The Wild Cascades The Journal of the North Cascades Conservation Council summer/Fall 2013

visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013  1 The North Cascades Conservation Council was THE WILD CASCADES  Summer/Fall 2013 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 Alpine Lakes Wilderness Bill gets House hearing, DelBene tours officials, environmental organiza- Middle Fork tions, and the general public informed Updates about issues affecting the Greater 5 Pollution Control Hearings Board agrees: flow should not be North Cascades Ecosystem. Action is reduced at Similkameen Falls pursued through administrative, legal, 6 NCCC Actions, June–September 2013 and public participation channels to 8 State enacts HB1632, a bad ATV law — Karl Forsgaard protect the lands, waters, plants and Fisher reintroduction announced wildlife. 9 NCCC co-founder and board chairman Patrick Goldsworthy dies Over the past half century NCCC NCCC challenges motocross decision has led or participated in campaigns Native vegetation service projects continue long NCCC tradition to create the North Cascades National 10 The Sustainable Roads Project — Ed Henderson Park Complex, Glacier Peak Wilder- 11 What are logging roads made of? — Rick McGuire ness, and other units of the National 12 State funds Yakima Plan “early action items” — Karl Forsgaard Wilderness System from the W.O. 15 State purchase of Teanaway lands raises disturbing questions Douglas Wilderness north to the — Rick McGuire Alpine Lakes Wilderness, the Henry M. 17 NCCC, coalition address concerns around proposed Skykomish Jackson Wilderness, the Chelan-Saw- Geothermal Consent to Lease tooth Wilderness, the Wild Sky Wil- 18 North Cascade Glacier Climate Project 2013: 30th annual field derness and others. Among its most program — Tom Hammond dramatic victories has been working 21 New dams aren’t the way to address water needs — Chris Maykut, with British Columbia allies to block Brock Evans and Estella Leopold, Everett Herald the raising of Ross Dam, which would 22 Corvid’s eye have drowned Big Beaver Valley. 23 Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest planning update NCCC is supported by member dues Membership form and private donations. These contri- 24 Patrick Goldsworthy Memorial Service announcement butions support the full range of the COVER: AFLC private forestlands acquired by the State on Middle Fork Council’s activities, including publica- Teanaway River from Yellow Hill. — Karl Forsgaard photo tion of The Wild Cascades. As a 501(c) (3) organization, all contributions The Wild Cascades are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Membership dues for Journal of the North Cascades Conservation Council one year are: Living Lightly/Student Editor: Anne Basye $10; Individual $30; Family $50; Sus- taining $100. Editor emeritus: Betty Manning Editorial Board: Philip Fenner, Anders Forsgaard, North Cascades Tom Hammond, and Rick McGuire Conservation Council Printing by EcoGraphics | Pat Hutson, Designer P.O. Box 95980 The Wild Cascades is published three times a year (Winter, Spring, Summer/Fall). University Station Letters, comments, and articles are invited, subject to editorial review. Seattle, WA 98145-2980 The Wild Cascades Editor NCCC Website [email protected] www.northcascades.org 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 • Summer/Fall 2013 NCCC Board president Karl Forsgaard board chairman Founded in 1957 Patrick Goldsworthy SEATTLE, WASHINGTON vice president Tom Hammond treasurer Tom Brucker The President’s Report Summer/Fall 2013 assistant treasurer A few years ago, I biked with my family on the Stehekin River road to the Athena Pangan Hammond road’s washout at Carwash Falls. The National Park Service, the Washington Trails Association and NCCC all agree that the road should not be rebuilt be- secretary yond the Carwash Falls washout. Marc Bardsley This summer I backpacked to the alpine meadows north of Park Creek Pass. To get there I walked up the Stehekin River beyond Carwash Falls, bypassing the road for awhile via the Pacific Crest Trail, an old wagon road through mature other board members forest, signed for use as a cross-country ski trail in winter. This pleasant trail would be obliterated if the Stehekin road were re-routed along it to bypass Car- Bruce Barnbaum wash Falls, which is one of the reasons we don’t want to re-route the road. Polly Dyer At Bridge Creek the Pacific Crest Trail swings north, and the route to Park Creek follows the Stehekin River road for a couple more miles, miles I had not Charles Ehlert walked in over thirty years. These miles have not been used by vehicles since the washout occurred at Carwash Falls; thirty years ago they were not being used Philip Fenner because the shuttle bus wasn’t running. Either way, it’s a nice stretch with some good views of the Stehekin River rushing by. Dave Fluharty It reminded me of traveling the Suiattle River road while it was closed by Anders Forsgaard washouts, with the river rushing close by the road. In the public comment process for repairing the road, NCCC, Sierra Club and others advocated for the Kevin Geraghty alternative that would repair it as far as the Green Mountain junction, allow- ing vehicles to get to the Buck Creek Campground as well as Green Mountain Ed Henderson trailhead. Beyond that junction, the last four miles of road are less-visited and are more prone to washout near Downey Creek. That alternative was not chosen Fayette Krause this time, so we will need to have that discussion again, the next time nature washes out the road near Downey Creek. Dave LeBlanc A similar approach was adopted for the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River road, Betty Manning when a consensus formed in the 1990s to improve and maintain the road and its adjacent recreation sites as far upstream as Dingford Creek, where a new gate Carolyn McConnell would leave the uppermost, less-used stretch of road to nature. Perhaps that sort of consensus will emerge in the future for the Suiattle, if enough parties put in Rick McGuire the time and effort to form a coalition and follow through. Road access to key trailheads is important for recruiting future generations of nature protectors by Thom Peters getting them out into the woods in the first place – the 100 Hikes books called it “green bonding.” The 100 Hikes authors lamented the trail community’s loss Thom Schroeder of trail miles to construction of logging roads up our forest valleys – and on occasion we may be able to get some of those miles back, some of those acres Laura Zalesky restored to suitable habitat. I’m confident there will be more time to bring to- Phil Zalesky gether a coalition for the Suiattle similar to the one that emerged for the Middle Fork, because nature will wash out the Suiattle road again.

Karl Forsgaard

visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013  3 Alpine Lakes Wilderness Bill gets House hearing, DelBene tours Updates Middle Fork

McLeod releases SR 20 guide Science teacher, photographer and NCCC member Jack McLeod has pub- Legislation to expand the Alpine Lakes 1st District Congresswoman Suzan lished The North Cascades Highway, Wilderness by 22,000 acres by addition DelBene surveys the southern end an illustrated natural history guide of the Pratt River valley and other nearby of her large district from the road that helps travelers and readers ap- areas in the Middle and South Fork Sno- bridge over the Middle Fork Sno- preciate the deeper beauty behind the qualmie valleys has received a hearing qualmie, with Russian Butte emerg- landscape. Organized as a series of in the House Resources Committee. The ing from clouds in the distance. stops at eye-catching sites along eighty bipartisan effort to expand the Wilderness —Tom O’Keefe photo miles of the highway, the guide tells and also designate part of the Middle Fork the geological story of each location as Wild and Scenic was originally spon- and describes how miners, climb- sored by Republican Rep. Dave Reichert. DelBene heard the story of the “taking ers, and poets have been inspired by His 8th Congressional District formerly in- back” of the Middle Fork valley, the long the geology and terrain of the North cluded the areas, which after redistricting and still ongoing process of blocking up Cascades. Published by the University are part of the 1st Congressional District, public ownership, driving out target shoot- of Washington Press and available at now represented by Democrat Suzan Del- ers and garbage dumpers, and developing bookstores and on Amazon. Bene, who has also signed on as a cospon- the valley’s recreational potential. The sor of the bill. Reichert remains an active Congresswoman saw the new Middle Fork sponsor and supporter. campground, the volunteer-built foot- Senator Patty Murray has sponsored the bridge over the Middle Fork, forests inside Video celebrates bill in the Senate, which passed it earlier the Wilderness proposal, and the giant this session. Supporters are hoping that Douglas fir trees at the confluence of the NOCA’s wilderness the House will act favorably on the bill. Taylor and Middle Fork rivers. Relive your favorite NOCA trails Representative DelBene toured the A splendid time was had by all. Con- in the five-minute video, “North Middle Fork valley on September 9, 2013, servationists are lucky to have such a Cascades Park: Experience the Awe- enjoying the spectacle of clouds clearing knowledgeable and committed supporter some.” The latest in a series of videos away to warm sun after heavy rains the representing the 1st Congressional Dis- celebrating wilderness posted by day before, which served to put down the trict. Stretching from Interstate 90 north the National Park Service, this one dust on the unpaved Middle Fork road. all the way to the Canadian border, the 1st explores the park through the eyes The tour was organized by the Sierra Club, District encompasses many if not most of of seasonal ranger Masyih Ford. Look many volunteers of which worked on the areas NCCC and other conservationists for it on YouTube (www.youtube.com/ DelBene’s campaign. NCCC members and are concerned about. It’s in good hands watch?v=spmpiAHU3uo) others also went on the tour. with DelBene.

