we left the flag.” And doomed the entire valley’s by several feet of mud and debris from ten miles or more below. Then, here at the ancient forest. They partially succeeded, flooding. When I hike the North Fork Sauk end, a swath with some seedlings sprout- limited mostly by what Harvey Manning River, I meet Glacier Peak climbers who ing around the huge stumps. once described as ‘the limiting policy of take an extra day to summit now, and ac- Welcome to the upper end of the No Logging Above Timberline.’ tually tell me they’re glad they do, because Whitechuck River valley, ca. 1972. I was To add insult to injury, a huge wooden they are really getting a good “approach” in high school, and as a benefit of being placard was erected on the Mountain Loop experience, spending the first day in deep a “preacher’s kid,” we took long summer where there’s an overlook of the flatlands forest, ascending steeply on day two to family camping vacations, sometimes a near the Whitechuck’s confluence with the White Pass, and starting the climb from month or more at a time, when Dad wasn’t Sauk. It was “propaganda overlook,” where there. Many probably are too young to working. Preachers and teachers have that you could survey the freshly clearcut remember the “freeway” to the mountain advantage. So all my growing-up years, I alluvial terrace and read the Orwellian from the Whitechuck, but they, too, get the would go camping, mostly car camping propaganda promoting the greatest good benefit of a proper approach to a remote and day hiking, for most of my summer for the greatest number in classic Pinchot interior volcano. breaks from school with my parents and prose. I do sorely wish I’d taken a photo of So in this case is seems the weather older brothers. it before it was removed a few years ago. solved the problem, taking out a road We lived in Monroe at the time and had You could look closely and see how some that shouldn’t have ever been built. In the a great old pick-up camper, quite a step of the verbiage had been painted-over case of the Whitechuck, too much “access” up from the old canvas tent I grew up and re-written with the router to make it was definitely not a good thing. Of all the with. We took that camper up a seemingly a little less revisionist at one point, and flood-damaged northwest forest roads, endless series of Cascade river valleys, one spray-painted with “LIES” once or twice. the Whitechuck should be permanently after another. The Mountain Loop was a Later, reading Harvey’s Wilderness closed, as much as an icon of mismanage- favorite for its proximity and relative lack Alps*, I learned the forest service had ment as for any other reason. of traffic, so we went up most of its spur planned to extend that road to Kennedy roads, sometimes for a week at a time. Hot Springs, with a spur road to Kennedy *Wilderness Alps: Conservation and Con- Those were the days! Ridge for a drive-to viewpoint. That was flict in Washington’s North Cascades, by The Whitechuck road and trail were just back in the days when road-building was Harvey Manning, available on the NCCC odd, somehow, I can remember thinking. a craze, a mad delusion, and only Acts of website at http://www.northcascades.org/ Why on earth would they bother build- Congress in the form of designated wilder- book.html. ing this road so far up this valley just to ness could stop it. The “freeway” of a trail cut a little patch at the end? And what a was slated to become a real “freeway!” huge, elaborate trail the first part was, When I hear discussions of new wilder- all built-up to withstand what might be a ness designations these days that result horde going to Kennedy Hot Springs and from long drawn-out negotiations and for climbing Glacier Peak. We ran into vast compromises with timber, mining and Boy Scout troops at Kennedy, churning the grazing interests, I hear the “environmen- place up and literally disturbing the peace. talist” faction described as the one that It was a bit surreal, so far into very wild used to “make demands,” to which others country. were then roused to action to defend their Years later of course I learned that the rights. This, I’m afraid, is a very one-sided road had been built not that long before- perspective, and there’s no better place to hand as a strategic move, a “pre-emptive see evidence of the other side of the coin visit www.northcascades.org • americanalps.blogspot.com/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011  15 Harlan Ridge disappointment

