THE WILD CASCADES THE JOURNAL OF THE NORTH CASCADES CONSERVATION COUNCIL WINTER 2014 IN MEMORIAM Philip Zalesky Patrick Goldsworthy Pages 12-21 visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com THE WILD CASCADES • Winter 2014 1 THE NORTH CASCADES CoNservatioN Council was THE WILD CASCADES Winter 2014 formed in 1957 “To protect and preserve the North Cascades’ scenic, In This Issue scientific, recreational, educational, and wilderness values.” Continuing 3 President’s report — Karl Forsgaard this mission, NCCC keeps government 4 Muckleshoot Indian Tribe buys White River lands officials, environmental organiza- 5 County hearings on Granite Falls Motocross Park tions, and the general public informed NCCC website helps members spread the word about issues affecting the Greater No action yet on Alpine Lakes bill North Cascades Ecosystem. Action is 6 “Wild Wallace” NRCA proposed — Rick McGuire pursued through administrative, legal, 8 Coalition cautions Interior about funding Yakima Plan and public participation channels to 9 Bad legislation on off-road vehicles and public lands in Washington — protect the lands, waters, plants and Karl Forsgaard wildlife. 10 From retreat to remediation: changes at Holden Village and in habitat Over the past half century NCCC — Anne Basye has led or participated in campaigns 12 In Memoriam: Patrick Goldsworthy to create the North Cascades National 12 Patrick Goldsworthy: An appreciation — Joel Connelly Park Complex, Glacier Peak Wilder- 13 Excerpts from a Sierra Club resolution honoring Patrick Goldsworthy ness, and other units of the National 14 To specialize in something — Thom Schroeder Wilderness System from the W.O. 15 Listed and answering his own phone — Brock Evans Douglas Wilderness north to the 20 “I’ll make the maps” — Phil Fenner Alpine Lakes Wilderness, the Henry M. 21 Remembering the Blue Bomb — Dave Fluharty Jackson Wilderness, the Chelan-Saw- 16 In Memoriam: Philip Zalesky tooth Wilderness, the Wild Sky Wil- 16 Farewell to a giant of wilderness preservation — Julie Muhlstein derness and others. Among its most 18 Philip Zalesky: Another conservation leader passes — Joel Connelly dramatic victories has been working Phil and Laura Zalesky, conservation education supporters — Pilchuck with British Columbia allies to block Audubon newsletter the raising of Ross Dam, which would 19 Remembering “Mr. Zalesky” — Rick McGuire have drowned Big Beaver Valley. 21 Conservationists, Park staff remember Phil Zalesky and Pat Goldsworthy NCCC is supported by member dues 23 Dale Jones, former NCCC board member dies and private donations. These contri- Membership application butions support the full range of the Council’s activities, including publica- COVER: Wallace Falls, a scenic highlight of the Stevens Pass Highway. —MIKE tion of The Wild Cascades. As a 501(c) TOWN PHOTO (3) organization, all contributions are fully tax deductible to the extent The Wild Cascades allowed by law. Membership dues for one year are: Living Lightly/Student Journal of the North Cascades Conservation Council $10; Individual $30; Family $50; Sus- EDITOR: Anne Basye taining $100. EDITOR EMERITUS: Betty Manning North Cascades EDITORIAL BOARD: Philip Fenner, Anders Forsgaard, Conservation Council Tom Hammond, and Rick McGuire P.O. Box 95980 Printing by Abracadabra Printing | Pat Hutson, Designer 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. NCCC 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 2014 NCCC Board PRESIDENT Karl Forsgaard VICE PRESIDENT Founded in 1957 Tom Hammond SEATTLE, WASHINGTON TREASURER Tom Brucker ASSISTANT TREASURER Athena Pangan Hammond The President’s Report Winter 2014 SECRETARY Patrick Goldsworthy and Phil Zalesky were two of the co-founders of the Marc Bardsley North Cascades Conservation Council in 1957, and they served on the NCCC Board of Directors for more than 56 years. They both passed away in October 2013. As you can imagine, the sheer length of their service makes us think of OTHER BOARD MEMBERS Pat and Phil as ideal illustrations of long-term commitment and dedication to a cause. Bruce Barnbaum NCCC was formed to protect and preserve the North Cascades. One of our early goals was to get a Park created, but a lot of unprotected wild land re- Polly Dyer mained outside that Park. For more than half a century, Pat and Phil were actively engaged in NCCC’s campaign to create the Park and Wilderness areas Charles Ehlert listed in our organizational description on the opposite page. Philip Fenner In addition to serving on NCCC’s board, Pat and Phil also took on the added burden and responsibility of serving as officers of NCCC for almost the whole 56 Dave Fluharty years they were on the Board. Phil was the first President of NCCC. Pat had be- come President by the time Congress created the Park and the Recreation Areas, Anders Forsgaard