4  The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013 Pollution Control Hearings Board agrees: flow should not be reduced at Similkameen Falls

The Washington State Pollution Control would leave scenic Similkameen Falls es- Enloe Dam/Similkameen Falls. Hearings Board (PCHB) agreed with a co- sentially dry. —Hydropower Reform Coalition alition of environmental groups, including On July 23, the PCHB issued an order photo NCCC, that the Okanogan County Public directing the Department of Ecology to do opment of local and regional trail systems. Utility District’s plans to significantly an aesthetic flow study if Okanogan PUD The Falls’ value as a scenic stop on the reduce water flows over Enloe Dam and a decides to build the project. The Board Similkameen River Trail is a factor to be nearby waterfall may not be adequate to ruled that the water quality permit issued considered in protection of flows over the protect both aesthetics and fish. to the PUD does not protect the scenic dam as well as at the Falls. As well, the In a six-day hearing in May (testimony and associated recreational values of the river is a valuable resource to the commu- was summarized in TWC Spring 2013), Similkameen Falls. nity for recreation, scenic values, and fish river advocates asked the three-judge The Board criticized Ecology’s after- and wildlife. panel to revoke the 401 Certification (the the-fact evaluation of the minimum flow water quality permit issued to the PUD) regime. The Board stated that “selection and remand the case back to the Depart- of a minimum flow in this manner results ment of Ecology to conduct appropriate in Ecology considering the impact of aes- As TWC went to press, data collection and modeling, and to thetic flows on the operation of the [Enloe the Okanogan PUD filed ensure that all elements of water quality Dam] Project, rather than considering the — and quickly dropped — standards are met to promote the overall Project’s impact on the aesthetic values of an appeal to the PCHB’s purposes of the Clean Water Act. the flows. This is not the proper standard.” decision, so the decision is The Okanogan PUD had planned to (Decision p. 27). final. reduce the flow of the Similkameen river The Board noted that Similkameen from an average of 500 cubic feet per Falls, although remote, is attracting an second (cfs) to just 10 cfs – a trickle that increasing number of viewers due to devel- visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013  5 EXPANDING, PROMOTING ESTABLISHING, ENVIRONMENTALLY and PROTECTING SOUND RECREATION NCCC WILDERNESS AREAS IN WILD AREAS Why it matters: federal land designation Why it matters: balancing access with Actions as Wilderness and Park is the gold economics and Wilderness preservation, standard of ecosystem protection, we evaluate motorized use and places precluding most damaging industrial and where it needs to be limited to reduce commercial exploitation. land impacts and recurring road repair june – costs. Continued advocacy to protect september Alpine Lakes Wilderness in connec- Led conservation community pre- tion with the Icicle Workgroup’s  sentations opposing the Yakima Water Plan proposal to create two 2013 efforts to increase storage capacity new National Recreation Areas that of dammed lakes inside that Wil- would increase off-road vehicle Advocacy carried out derness, including Eightmile Lake. use in the Teanaway, Taneum and Manastash basins of the Cle Elum by dedicated NCCC Edited and signed onto group testi- District, at the Washington Water mony for the U.S.House hearing on Law Conference, at the Washing- the Reichert bill to expand Alpine ton Environmental Council board volunteers in the last meeting, and at the Federation Lakes Wilderness. of Western Outdoor Clubs annual four months to protect meeting. Co-led an outing in the Participated in public meeting and proposed Manastash-Taneum NRA. and preserve the North submitted comments to the Fed- As a result of our work, the Yakima eral Energy Regulatory Commission Workgroup’s Lands Subcommittee Cascades’ lands, waters, opposing the proposed Sunset Falls wrote to the Forest Service that it dam on the Skykomish River due will not seek a Congressional des- ignation of these lands while the plants, and wildlife. to the impacts that would result National Forest planning processes from damming and dewatering are underway. one of the region’s most treasured

free-flowing rivers, as well as the Received a grant from the Moun-  taineers Foundation for legal and project’s size and questionable scientific advice regarding the Ya- economic justification. kima Plan.

Signed onto a letter to the Moun- Participated in public meetings taineers Foundation supporting  and workshops of Mount Baker  Snoqualmie National Forest on sus- Washington Wild’s mapping for tainable roads. the Cascades Wild wilderness cam- paign. Organized a meet-and-greet in  downtown Seattle for NOCA super- Submitted comments on the Forest intendent Karen Taylor-Goodrich Service scoping letter regarding the and staff. Green Mountain Lookout. Participated in a workshop to iden-  tify opportunities for the Wilder- ness and Climbing communities to work together in Washington State.

6  The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013 PROTECTING PROTECTING WILDLIFE AND HABITAT ANCIENT FORESTS Why it matters: from microscopic fungi to top predators, the wilderness ecosystem’s AND PROMOTING living members are interdependent, so keeping viable populations of each species is RESPONSIBLE FOREST essential to preserve the ecosystem for future generations. MANAGEMENT Commented on a proposed Nation- Joined other members of the al Park Service plan to reintroduce Washington Watershed Restora- Why it matters: like real estate, they’re   the Pacific fisher to Mount Rainier tion Initiative in signing a letter just not making ancient forest anymore. and North Cascades national parks. to support a budget line item for We seek to restore watersheds and The fisher is a member of the wea- the Legacy Roads and Trails Reme- fisheries damaged from decades of heavy sel family that occurs in low- to diation Fund (LRT) in the FY 2015 logging and road building and protect mid-elevation closed canopy for- President’s Budget request, to help significant forests from degradation. ests with large trees and logs. meet the objective of reducing wa- Continued advocacy against the tershed impacts due to the Forest proposed Bumping Lake dam that Joined other conservation groups Service road system. would flood Critical Habitat for the  in urging the Northwest Power and northern spotted owl, including Conservation Council to support Signed onto a group conservation facilitation of an op-ed in the Ever- its Protected Areas Program by  letter to Mt. Baker Snoqualmie Na- ett Herald. addressing current river protection tional Forest submitting comments needs, data and science, including on the Environmental Assessment new Endangered Species Act list- for the Skykomish Geothermal ings and determinations regarding Leasing proposal. bull trout habitat, and expected changes to Pacific Northwest rivers Joined conservation groups in sup- and headwater streams due to a  porting continued federal fund- changing climate. ing for the State & Tribal Wildlife Grants Program, North American Commented on North Cascades Wetland Conservation Fund, Neo-  National Park Complex lake resto- tropical Migratory Bird Fund, For- ration efforts, including the use of est Legacy Program and Land and the piscicide rotenone to remove Water Conservation Fund when a reproducing population of non- the House Interior, Environment native Eastern Brook Trout from and Related Agencies Appropria- Sourdough Lake. tions Subcommittee proposed to eliminate funding for these suc- Continued as a co-appellant in the cessful and important fish and  Enloe Dam/Similkameen Falls pro- wildlife conservation programs ceeding, including filing a petition next fiscal year. for reconsideration to make the decision even better. In a separate proceeding, joined in the appeal of the water right that Ecology issued to the PUD.

visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013  7 State enacts HB 1632, a bad ATV law By Karl Forsgaard