he Skykomish Ranger District of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest has proposed a road project that would decommission a number of Tstub and spur roads while keeping open a failure prone, high elevation “road to nowhere” climbing to the top of Harlan Ridge south of the Rapid River. The Harlan Ridge area in question com- prises two square mile sections that were picked up by the Forest Service about a de- cade ago as part of the Huckleberry Land Exchange with the Weyerhaeuser Corpora- tion. The land exchange came under wide- spread criticism at the time since most of the land traded to the Forest Service from Weyerhaeuser was heavily logged. These two sections on Harlan Ridge were the worst of the worst, with hardly a stick of wood left standing anywhere, and much of the logging above 4000 feet. Harlan Ridge Bellevue physician and climber John Roper has explored virtually every corner of the became a poster child for bad land trades. Cascades and has contributed many photos, mostly of the good but occasionally of the The two sections are now bordered by bad and the ugly, to conservation projects over the years. This view, taken from west of the Wild Sky Wilderness on the south and the Beckler valley, looks southeast to Harlan Ridge with Mount Fernow directly behind, east. ORVs are taking advantage of the and the snowy Chiwaukum mountains farther back to the left. road system (which closely parallels the wilderness boundary) to gain access to high elevation meadows inside the wilder- ness which they are churning into muck. while leaving the real problem roads open. There was some hope that a recent change The Forest Service claims that this project At the national and regional levels, the in leadership at Skykomish might lead to is designed to keep ORVs out of the wilder- agency says it is committed to “right siz- a more rational approach to the road net- ness. But it’s hard to see how they will be ing” its vast, crumbling road network, but work. But if this proposal is an indication stopped, since they are proposing to keep in almost every case it shrinks away from of what to expect, it looks as though the the offending road open, merely adding a doing what is needed when actual projects old policy of fixing pointless roads year gate to it. are implemented on the ground. What is after year after year will continue. And in The Harlan Ridge road offers no access needed in this case is for the entire Harlan this case, ORVs will continue to turn the to any trails or recreational attractions. It Ridge road system to be closed all the way newly designated Wild Sky Wilderness into makes no sense for the Forest Service to back to its beginning, far below near John- a mud wallow. keep it open. It, and other similar roads son Creek. Only “defense in depth” — a to nowhere, divert money and resources series of steep berms combined with many away from other roads that do offer access miles of decommissioned road, offers any to trails and amenities. Many believe that hope of keeping ORVs out of the meadows these kind of roads are kept open in part currently being chewed up. But the Forest because they offer a continuing source of Service does not even consider such an ap- emergency repair money every time they proach, refusing to look at anything other wash out, which is often. Whatever the than two ineffectual alternatives, one bad, real reasons, merely adding a gate here the other worse, within a narrowly defined will do nothing to keep ORVs out of the “Project Area.” Wilderness. There has never yet been an The Skykomish district has long been instance of a gate successfully stopping noted for its dogged committment to ORVs in a remote, seldom patrolled loca- keeping open precarious, failure-prone tion like this. They merely offer an addi- roads that have washed out more times tional challenge, are are usually bypassed than anyone can possibly remember, within a few days after being put in. sometimes quite spectacularly. For several This Harlan Ridge project follows a years the perennial repairs were touted familiar pattern wherein the Forest Service as “stormproofings,” but that term seems decommissions only stub and spur roads to have inexplicably disappeared of late.

16  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011 Flooding threatens old growth forest at Bumping Lake By Marc Bardsley