and that’s reflected in the photo of Pat shaking hands with Lyndon Johnson (see back cover of this issue). Kevin Geraghty Pat later served as NCCC’s Chairman and Phil as Corporate Secretary for many Ed Henderson years. That’s a lot of Board meetings to attend, a lot of Board minutes to write, a lot of corporate governance work, a lot of organizational decision-making, in ad- Fayette Krause dition to all of the advocacy work they were doing in the public arena and out in the woods. Pat also distributed this magazine to our members after the printers Dave LeBlanc had printed it. Pat and Phil did all of that, and they did it for an exceptionally long time. By Betty Manning doing so, they served as a valuable part of NCCC’s institutional memory, helping to keep NCCC relevant and effective, to make this organization an enduring in- Carolyn McConnell stitution and a long-lasting contributor to conservation efforts in the Northwest. Rick McGuire We are grateful to Pat and Phil for their dedicated service. When we think about all the advocacy work of Pat and Phil, it’s worth re- Thom Peters membering that they were doing it for more than a decade before the country enacted our main environmental laws – laws protecting clean air, clean water, Thom Schroeder endangered species and environmental values in governmental decision-making. As we’ve heard many times, our victories are temporary, and our losses are Laura Zalesky permanent. Park and wilderness boundaries and environmental protection laws don’t operate in a vacuum – they won’t work unless people are vigilantly paying attention to what’s happening on the ground and in the community, people who are willing to do something to protect those lands and enforce those laws. Through their dedication to NCCC, Pat and Phil served the community’s need for long-term follow-through and institutional memory. We’re grateful to their families for letting Pat and Phil dedicate so much of their lives to our organiza- tion. Karl F. Forsgaard visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com THE WILD CASCADES • Winter 2014 3 Muckleshoot Indian Tribe buys White River lands The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, which are excellent reasons why large-scale It remains to be seen whether tim- runs a giant gambling casino in Auburn, gambling has been illegal through most berland values will continue to soar, or Washington, has purchased 86,501 acres of American history. It produces nothing whether the Muckleshoots have top-ticked of the “White River Forest” from Hancock of value and cannibalizes economies by the market. Inflated timberland prices Natural Resource Group. Hancock had acting as a gigantic tax on those who can make it harder to acquire lands which purchased the lands north of Mt. Rainier least afford it. Casino operators, some of many would like to see in public owner- and along both sides of Highway 410 from them anyway, pocket the winnings while ship. Hancock still owns about 90,000 Weyerhaeuser in 2002. society as a whole pays the costs. acres in the “Snoqualmie Tree Farm” The Muckleshoots are apparently look- The White River sale is notable from a directly east of Seattle. ing to diversify their income away from conservation perspective because of the The Muckleshoots say they will use the overreliance on casino revenues. One of breathtaking $282 million sum paid, al- land for “long-term sustainable timber the first to open in Washington, the Muck- most $3300 dollars per acre for the heavily harvest, while preserving natural values...” leshoot casino is reportedly one of the cutover lands. Some economic observers Both Weyerhaeuser and Hancock managed most lucrative. Many other tribes followed believe that a bubble has formed in tim- the lands for maximum revenue produc- with casinos of their own, but there are berland values. With the Federal Reserve tion, so it is hard to see how Muckleshoot limits even to the admittedly enormous printing vast amounts of dollars, and real management could be any worse. Hope- numbers of math-challenged people out interest rates at zero or below, immense fully the more conservation-oriented there who can be parted from their mon- flows of funds have inflated the stock elements within the tribe will make their ey. Many tribal casinos have huge debt bur- market and are now pouring into other voices heard and the newly acquired (or dens, and some believe that the market, assets, including timberland, often seen as “re-acquired”) lands will be treated more such as it is, is saturated, with Las Vegas a “hard asset.” gently than they were by their previous investors taking most of the profits. There owners. Middle Fork snoqualmie road work finally begins unceasing efforts by volunteer activists to coax and cajole a reluctant Forest Service in the upper valley, things have gradually changed.