At the end of its 2013 special sessions, The opening of these roads to ATVs is As previously reported in TWC Spring the Washington State Legislature passed automatic in counties with populations 2013, NCCC opposed HB 1632 and sub- HB 1632 regarding 4-wheeled All-Terrain lower than 15,000: Skamania, Ferry, Lin- mitted testimony in February to the House Vehicles (ATVs) and Governor Inslee coln, Pend Oreille, Columbia, Wahkiakum Transportation Committee. We opposed signed it into law. The new law allows and Garfield. Larger counties and munici- this bill due to its negative impacts on palities will have to “opt in” by passing an public safety, as well as its negative im- ATVs on paved streets, roads and highways ordinance to open those roads to ATVs, pacts on waters, soils, vegetation, wildlife, with speed limits of 35 miles per hour or and Okanogan County did so immediately; and quiet recreation on our public lands. less. Chelan County is now considering it. The Washington State Patrol testified against the prior version of this bill, and said it “will likely lead to chaos” and “you will be sacrificing safety if you adopt this bill.” The ATV industry says “Never ride on a public road.” In July, High Country News Fisher reintroduction announced reported that “the ATV culture includes … kids’ funerals.” One of HB 1632’s principal proponents was off-road vehicle advocate Ted Jack- son, who has been seeking to facilitate a new ATV network between rural com- munities in the Skykomish River valley adjacent to Reiter Forest, the Wild Sky Wilderness and Alpine Lakes Wilderness. To do this, he enlisted the help of Con- servation Northwest (CNW) and Trout Unlimited, who were seeking to require visible license plates on all ATVs. When the new law was signed, CNW’s leader wrote “I couldn’t be happier” and predicted the new law “will change the way that people recreate on All Terrain Vehicles in Wash- ington.” Yes it will, and that’s the problem. As NCCC stated in its testimony, HB 1632 will make it easier for ATVs to il- legally access public lands (and private lands). Land managers will be unable to patrol the lands that are illegally accessed, and thrill seekers will create new illegal trails, including streambeds. Have you ever seen a Pacific fisher After learning field work techniques (Pekania pennanti) in the North Cascades? and tools, high school students Ironically, CNW adopted NCCC’s points Some of our senior members might have researched and presented their when CNW filed a lawsuit challenging the been so fortunate. It was declared extir- findings on fisher habitat in the Okanogan County ordinance that opened pated in the 1990s, and none have been Diablo Lake area at the end of roads to ATVs under the new law that observed there since. In 2004 this mem- their three-day Mountain School CNW helped create. In its new lawsuit ber of the weasel family, which occurs experience at North Cascades filed in August, CNW alleges that opening in low- to mid-elevation closed-canopy Institute. Their conclusion? Yes, there Okanogan County roads to ATVs “substan- forests with large trees and logs, was is suitable habitat and they think it tially increases the potential for illegal and placed on the federal Endangered Species would be a good idea to reintroduce damaging [ATV] use by broadening the scope and manner that [ATVs] can access list. North Cascades National Park and Mt. fishers in the North Cascades. —­ Jack sensitive wildlife habitat across large and Rainier National Park are teaming up with McLeod photo the Washington Department of Fish and remote areas of Okanogan County.” It Wildlife and others to reintroduce fishers appears Conservation Northwest has only into known previously occupied habitats itself to blame for that result. We hope starting in 2015. NCCC was among many CNW will take responsibility for fixing the groups to submit comments in support of new law’s defects in the next session of the Pacific fisher reintroduction. Find more State Legislature. details at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/Re- storeFisher

8  The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013 Native vegetation service projects continue long NCCC tradition

We are sorry to announce that NCCC cofounder and board chairman Patrick Goldsworthy, shown with President Johnson when the law designating North Cascades National Park was signed October 4, 1968, Last fall, NCCC volunteers (shown below) stepped up to assist National passed away on October 5. A Park Service staff with a revegetation project inside North Cascades Nation- memorial to Pat will be a sig- al Park Complex, planting native plants at Diablo Overlook. But replanting nificant part of TWC Winter is not a new idea! Joe and Margaret Miller’s Cascade Pass revegetation proj- 2014. ect, launched in 1970, sought to improve alpine and subalpine meadows damaged by backpackers and horse parties. This photo, taken almost a year later, confirms that following practices outlined by the Millers in their 1977 paper, “Suggested Revegetation Practices”, gave the Diablo Overlook plants NCCC challenges a good start. motocross decision “All of us working together can help heal the scars of man’s unthink- On October 2, NCCC and Pilchuck ing overuse of the mountains and backcountry,” said the Millers in their Audubon joined in an appeal filed by the introduction. Sadly, the Cascade Pass project planned for September 28 was Mountain Loop Conservancy, challenging cancelled due to poor weather. If October weather conditions are favorable, a Snohomish County decision to rezone NCCC plans to pack subalpine plants up to Cascade Pass and plant them in and conditionally permit a motocross rac- an old trail now being decommissioned, or tackle a similar native vegeta- ing facility on forestland on the Mountain Loop Highway without requiring an Envi- tion planting party at a lower elevation near the Environmental Learning ronmental Impact Statement. We previous- Center at Diablo Lake. ly reported on how the facility could harm water quality and how racing events could significantly back up traffic on this two- lane highway (TWC Summer/Fall 2012). The parties believe that the proposed site (near Granite Falls and Robe Gorge) is not suitable for a motocross racing facility, and the mitigation suggested by the applicants and the county in its Mitigated Determina- tion of Non-Significance is insufficient to protect the way of life and safety of Moun- tain Loop residents, as well as wildlife habitat. Visitors come to this area for the unique environment and beautiful, quiet Continued on page 23 visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013  9 The Sustainable Roads Project By Ed Henderson

ollowing up on the fall 2012 Management Rule. The Rule mandated 2. What criteria should be used when meeting at REI (see TWC Winter that all national forests develop a Motor analyzing the road system? 2013), the Forest Service staff of Vehicle Use Map and create a sustainable The participant groups have responded the Mount Baker Snoqualmie roads strategy. Based on its Minimum with a strong element of realism. The National Forest (MBS) is con- Roads Analysis, MBS produced its map in first criterion mentioned is a cost-benefit Fducting a series of workshops to gather 2009. The final strategy, due to be com- analysis, followed by consideration of the public input on the maintenance of the pleted by 2015, will inform future deci- local economic impact, the importance of road system on that national forest. Faced sions as to which roads to maintain and the area accessed, and the on-going main- with budget cuts that will dramatically re- at what level. Decisions on the closure of tenance cost. Environmental effects, both duce the number and miles of roads it can individual roads will require the normal positive and negative, must be considered, afford to maintain, the MBS staff is calling NEPA evaluation. many participants say. on the public to help determine which roads should be maintained and which Public workshops solicit input 3. What are some strategies and should no longer be kept up. To involve the public in developing the opportunities for maintaining the The Forest Service is responsible for strategy, MBS has been holding a series road system? more than 400,000 miles of roads on of eight public workshops. Through While many schemes for raising money the national forests September 24, seven have been proposed, more pragmatic throughout the na- workshops have been ideas include “Adopt-a-Road” partner- tion. There are over attended by over 240 ships between local groups and the Forest 20,000 miles of road people. Each workshop Service for particular roads and lowering on national forest land begins with introduc- maintenance criteria on some roads to al- in Washington State, The Forest Service tory remarks, followed low more miles to be kept open. 2,500 miles of which by background explana- is responsible for The workshops also provide an op- are located in MBS. tions and instructions. portunity for the participants to identify Almost all of them are 400,000 miles of road Participants, seated in problem roads and roads they believe decades old and in poor groups of six, are asked should be closed. condition. Nationally throughout the U.S., to identify as many as there is a multi-billion including 20,000 eight destinations each Not part of the workshop discussions dollar backlog of de- in the forest that are im- is the fate of the remaining 75% or 1,972 ferred maintenance on miles of roads in portant to them. Then miles of MBS roads that will not be main- national forest roads. Washington State they are instructed to tained. There appear to be three options: Crumbling roads are re- mark with color-coded hi-lighters the roads on • The roads may remain open without sponsible for washouts, maintenance. erosion and landslides. the national forest they • The roads may be closed to motor The recent washout use for access to these vehicle traffic and blocked with gates, on the Cascades River Road in the North areas. The roads and with the option of being reopened at Cascades National Park and mudslides that areas are both marked on a large map for some future date. closed state Highway 20 twice this sum- the group and individually reported on mer forcibly remind us that roads are but separate worksheets. • The roads may be decommissioned with temporary fixtures in a dynamic mountain Each group of participants then discuss- culverts removed, natural drainage re- landscape. es and responds to three major topics. stored, the driving surface removed and native vegetation planted. These roads MBS candidly admits that these roads 1. What are the consequences of a would be removed from the inventory were build for the short-term goal of reduced road system? and never restored. Decommissioning “getting the cut out.” That is, to provide will require a NEPA process. access for cutting down trees and haul- Not surprisingly, the loss of motor ing the logs away. The roads were never vehicle access heads the list, followed by NCCC encourages everyone to advocate intended to afford access for recreation a wide range of both positive and nega- for the responsible decommissioning of and other uses for many years into the tive effects. These range from negative the unnecessary and environmentally future. With the decline of logging, the economic impacts on rural communities damaging, crumbling roads on our na- trees having been cut down, subsidies for as a result of reduced visitation, crowding tional forest, as well as the responsible maintenance have been severely reduced. on the remaining accessible sites, and loss maintenance of roads whose important MBS estimates that it will only have funds of fire protection to the reduced introduc- uses include connecting people with to maintain about 25% or 628 of its 2,500 tion of invasive species, improved wildlife nature. After the workshops close, you can miles of roads. habitat and increased opportunities for express your views on the Sustainable non-motorized recreation. Roads Blogsite on the MBS website. As of The Sustainable Roads Project is part September 26, more than 627 people had of the response to the federal 2005 Travel posted comments on the future of forest roads.