he last issue of The Wild Cas- making what they already have go farther. places. Perhaps we would someday hear, cades featured an alert from And the ever multiplying residents of Kit- and not for the first time, how these other longtime conservationist and titas County, many of them at least, seem noble goals of restored fish passage are Cascades tree hugger Brock to view unlimited groundwater pumping “aspirational...” EvansT about the danger to some 2800 as their inalienable right. Ergo, the forests There also seems to be talk about acres of old growth forest at Bumping around Bumping Lake must go. “mitigating” the loss of the Bumping Lake Lake, some of the most remarkable forest Other means of addressing the “prob- old growth by some sort of protection left on the east side of the Cascades. After lem” of not enough water for Yakima for forests elsewhere. One candidate is a century of threats to raise the dam and valley agribusiness have been mooted. apparently the old Boise Cascade tim- flood these impressive forests, why has the Several sites have been considered for berlands in the lower Teanaway basin in situation become so dire now? pumped storage projects, where a canyon Kittitas county. While the acreage in the would be dammed, flooding shrub-steppe Teanaway may exceed that of the area to Supposedly Samuel Clemens once said grasslands, and water from the Columbia be flooded around Bumping Lake, the two that “whisky’s for drinking, water’s for pumped uphill for storage. The laws of areas are worlds apart qualitatively. The fighting over.” The politics of water in the physics and common sense make these forest around Bumping, as Brock Evans Yakima basin could fill a book, one that options unattractive to say the least. Yet has explained, is an outstanding example NCCC would prefer to steer well clear of. another someone once said “water runs of east side old growth, most of it with But someone else also said “you may not uphill toward money,” but not even Ya- the added rarity of being on nearly flat be interested in politics, but politics is kima valley agribusiness seems capable of land. The Teanaway “forest” is one of the interested in you...” Yakima water politics mustering the titanic public subsidies that most heavily cut over pieces of ground in has taken a strong interest in the forests would be needed to build and especially eastern Washington, where a forty-year-old of the Cascades at Bumping Lake. With to power these gravity defying monsters. tree qualifies as ancient. The two are not five large reservoirs already storing mas- They seem less and less likely. comparable. It’s also worth noting that sive quantities of water in the basin, why Thus back to Bumping Lake. From a any “protection” for the Teanaway would is there now such a pressing need for yet purely engineering standpoint, it’s much almost certainly be limited to conserva- more? The short answer seems to be that cheaper and easier to dam up water where tion easements to keep houses from being no amount of water is ever enough to it is already uphill rather than moving it built. Logging would continue there as satisfy irrigated agribusiness interests, and there. Raising the dam at Bumping Lake usual. that the added pressure of sprawl develop- to add storage there would cost orders It’s no exaggeration to say that old ment in Kittitas County is now sticking of magnitude less than pumped storage. growth forests like those around Bumping another straw into the glass that is the Only the old growth forests around the Lake are irreplaceable. Even in the un- Yakima water supply and sucking up water present reservoir stand inconveniently in likely event that every aspect of a Yakima via uncontrolled well drilling. Every gallon the way. basin package was fully and immediately of water going on to the lawns and golf So it appears that the state and Federal funded, could it really be a good deal courses of Kittitas County is a gallon that governments are moving inexorably to- to trade them away for keeping houses doesn’t flow downstream, or nearly so. If ward a decision to raise the dam at Bump- (which may or may not ever actually be raising the dam at Bumping Lake is seen as ing, as the path of least cost and least built) off of cutover land elsewhere? Would easier than facing the problems of irriga- resistance. It will, of course, be presented it be worth trading them for the promised tion waste and uncontrolled well drilling, as part of a package that will supposedly installation of some fish passage facilities that’s what will happen. include fish passage improvements at vari- of uncertain effectiveness? Could it really Huge amounts of water are wasted by ous places in the Yakima basin. But as with be a good deal to sacrifice these forests Yakima agribusiness interests, through all such plans, who knows what devils will while ignoring the unrestricted well drill- unlined canals, wasteful flood irrigation, lurk in the details, and there are no end ing and wasteful use of water that are the aerial spraying and many other ways. It of details here. In particular, if the money real problems here? would be interesting to compare how to raise the dam at Bumping is appropri- ••• much water it takes to grow a unit of food ated, will the money for the other “good In our next issue, The Wild Cascades in the Yakima valley versus, say, Israel. But things” also be appropriated in a tangible, hopes to delve deeper into the Bumping we are unlikely to ever get that number. real-world, cash-in-hand kind of way? Lake threat, looking in more depth at the Likewise, there are few or no limits on Past experience with such packages is not remarkable forests at stake, and the his- well drilling in Kittitas County, and once encouraging. The dam at Bumping will toric decades-long opposition to flooding a well is in, the only limit on pumping most certainly get dollars appropriated of them by Yakima-born Supreme Court is the cost of electricity, which is cheap. to raise it, but the other parts of the plan Justice and Goose Prairie resident William Agribusiness likes things the way they are could well be “authorized,” but without O. Douglas. and much prefers getting more water to hard cash, as has happened in many other visit www.northcascades.org • americanalps.blogspot.com/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011  17 A Film for Hikers, Climbers, Strollers books and Backpackers Wilderness Alps: Conservation and Conflict in Washington’s North Cascades by Harvey Manning and NCCC “You feel like you’re sitting Published by Northwest Wild Books around the campfire or huffing 2007 ISBN-13: 978-0-9793333-0-9 up a steep brushy trail, break- $24.95. Special price ing out into the meadows and to members: $20 surveying the peaks alongside incl. Wash. sales tax. Harvey Manning himself. For 480 pages, with me personally, it’s as close as maps, historic I’ll ever get to listening to the photos, and beauti- John Muir of the Cascades.” ful color images by Pat O’Hara, Dave — Philip Fenner Schiefelbein, Tom Hammond and oth- “We are inundated these days ers. by eco-porn: prettified, com- “ . . . a splendidly moditified, and often garish partisan account of citizens’ fight for wil- scenery in calendars. ‘The derness in the North Cascades.” —Estella Irate Birdwatcher’ in contrast is Leopold sensitive and lyrical to the eye “This book has so much: the characters, and the ear from the from the First Ones of long ago to the mili- inimitable pen of tary explorers, the miners and railroad Harvey Manning.” people, the loggers and grazers, the fools — John S. Edwards and charlatans, the promoters and specu- lators, the dam builders and ubiquitous “The gorgeous wilderness Chambers of Commerce, the politicians — all swaggering and posturing across cinematography in ‘The Irate the stage, sometimes with such forceful Birdwatcher’ provides the North schemes that one wonders how there is Cascades imagery that was still, now, so much left.” —Brock Evans missing from the Ken Burns film on National Parks, and it’s a fitting visual counterpart to 100 Hikes in the North Cascades his film is a beautiful testament the words of wildlands defender National Park Region Harvey Manning.” by Harvey Tto the man and his lifework. It — Karl Forsgaard Manning reveals his great wit and charm, 3rd edition, Moun- his thoughts and experiences over “Harvey Manning’s poetic taineers Books, Seattle, Wash., 2000. the years, his deep love for the expression of his love of the Pacific Northwest wilderness $12 for members; wild and, his hopes and dreams puts the listener deep into $15 non-members, the backcountry, while Rob- includes sales tax for the future. Plus there’s a bit and shipping. of him on his usual soapbox. It’s ert Chrestensen’s mountain scenes envelop the senses.” quintessential Harvey. — MaryLou Krause