10  The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013 What are logging roads made of? By Rick McGuire

ogging roads floods, rockslides and debris on the National flows at roads on a regular Forests are not like basis. Considering the chal- “regular” roads. lenging terrain and the poor They were built construction, the remarkable Lon the cheap during the great thing is not that roads fail, logging frenzy of 1950-1990, but that any are still drive- for one purpose only: hauling able. Time is catching up with timber. Success in the Forest them, though, and failures Service of those years meant are becoming more and more “getting out the cut.” That cut frequent. was more quickly gotten out The money and resources by building a larger network of to keep patching together this inexpensive roads rather than crumbling network will never a smaller network of well-con- be there. Difficult choices have structed roads. to be made. Roads that are But just how do they differ some people’s favorites will from other roads? Any road John Warth photos, have to be closed. In many starts out with, and on top of, the native circa the late 1950s. cases they are already closing themselves. earth that it traverses. Some places lend NCCC has long maintained that re- themselves well to roadbuilding, with want for a long lasting roadbed. Yet that sources need to be put where they will stable, solid, well-drained ground and is what at least partially underlies most do the most good. That means directing gentle terrain. Other places have unstable, Cascade logging roads. Those stumps, logs the ever-shrinking road budget into those soft and/or poorly drained soils and/or and other kinds of organic debris have roads that serve the most people, and have steep terrain. By far the greater part of the been in place for half a century or more, the best chances of holding together. Try- National Forests in the Cascades offer the and are now rotting away. ing to keep everything open won’t work, more difficult terrain—very to extremely That rotting means failing roads. When and will result in less motorized “access,” difficult, in fact. woody debris rots away it leaves voids not more. Many new trails and other recre- The basics of roadbuilding are not com- where water can easily erode remaining ational opportunities need to be devel- plicated. Mostly, they consist of clearing material. Bottomless potholes can form, oped, in places people can get to, now and the way and laying down lesser or greater channeling water right through the road- in the future. quantities of fill material depending on bed. Often roadbeds simply disintegrate, NCCC is, and always has been, dedi- how stable the terrain is, and making sure or fall off a mountainside, sometimes quite cated to finding ways of getting people out that water flows away from it as much spectacularly, sending tons of material and on to their public lands. Public use as possible. Large rocks are used for the downhill and smothering fish habitat. and enjoyment of public lands has always bottom layers, with smaller rock for upper Poor quality fill is not the only problem been one of the main foundations of the layers and fine gravel or pavement on top. with Cascade logging roads. As everyone conservation movement. NCCC hopes The amount of rock fill is critical to how knows, creeks and streams are everywhere that means can be found to keep open long a road lasts. More is better, and it in the Cascades. And water is the enemy of the most important roads in the Cascades needs to be rock, not wood or whatever roads. Culverts are cheaper than bridges, while minimizing damage from the many kind of material happens to be at hand. and innumerable stream crossings in the that will need to be closed. Together with A sufficient rock-only base is what’s Cascades that should have been bridged a program of new trail construction, such missing from most Cascade logging roads. have culverts instead. Small culverts are an approach offers the only real hope for a Rock is expensive, whether manufactured cheaper than big culverts, and many if not sustainable way for the public to reach and locally with portable crushers, or hauled most of the culverts below Cascade log- enjoy these in via dump trucks. Cascade logging roads ging roads are undersized (many culverts lands we all have bases comprised of varying amounts also need to be modified to allow salmon own in years of rock mixed with stumps, logs, woody to pass). Culverts, especially small ones, to come. debris, duff and whatever other kind of need frequent maintenance. They are not “dirt” happened to be right there, with a getting it. surface of rock on top. Organic material The Cascades are also a tough place just rots, and is precisely what one does not because of the steep terrain that throws visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013  11 State funds Yakima Plan “early action items” by Karl Forsgaard

n late June, the Washington State In June the Yakima Plan proponents Lake Cle Elum, in the Yakima Basin, Legislature concluded its 2013 ses- also retreated somewhat from their ill- with Teanaway peaks and Stuart sion by appropriating $132 million advised National Recreation Area (NRA) Range in the distance. in the capital budget to fund Yakima proposal, although the two bad NRAs —Karl Forsgaard photo Plan “early action items.” These in- remain in the Yakima Plan. cludeI State acquisition of Teanaway private Also in June, NCCC and allies received the most expensive home ever formally forestland for almost $100 million, early a grant from The Mountaineers Founda- listed in the United States. It carries more stages of Yakima River Basin water proj- tion to pay for scientific and legal advice than $120 million in debt, so paying his ects including water conservation and fish regarding the Yakima Plan. lenders was reportedly the reason Rudey passage projects, and feasibility studies of was selling most of his Teanaway lands. the proposed irrigation storage dams that Teanaway acquisition Rudey and AFLC will retain a 900-acre threaten ancient forest at Bumping Lake block at the south end of the Teanaway The State acquisition of 50,272 acres of and shrub-steppe habitat at Wymer. valley that is the site of a proposed solar forestland managed by American Forest energy project. Unfortunately, by making the appro- Land Company (AFLC) in the Teanaway priation (and the related policy bill), the River Basin is described in more detail in The State will manage its Teanaway Legislature institutionalized a severely the companion article by Rick McGuire. It forestlands as a Community Forest, the flawed Yakima Plan process that set many was reported in several newspapers and State’s first use of the Community Forest bad precedents for federal policies on for- online blogs, and described as the state’s Trust land management designation cre- ests, water, endangered species, off-road largest single acquisition of land in over ated by the Legislature in 2011 to protect vehicle recreation, environment (NEPA) 50 years, and one of the largest in state working forests (i.e. loggable forests) and advisory committee meetings (FACA). history. On July 15, the New York Times re- with a high risk of conversion to non- Furthermore, Plan proponents now see ported that when AFLC’s principal owner forest uses, and with important value to themselves in a stronger position to seek John Rudey listed his Connecticut home the local community. The Department of federal funding for the Plan, which has an for sale at $190 million, it was proclaimed Natural Resources and State Department estimated pricetag of $5 billion.

12  The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013 of Fish and Wildlife will co-manage the of those water storage projects. However, c. Subordination of power generation Community Forest, engaging the local the Kachess inactive storage component (Roza and Chandler) community in setting priorities. The State has not yet been designed, nor has it been d. Aquifer storage and recovery projects will establish a local advisory committee, subject to feasibility analysis or cost-bene- e. Agricultural conservation the Teanaway Community Forest Advisory fit analysis, let alone project-level environ- f. municipal conservation Board, to provide advice on post-acquisi- mental review. Furthermore, we question tion management. whether the State agencies, after 12 years g. Water bank exchange programs The local community (upper Kittitas of engaging the local Teanaway communi- h. Cle Elum reservoir County) clearly cares enough about man- ty in forest management decision-making, i. Keechelus, Kachess, Tieton reservoir agement of these newly acquired forest- would want to antagonize that community j. Keechelus to Kachess pipeline by downgrading the Teanaway Community lands to provide detailed input to the k. Wymer reservoir State. In the public meetings conducted by Forest in 2025. l. Bumping reservoir enlargement Kittitas County under the Growth Manage- ment Act (GMA) in 2009-2010 regarding Water project cost-benefit analyses and feasibility studies In addition to the analyses of the dams AFLC’s proposal to develop these same at Bumping and Wymer, it will be inter- lands with a “fully contained community,” In addition to the Teanaway acquisi- esting to see the cost-benefit analysis for the Teanaway Grange hall was always tion, the Yakima Plan “early action items” the Kachess reservoir’s inactive storage full of Kittitas County residents and their funded by the Legislature include con- project, as some Plan proponents have in- Seattle-area allies advocating to protect struction prep for a formally said that due to its large capacity the rural character of fish passage project (200,000 acre-feet) and because they say the Teanaway River (at Lake Cle Elum); it is relatively benign and cost-effective, it valley. Under the geotechnical analysis is more likely to be built sooner, and per- GMA, Kittitas County and initial design for haps instead of, the dams at Bumping and had already desig- The Plan was developed other fish passage Wymer. They informally refer to the Plan nated most of the by a defective process, and projects (at Keeche- as a 40-year project, with Phase I consist- area as forestland of lus, Kachess, Tieton) ing of ten years of projects costing $700 long-term commer- with defective economic and for operational million (including Kachess inactive stor- cial significance be- analysis. Notably, Senator modifications (the age), followed by the least-unpopular dam fore Rudey bought it Keechelus-to- (ostensibly Wymer) with the most-unpop- from Boise Cascade Karen Fraser removed her- Kachess pipeline); ular dam (ostensibly Bumping) postponed in 1999. Thirteen construction prep until around 2040. For the remainder of conservation orga- self as a co-sponsor of the for some storage the $5 billion pricetag, they speculate the nizations including policy bill. projects (Kachess costs may be shared 50-50 federal-local. NCCC, Kittitas Audu- inactive storage, and Section 3016 provides funding to the bon, Kittitas County Cle Elum pool raise); Department of Ecology for completion of Conservation Coali- feasibility studies BuRec’s “Yakima River Basin Water Storage tion and Friends of the Teanaway opposed for the two storage dams (Bumping and Feasibility Study,” including environmental the “fully contained community” because Wymer); and complete construction of review under NEPA and SEPA, “to evaluate the area can continue to be managed for certain agricultural conservation projects potential in basin storage facilities such as commercial forestry, and conversion to and tributary/mainstem habitat enhance- the proposed Bumping Lake and Wymer other uses would adversely affect habitat ment projects. reservoirs and other reasonable alterna- for a wide range of species including bull The capital budget also includes tives that will enhance water supplies and trout, steelhead and spotted owls. The $300,000 for the Washington Water streamflows in the Yakima Basin.” owl habitat on AFLC land is relatively Resource Center to prepare separate unlogged compared with the rest of the Plan proponents have informally re- benefit-cost analyses by December 2014 heavily logged AFLC land; the owl circles ferred to this feasibility study as geotechni- for each significant water project proposed are in the northern part of the AFLC land, cal investigations beginning in summer in the Yakima Plan. Located in Pullman, near the boundary with federal land (the 2013 to evaluate whether the sites pro- the Center was established by Congress proposed NRA) where there are additional posed for the Wymer and Bumping dams and is a joint agency of Washington State owl circles. have “fatal flaws,” from an engineering University and the University of Washing- and safety perspective, anticipating that if The legislation provides that after 12 ton. Section 5057 provides that the Center either site is “fatally flawed” then it would years (by June 2025), if Yakima Plan water “must measure and report the economic be dropped. Concerns include the nature, projects totaling 114,000 acre-feet have not benefits of each project on a disaggregated depth and permeability of glacial sediment been permitted and financed, the State basis, so that it is clear the extent to which at the Bumping dam site, and the nature can change the Teanaway land designation an individual project is expected to result of the basalt flows and faults at the Wymer from Community Forest Trust to common in increases in fish populations, increases site. Their objective is to know by the end school trust (i.e., fewer restrictions on in the reliability of irrigation water during of two years which dams to advance to a logging), or dispose of it. Plan proponents severe drought years, and improvements formal feasibility study, which will then say this acre-footage is the “exact” amount in municipal and domestic water supply.” take about five years. of the Cle Elum pool raise and Kachess The cost-benefit analyses will be conduct- In August, the federal Bureau of Recla- inactive storage components, and that this ed on these projects: provision is an “incentive” for the Tean- mation and U.S. Forest Service jointly sent a. tributary/mainstem enhancement away community to support completion b. Box Canyon Creek Continued on page 14 visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013  13 Yakima Plan and inadequate wilderness protection. The law in the west, in which they said nothing Plan was developed by a defective process, about their NRA Proposal, even though Continued from page 13 and with defective economic analysis. they had been criticized for it in the prior Notably, Senator Karen Fraser removed article they were supposedly rebutting. a letter to “parties in the immediate vicin- herself as a co-sponsor of the policy bill. Although their letter to the Forest Ser- ity of Bumping Reservoir Dam,” i.e., Bump- In September, the Washington Environ- vice is a positive step by the Plan propo- ing Lake cabin owners. The letter said mental Council (WEC) Board of Directors nents, the NRAs are still a bad idea, and BuRec “will be conducting geotechnical decided to remain neutral on the Yakima we do need to continue opposing the NRA investigations downstream and in the gen- Plan. WEC Staff had recommended that Proposal. Because it does not require State eral vicinity of the existing …Dam over the the Board vote to support the Yakima funding, the NRA Proposal received very next 2 years. The investigations will use Plan, but the Board declined to follow little attention in the State Legislature’s a mobile drilling rig … and a backhoe…” that recommendation, after listening to processing of the Yakima Plan. Because it Several years of data gathering, numerous pro-and-con presentations by a Plan pro- is not a water project, the NRA Proposal is additional studies, and an EIS lie ahead. ponent and NCCC. For more than a year, not subject to the cost-benefit analysis de- “None of these studies are yet scheduled the Yakima Plan campaign website had er- scribed above as required for major water for initiation because Reclamation must roneously listed WEC as a supporter of the project components in the Plan. The NRA first assess if the Bumping Reservoir Dam Plan, but the WEC Board had never voted proposal is still part of the Yakima Plan, so proposal is feasible.” to support it. After its September meeting, we need to continue opposing the Yakima In a June 7, 2013 letter to State Rep. WEC was removed from the Yakima Plan Plan itself. campaign website’s list of Plan supporters. Hans Dunshee, Sierra Club’s Washington Don’t support the State Chapter wrote “We do not support National Recreation Area the overall Yakima Plan as proposed and March 2012 Yakima Plan remain opposed to funding in the budget proposal Especially since the proponents them- for expansion of Bumping Lake and The Yakima Plan’s proposals for federal selves are now backing away from the Wymer dams.” land designations to be made by Congress, bad parts of the current March 2012 EIS In addition to the capital budget ap- including the NRA Proposal for promot- version of the Plan, there is no reason to propriations, in late June the Legislature ing off-road vehicle (ORV) use on National support it; the March 2012 version is not also passed the policy bill regarding the Forest lands of the Cle Elum District, were the one that will get federally funded and Yakima Plan. The policy bill endorsed the published by the Workgroup’s Lands Sub- built. Despite the State appropriation of Plan, and thus it endorsed all of the Plan’s committee in January 2012. over $100 million for “early action items,” defects – two new dams, destruction of A year and a half later, in June 2013, our Congressional delegation is not rush- 1,000 acres of ancient forest (including the Workgroup’s Lands Subcommittee ing to seek federal appropriation of the re- Critical Habitat for the northern spotted sent a letter to the Forest Service asking maining $4.9 billion of the $5 billion price owl), two new NRAs for off-road vehicles that the Lands Subcommittee propos- tag. Parties who withhold support for the (ORVs), inadequate water conservation, als be included in the upcoming Forest Plan (i.e., parties who oppose it or are Plan Revision DEIS alternatives, and “The neutral) have more leverage to improve Workgroup currently has no plan to seek the Plan than parties who have already What you can do: formal Congressional designation for promised to support the old version. these lands as the Forest Plan Revision and Although as of late September the Se- Send Governor Inslee a strong Travel Management Planning processes go attle news media had yet to begin covering message: forward. Rather it is our intention to defer the Yakima Plan controversy, in August as these administrative processes develop and September the Everett Herald news- • Support water conservation and …” This looks like a substantial adoption paper published an editorial, an op-ed water banking in the Yakima of one of our main points about the Lands from Plan supporters, and an op-ed from basin. Subcommittee’s NRA Proposal, that it un- Plan opponents (see page 21). Remark- • Oppose new money-losing dams dermined those ongoing National Forest ably, the Plan proponents’ op-ed did not in the Yakima Basin. planning processes. It also reflects input mention Bumping Lake, did not mention • Oppose new off-road vehicle from many conservation organizations Wymer, did not mention the proposed designations in the Okanogan- during the informal Ross process. The NRAs – in other words, the proponents’ Wenatchee National Forest threat of a Congressional bill to enact the story omitted the biggest, most expensive outside of the existing National NRA Proposal has now been “deferred.” and most controversial parts of their Plan. Forest planning process. In late June, the Yakima Plan support- Their sales technique is interesting, to say • Support Wilderness protection ers’ and opponents’ perspectives were the least. for roadless areas in the Yakima presented at the Washington Water Law The Yakima Plan is the largest project Basin, including the ancient Conference at the State Convention Center in Washington State since WPPSS. It is forest surrounding the existing in Seattle. In response to the presenta- highly significant and highly controversial. Bumping Lake. tion of negative impacts of ORV use, the A large volume of information is available Yakima Plan representative said “we could at the Sierra Club website on the Yakima Comments may be sent through not agree more,” and also agreed with Plan: the following website: our objections about process. Indeed, the www.washington.sierraclub.org/upper- www.governor.wa.gov/contact/ supporters’ submission of written materi- col/ucr/yakima/water_overview.html default.asp als included their recent “rebuttal” article in the Water Report, a journal on water