to order: Wilderness Alps, $24.95 (incl. sst); mem- bers $20 (incl. sst); mailing $3.95. A must-have for your film library. 100 Hikes Members: $12; non-members One for yourself. One for your child. Another for a true friend. $15 incl. sst and mailing. NCCC $ 95 24 plus tax, shipping and handling Post Office Box 95980 University Station at http://www.crestpictures.com/ Seattle, WA 98145-2980 Crest Pictures Or check out our website, northcascades. P.O. Box 433, Edmonds, WA 98020 org

18  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011 A tale of two valleys

Most of the North Fork Skykomish valley is now part of the Wild Sky Wilderness, signed into law in May 2008. Its inclusion (other than a relatively narrow road corridor) in the Wilderness was groundbreaking in that much of the valley had been logged in the 1920s and is now covered in mature, natural second-growth forest. Prior to Wild Sky, wilderness in Washington State had meant almost exclusively “pristine” lands. Wild Sky broke that mold by inclusion of some 6000 acres of “less than pristine” land, most of it seen here in this view by John Roper looking south from Scott Peak, with Mounts Index and Persis in the distance. The inclusion of most of the North Fork valley in the Wilderness also meant that 25 miles or so of salmon streams were protected, another first for wilderness in the Cascades. — John roper photo

Pratt River valley, seen here from Bessemer Mountain, looking southeast across the Middle Fork Snoqualmie (visible in foreground). Most of the lower elevations in the Pratt were logged in the 1930s. Like the North Fork Skykomish, it was never replanted (a very good thing) and grew back naturally with a mix of native species. If left alone it will be something approaching old growth within the lifetime of people alive today. Unlike the North Fork, it is not a salmon stream due to Snoqualmie Falls being downstream. Also unlike the North Fork, it is not (yet) protected as wilderness, although NCCC and other groups are currently working hard to change that. (See Alpine Lakes Wilderness additions update on page 4.) ­— Rick McGuire photo

NORTH CASCADES CONSERVATION COUNCIL Be part of the leadership of a vibrant grassroots network of advocates for protection of unique lands, waters, plant life, and wilderness of the North Cascades. Yes! I want to support North Cascades Conservation Council’s efforts working on many fronts to establish new wilderness, defend our forests, support wildlife conservation and keystone species, and promote sound conservation recreational use.

If you love our great North Cascades wilderness as much as we do, Name______support the NCCC with a generous IRS tax-deductible contribution Address______in the amount of: City______State_____ Zip______$10 Living lightly/student $30 $50 $100 Phone______$250 $500 $1000 ___Other Email______I would like to volunteer. Contact me. Send your check or money order and this form to: Please send me occasional action alerts by email. Laura Zalesky, North Cascades Conservation Council, Contributions include membership and subscription to NCCC’s 14905 Bothell Everett Hwy #207, Mill Creek, WA 98012. journal, The Wild Cascades. NCCC is a 501 (c)(3) organization. You may also send in your contribution by internet logging All donations are tax deductible. into an account at www.northcascades.org

visit www.northcascades.org • americanalps.blogspot.com/ The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011  19 The Wild Cascades Non-Profit Organization Journal of the North Cascades Conservation Council U.S. POSTAGE Post Office Box 95980 PAID University Station SEATTLE, WA Seattle, Washington 98145-2980 PERMIT No. 8602

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The west side of Del Campo peak marks the headwaters for the South Fork . This area is currently inaccessible to motor vehicles due to yet another washout of the Mountain Loop road. —Tom Hammond photo

20  The Wild Cascades • Winter 2011