14  The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013 State purchase of Teanaway lands raises disturbing questions By Rick McGuire

he Washington legislature over a thousand acres of ancient forests for This part of AFLC (now state) lands, has approved funding for a new dam at Bumping Lake in the South also shown on the cover, had its the public purchase of ap- Cascades east of Mt. Rainier. old-growth forest logged decades proximately 50,000 acres of Many believe that the tradeoff is a bad ago. The second-growth forest seen land from American Forest deal for the public, and for the cause in the photo survives because of THoldings LLC* in the lower Teanaway of forest preservation. Although only a spotted owl circles where state watershed near CleElum. The price paid fraction of the acreage of the Teanaway regulation kept more recent cutting for these lands, once owned by Boise Cas- purchase, the ancient forests at Bumping at bay. It is perhaps the most scenic cade, is almost 100 million dollars. are arguably far more valuable, some of part of the acquired lands, and not While NCCC is a big supporter of public the best remaining in the state. Celebrated at all typical of the otherwise heav- land acquisitions in general, this purchase by Supreme Court Justice William O. ily logged landscape there. —Karl has raised a number of disturbing ques- Douglas in Of Men and Mountains, the Forsgaard photo tions for NCCC and many other conserva- Bumping Lake forests are home to species tion groups. from both sides of the Cascades. A natural The actual expanded reservoir footprint would be 2800 acres in addition to the This purchase is a central part of the multi-aged mosaic, with some trees over 1300 acres occupied by the existing lake. “Yakima Integrated Plan,” an effort to 800 years old, they are all the more rare There has been very little logging in the provide more water to Yakima valley ir- for growing on mostly flat ground. entire Bumping basin, and most of what rigators. Although there is nothing in the Any attempt to nail down a hard num- would be flooded is unlogged, natural legislative language describing it as such, ber for loss of ancient forests at Bumping forest. As with all virgin forests, it is a mix. the Teanaway purchase is a clear political does not do justice to the scale of the quid pro quo for the destruction of well destruction that a new dam would cause. Continued on page 16 visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013  15 that there will be nothing to cut for at least A little over a decade ago, NCCC was State purchase 50 years. heavily involved in two land exchanges, Continued from page 15 The Teanaway lands are to be jointly between the Forest Service and Weyer- managed by the state’s Departments of haeuser and the Forest Service and Plum Natural Resources and Fish and Wildlife. Creek Timber. Both exchanges started out with plans to acquire lands mostly near Timber magnate John Rudey Any management activities will be a net Interstate 90 in exchange for National For- has two companies referenced drain on state coffers for the next 50 years. est lands elsewhere. in these articles. American For- Some of the lands are at the dry lower est Holdings LLC, which owns limit of where trees can grow, at the forest/ Many of the National Forest lands the land, is the seller. American shrub-steppe boundary. Logging has been proposed for trading away had significant Forest Land Company (AFLC), so severe that trees may never grow back areas of ancient forests. An outcry soon which manages the land, is far there, with shrublands forming instead. was heard. The town of Randle, Washing- better known to the public, An alarming part of the deal is the ton, in the Cowlitz valley, was slated to because it has had a local office breathtaking $2000 per acre paid for the lose scenically forested Watch Mountain, and employees and is named on Teanaway lands, a price far above what any which stands right above the town. Never the signs people see on Tean- comparable “understocked timberland” previously known as a hotbed of conserva- away roads. or “stumpland” would fetch on the open tion, Randle rose up and said heck no, we market. Although there is some residen- are not going along with a plan to sacrifice tial development potential on a limited our forests in order to preserve views from number of choicer sites, the Teanaway I-90. Defenders also rallied to save other price per acre is about eight times what forests near Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier Some places clearly merit being called “ca- King County paid for the development from being traded away and cut. thedral forest.” Other places have smaller rights to the Hancock Snoqualmie Tree Eventually, almost all of the ancient trees, and most of the forest is a mix of the Farm, which is far more developable and forests slated to be traded away were two. There is no one single, universally much closer to Seattle. removed from greatly slimmed-down land accepted definition of “old growth” or The comparison between the two exchanges. If not everyone was happy “ancient forest.” But you know it when you purchases is not quite exact, since the about the outcomes, at least few were very see it, and the forests at Bumping have it Teanaway was a full fee-simple purchase, unhappy. A general consensus seemed to in plenty. while the Hancock purchase was for devel- emerge that it really wasn’t right to trade No one seems to know quite how the opment rights only. But given the denuded away other people’s backyards in order to forests at Bumping escaped logging. One state of the Teanaway lands, their value as save one’s own. explanation that seems to ring true is that timberland is not very high, so the com- Although the Bumping for Teanaway the Forest Service was reluctant to cross parison is useful, if still perplexing. trade isn’t quite as explicit and has more swords with Douglas, who for many years Traditionally, the state has picked up moving parts, the same questions arise. had a retreat at nearby Goose Prairie and logged-out lands for low prices. In years Some people gain from the Teanaway loved the place. Just about every other past, many simply reverted to public land acquisition. Property owners in the part of the Naches District with trees was ownership in lieu of unpaid back taxes. At lower Teanaway will no longer need to roaded and cut, but not Bumping. What- a time of collapsing roads and bridges and worry about other houses in their views. ever the reason, there is nothing else quite extreme budget stress for the state, the More squares on the map near I-90 will like it in the Cascades – a large, spacious amazing price paid for the Teanaway lands be colored in green, and perhaps some- valley with a great, sweeping extent of real is one of the many credulity-stretching fac- day enough trees will grow back in the ancient forest growing on mostly flat land. ets of the Yakima Plan. The Plan also calls Teanaway to make it more attractive for Expansion of the reservoir would have for the establishment of large National recreation other than hunting or snowmo- effects extending well beyond the actual Recreation Areas dedicated to off road biling. But can that really be worth trading inundation zone. An expanded reservoir vehicles, north of I-90 in the Teanaway (on away the best ancient forests on the east will cut the heart out of the Bumping val- National Forest lands, not on the lands side of the Cascades? ley, taking the lowest elevation and best newly acquired by the State) and south The forests at Bumping are of far forests there. To destroy what many con- of I-90 in the Manastash area. Both areas greater importance and extent than those sider to be the finest remaining example of are already suffering greatly from ORV that were threatened by the I-90 land east side Cascade forests, for an expanded impacts, which will multiply if the NRAs exchanges. It may not say it on the label, reservoir that would seldom even fill, are established. but everyone knows that the Teanaway would be tragic. purchase was done as a political sweet- The newly purchased Teanaway lands Sacrificing your backyard ener to smooth the way for a new dam at could hardly be more different than those to save mine Bumping. Is there any reason to celebrate around Bumping Lake. Apart from some a land acquisition that comes at the cost of There is also a large question of “sacri- limited areas that spotted owl regulations sacrificing one of the last and best ancient ficing your backyard to save mine.” Some kept from being completely cut, the Te- forests left in the Northwest? Is that any groups have signed on as supporters of the anaway lands are among the most heavily way to run a “conservation” movement, or Yakima Plan because they regard the “ben- logged in the state. Everything of value to protect anyone’s backyard? that could legally be cut has been taken. efits,” such as the Teanaway purchase, as Ironically, if the Yakima Plan’s main Supposedly now preserved as a “working falling within their area of concern, while intended beneficiaries, the agribusi- forest,” the lands have been so thoroughly the costs, such as losing the ancient forests worked over that even proponents admit at Bumping, are somewhere else. Continued on page 17

16  The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013 NCCC, coalition address concerns around proposed Skykomish Geothermal Consent to Lease

A recent letter to the Mt. Baker-Sno- tions identified in the action alternative Snohomish Public Utilities District, might qualmie National Forest from 13 conser- were initially raised by the 13 conservation not be the case. Additionally, while the vation organizations, including NCCC, groups in August 2012 in response to the Wild Sky Wilderness is not included in provided comments on the Environmental scoping comments, including recognition the geothermal leasing proposal, the let- Assessment (EA) for the proposed Sky- of the importance of— ter recommends that directional drilling komish Geothermal Consent to Lease underneath the Wild Sky Wilderness also process. The Bureau of Land Management • the Wild Sky Wilderness be expressly prohibited. Finally, the letter is seeking to lease these lands for geother- • recreational opportunities asks the agency to stipulate that all access mal exploration in the area. • riparian areas, including potential for drilling shall take place using existing The Skykomish Ranger District is study- Wild & Scenic Rivers open roads, with drill pads either on exist- ing the potential impact of allowing leas- • habitat and migration corridors. ing road or immediately adjacent to it to ing of subsurface lands for geothermal ex- minimize impacts. ploratory drilling on 12,000 acres of land The letter also outlines several issues located in “Wild Sky Country.” Over the the EA failed to address. While the EA The Environmental Assessment is the last decade, this area has received strong, recommends a No Surface Occupancy second opportunity for public com- diverse support for the permanent protec- stipulation (NSO) for Late Successional ment on the possibility of allowing tion of its old-growth and mature forests, Reserves (LSR) greater than 80 years old the BLM to lease these lands for geo- preservation of world-class recreational and totaling 5,036 acres, the letter recom- thermal exploration in this area. Last opportunities, and river and watershed mends that all LSRs should receive a NSO August, these organizations submit- restoration. stipulation, regardless of their age. The ted scoping comments on the project letter also points out that it was not clear While developing renewable energy advised the Forest Service on which whether the EA had taken into account the sources like geothermal energy is impor- issues to study in the EA. This July value of viewsheds in the area, and did not tant, NCCC and the other groups want to 26 letter responded to the recently seem to have recommended restrictions ensure that exploratory drilling does not released EA. NCCC and the other or- on use in these areas. threaten hard-fought protections for wild ganizations will continue to monitor rivers, fish and wildlife habitat and clean Next, the letter points out that the EA this project as it moves forward. and safe drinking water. assumes equal geothermal potential for The letter to the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie all land in the study which, based on the Forest acknowledges that several stipula- results of experimental drilling by the

State purchase Continued from page 16 ness operations of the Yakima valley, get current outdated and wasteful practices. to continue picking up the bills for all of their new dam at Bumping, they are still Much of the water delivered in the Kit- this. Irreplaceable ancient forests will be unlikely to ever actually see their wa- titas and Yakima valleys goes to low-value sacrificed. Crazy pumped storage schemes, ter allocations increased by much. The crops. Any sensible plan would allow and defying every law of physics, economics watershed above Bumping Lake is neither encourage growers of high value-added and common sense, may be built. All this, large enough nor rainy enough to justify a crops to bid on and pay a fair price for just to allow business as usual to carry on bigger dam. That’s why the dam there now water, putting it to far better use than it is in the Yakima valley for a few more years. is the size that it is. An expanded reservoir now. If things stay on their present course, they would not reliably fill. Even the Bureau of But instead of taking steps that might ac- don’t look to end well. Reclamation, never known for underesti- tually increase food security and prepare mating the “benefits” of projects, has twice for changing climates, the Yakima Plan rejected the idea. simply encourages yet more of the colossal The one thing that would actually make waste that is longstanding practice in the Yakima Plan coverage continues on a difference—meaningful and effective Yakima valley. Water will continue to be page 21 with an editorial from the water conservation and marketing—is not delivered for next to nothing to opera- Everett Herald. to be found in the Yakima Plan, which tions that value it accordingly, spraying it pays only the barest lip service to the idea. around wastefully to evaporate or simply The Plan seems designed to lock in the blow away. The taxpayers will be expected visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013  17 North Cascade Glacier Climate Project 2013: 30th annual field program By Tom Hammond

his is the 30th year of the their friendship and willingness to share Blanca Lake below Columbia Glacier North Cascade Glacier Cli- this great journey of discovery. and the Monte Cristo Peaks. —Tom mate Project—an incredible We had a pretty good winter in terms Hammond photo run of field seasons measur- of snowpack—above average snow depth, ing the glaciers of the North especially at lower elevations. But the same eight glaciers that have been evalu- TCascades. This is my 10th year, and I health of glaciers has more to do with ated for the past 30 years (see end for list was able to join only for the Columbia summer melting, and this summer has and provisional mass balance numbers). Glacier. I stood down from going to the been warm and dry. Such a lovely summer Evaluation includes high fidelity mass- Easton Glacier this year due to forecasted for us will lead to negative mass balances balance measurements via a heavy 12 foot thunderstorms and scheduling issues. The of a magnitude that will be more refined long steel probe that we use to measure project field season involves more than with time, but appear to be on the order of snow-depth across the glacier in a gridded 100 miles of hiking, and more than 30,000 minus one meter. pattern described as transects. We also feet of elevation change—a formidable The main crew consisted of Stewart Wil- endeavor by any measure. conduct crevasse stratigraphy and flow lis from Western Washington University, measurements of super-glacial and outlet I am thankful for the curiosity and abil- Jill Pelto from the University of Maine, Ben streams. ity to go on even a small portion of the Pelto from the University of Massachusetts, I could easily name this field season NCGCP field season. I am doubly thankful and Mauri. The schedule included the to Mauri and the entire Pelto family for “The Year of the Thunderstorm”, as it

18  The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013 seemed the entire two and a half weeks had a mention of thunderstorms some- where in the forecast. Mauri doesn’t re- member a field season that had nearly this much lightning. We hiked in on the last day of July under cloudy and muggy skies. The bugs (mainly mosquitoes, some black flies) weren’t too bad, and the huckleberries were just starting to come in. Camp was established closely above the outlet of Blanca Lake under a cluster of huge ancient trees. The lake was totally melted out this year—the first time in three or four years it wasn’t totally or partially covered with ice. We had just finished dinner when thunder rumbled in the distance. Soon enough, it became apparent the convective cell was headed right for us. The team bailed in to their respective tents except me—I wanted to watch the show. It was a fabulous display of planetary science, made enjoy- able by the fact we were relatively safe at our camp. While camping atop a rock knoll next to a huge, flat lake under big trees sounds unsafe, keep in mind that all around us rock towers rose straight up in the air another vertical kilometer…effec- relief of the high peaks of the Monte Cristo Total area of this new lake is about tively acting as lighting rods and providing range serving as so many lightning towers. the size of a football field. 10 years us a measure of safety. Mauri later mentioned how uncommon ago the team would be on a blue ice Fortunately, the main brunt of the big thunderstorms are in this area, even tongue up to 50 feet thick. Note ice lighting stayed just east of us as it moved in the mountains. I used to agree with shelf left. —Tom Hammond photo from south to north, finally moving west that, but now as I look back over years of directly over the top of Kyes Peak and stall- notes, both from this project, and beyond ing right over the Monte Cristo peaks (and to many other explorations, thunder and right in front of us). lightning are actually quite common in the I both noted how muggy and warm it has A large cloud-to-ground North Cascades, and seems been in Seattle. Instead of our usual push bolt struck the summits to be getting more frequent. of cool marine air, moisture this sum- of Kyes, then another hit After all, that’s why I stood mer has manifested itself in a much more the true summit of Monte Data gathered down from the project monsoon-like fashion, with heavy down- Cristo Peak! Then two instead of walking on the pours, thunderstorms and warm tempera- large cloud-to-ground bolts over the 30 years (exposed) Easton Glacier. tures. As if to corroborate this, we’ve now struck beyond Monte Cristo of the project I should note we had quite had a second round of intense precipita- Pass, likely hitting The a thunderstorm in Seattle tion, resulting in Highway 20 again being Cadets. These discharges reveals that North that night—something that closed for a week due to slides, this time is unusual. As it turned out, featured many tendrils of Cascade glaciers in early September. cloud-to-cloud lighting, and as a nice (and instruc- Yet as we watch our glaciers disappear, spidery legs of intense have lost 30 tional) link to the ongoing we dither with throwing money at long power arcing across the sky. conversation about “ac- gravel roads, many with spurs to nowhere. It was at this point I real- percent of their cess” and roads, the same Where are our priorities in such a highly ized the winds kicked up by volume thunderstorms that kept me (electrically) charged debate? the cell were blowing rain low that weekend ended up and mist on to my fleece causing no fewer than eight Assessing the glaciers pants (which also serve as debris slides that closed Highway 20 (yes, the paved artery across On to the glacier portion of the mis- my pillow!). Oops—I took one step closer sion. The snowpack is woefully thin—this to the adjacent 500-year-old tree and was Washington Pass) for more than a week, and also washed out Cascade River road is a really tough year for the glaciers of immediately in a dry rain shadow. Yes, the the North Cascades. The new lake at the irony occurred to me as I leaned against at Midas/Boston Creeks. I’m used to this huge culvert blowing out in the storms of terminus of the Columbia Glacier that first this living contemporary of Columbus: emerged in 2007 is bigger than ever. It is standing under trees with lighting is autumn and the avalanches of deep win- ter, but such events in high summer are ri- amazing to see how quickly the terminus frowned up, but then again, I imagine that has disintegrated—an area as large as a tree has seen more than a few storms, and diculously out of character. Or at least they of course I already noted the tremendous used to be. At the end of the project, as we discussed how things had gone, Mauri and Continued on page 20 visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013  19 Glacier Climate Project Continued from page 19

The Rainbow Glacier has lost 30 percent of its volume in 30 years. See the Park Glacier on page 24. —Tom Hammond photo

football field that was a steep face of blue ice rising 50 feet high has disappeared, replaced by a turbid lake. It is hard to tell where the glacier ends and the lake begins, as the thinning terminus forms a (dangerous) shelf over a part of the lake. I believe we did walk on bedrock marking the NE boundary of the lake, and expect with such rapid thinning that we’ll find the glacier completely pulled off this new lake--dubbed “Troublesome Lake” by the team—within a couple of years, perhaps as soon as 2014. We came up with the name 2013 study results NCNP glacier for a couple of reasons: one is that the gla- cier is the true headwaters of Troublesome and resources monitoring project Creek. Also, it is very troubling to watch Director: Mauri S. Pelto subject of new film our natural fresh-water storage systems Nichols College, Dudley, MA 01571 disappear. We were unable to perform the [email protected] “Keepers of the Beat” is a new longitude profile, as it was too cloudy to 774-261-0833 film on glacier monitoring that see much of anything, much less use the features Dr. Jon Riedel, NPS glaci- laser ranging device. We did complete the Columbia Glacier (minus 0.6 meter) ologist at North Cascades National full grid of mass-balance transects, and Lower Curtis Glacier (minus 0.7 Park showing how and why he as indicated, the data indicates significant meter) takes the pulse of glaciers. The negative mass-balance: the snow that Rainbow Glacier (minus 1.2 meters) title refers to the fact that glaciers nourishes the glacier will melt away com- Sholes Glacier (minus 0.9 meter) pletely before the end of the summer. Note respond to environmental condi- that white snow melts at a rate of about 8 Easton Glacier (minus 1.2 meters tions and keep a record of their inches per day on a typical sunny summer Daniels Glacier (minus 0.2 meter) past history, the “beats” of time. day, while blue ice, with a higher albedo Lynch Glacier (minus 0.2 meter) “Keepers of the Beat” shares melts even faster. As such, the lack of snow Ice Worm (Hyas Creek) Glacier Dr. Riedel’s findings, ties in related is a double hit on the glacier—not only is (minus 0.5 meter) work at Mount Rainier, and ex- there no accumulation to make it to the plains how the projects are linked next winter, but the subsequent exposure • Read Professor Pelto’s full report together. The 18-minute-long film of blue glacier ice further accelerates the for the 2013 field season at www. is a product of The North Coast melting. Throw in super-glacial streams nichols.edu/departments/glacier/ that flow across and through the glacier, & Cascades Science Learning carving the terminus with deep furrows, • See the video on the 2013 field Network (SLN), a National Park and the recipe for rapid disintegration is season at: Service program serving North- complete. www.youtube.com/ west national parks whose mission watch?v=DjxIuzC0bpM Mauri reports that the story is the same is to encourage park research across all of the glaciers in the North • For a comprehensive look at and to disseminate results of that Cascades: very little snow cover that will glaciers visit: research. Watch the video at www. melt long before the end of the summer. glacierchange.wordpress. nwparkscience.org. Over the 30 years of the project, direct and com/2013/09/01/north-cascade- accurate data gathering reveals that North glacier-climate-project-2013-field- Cascade glaciers have lost 30 percent of report/ their volume—a Troublesome fact to be sure.

20  The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013 New dams aren’t the way to address water needs By Chris Maykut, Brock Evans and Estella Leopold

years — at first. But irrigation expands with increased motorcycles on trails and NCCC helped draft this Everett to use available water. Then we’ll need snowmobiles cross-country. Herald piece about the Yakima another dam, and another. The public had 45 days to comment on Plan, published September 22, Crops are water — and when we export the agencies’ draft Yakima Plan — until 2013 such crops as hay for Japanese racehorses, Jan. 3, 2012. One day later, on Jan. 4, Plan we are exporting our most precious natu- proponents revealed the motorized NRA ral resource: Washington’s water. provision, and later added it to the Plan. Not even Forest Service staff of the Cle “In arid regions we attempt to offset the The costs of water delivery from new Elum Ranger District was consulted. Now process of wastage by reclamation, but storage projects would be mostly borne the Plan supporters are backing away from it is only too evident that the prospective by taxpayers, and by salmon and other the proposal for NRAs, saying they will longevity of reclamation projects is often wildlife that depend on these same waters, “defer” it until after the current Forest Plan short. In our own West, the best of them not by the irrigation districts that would process — but the proposal for NRAs is may not last a century.” benefit. still in the Yakima Water Plan. — Aldo Leopold, writing on “The Land There are better, less costly ways to rem- Because of all these substantive and pro- Ethic” in “A Sand County Almanac” edy the imbalance between water demand and limited water supply. Here are some: cedural flaws, more than thirty conserva- tion organizations have refused to support The Everett Herald recently published a the Yakima Plan, its dams and its proposed guest column by supporters of the Yakima • Yakima irrigators have not paid for NRAs, including the Sierra Club, Audu- Water Plan (“Yakima Basin water plan the costs of the existing five federal bon, The Mountaineers, the Washington benefits farmers and fish,” September 15, dams. Market forces need to play a Environmental Council, Friends of Bump- 2013). While the Yakima Water Plan has greater role to curb water waste. ing Lake, Washington Wild, ALPS, the good elements — improving Yakima River • Rather than taxpayers spending North Cascades Conservation Council, the salmon passage and some wilderness pro- billions, water conservation in the Endangered Species Coalition and the Fed- tections — the costs are too high. Yakima should be mandatory, not eration of Western Outdoor Clubs. Many The Yakima Water Plan proposes two optional. of them testified in the state Legislature’s new irrigation dams (Bumping Lake and hearings this year. Wymer) costing taxpayers billions and • Large volumes of federal water-proj- We need a new ethic for the lands and destroying places precious to people and ect-grown hay are exported to Japan waters — for the Yakima, and far beyond. wildlife. The Bumping Lake dam would for racehorses. In a water-scarce We cannot dam our way out of climate drown magnificent ancient forests adja- basin, appropriate crop selection is change and water shortages. Bumping cent to the William O. Douglas Wilderness essential. Lake and the Wymer site (between El- -- comparable to the Olympic’s Hoh River • Canals and ditches need to be lined lensburg and Yakima) are now threatened Valley. The Wymer dam would drown sage and piped to stop wasting precious with destruction by new irrigation dams. grouse shrub-steppe habitat. water. You can help. Together we need to wave a How did we get to this point? Weren’t big red stop sign at the Yakima Plan: STOP we just recently celebrating the removal of new dams and STOP water waste in the the Elwha dams? Finally, a word about ethics and public Yakima Basin. participation. From the start, the Bureau First, dam proposals are the “undead.” The Yakima Plan does not deserve the of Reclamation and the Department of They never die. New Yakima Basin irriga- support of elected officials, state and Ecology manipulated the process and par- tion dams have been cussed and discussed federal resource agencies, or any conserva- ticipants to achieve their desired outcome: for decades — but never built. tion organization. It does deserve more new dams. “Anything to achieve an end” scrutiny by the Everett Herald. A lot more. Under scrutiny, dam construction and may expediently get to pouring concrete -- maintenance are money-losers for tax- but it breaches trust and corrodes institu- Chris Maykut is a Seattle restaurateur payers. Indeed, the 2012 Green Scissors tions. who leads Friends of Bumping Lake. report on wasteful and damaging federal Brock Evans is President of Endangered Behind-closed-doors dealings help ex- projects includes both proposed Yakima Species Coalition, and served for many plain the Yakima Plan’s provisions. dams. years as the Sierra Club’s Northwest The Plan would have Congress forever Nationwide, dams and other infra- Regional Director. In 1972, he received constrain the Forest Service’s ability to structure are largely built out — many the Washington Environmental Council’s manage wildlife habitat and watershed in deteriorating and in disrepair, as reported “Environmentalist of the Year” Award, the Teanaway and Manastash-Taneum ba- in October by the National Research the first time the award was given. Estella sins within the Okanogan-Wenatchee Na- Council. We can’t afford existing dams, let Leopold, youngest daughter of Aldo Leo- tional Forest by designating 41,000 acres alone new ones. New Yakima dams would pold, is a paleobotanist who has worked of our National Forest lands for “back- merely “kick the can down the road.” Wa- to protect forests and waters of the Pacific country motorized” National Recreation ter would go unused except in water-short Northwest. Areas (NRAs) degrading headwater habitat visit www.northcascades.org • ncascadesconservation.blogspot.com The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013  21 Corvid’s eye a treetop view of north Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest

he border region of the Cascades, where the great state of Washington meets the greater province of Brit- ish Columbia, is notable for severalT happy accidents. Here, certain near-pristine valleys have their headwaters located some distance south of the border among mountains which have proved thus far impenetrable to logging roads. From such rugged beginnings, these valleys’ boisterous streams drop precipitously to relatively low elevations, from which they then meander for miles through a roaring wilderness of primary forest prior to fi- nally reaching Canada’s waiting chainsaws. Since the mid-20th century, if not earlier, loggers in the States have scratched their heads over how to access these upper val- leys without busting the company budget or causing an international incident. With- out the constraints of the border, logging outfits would have had no compunction pushing haul roads as far as feasible up these drainages. Yet Canadian loggers (generally more law-abiding than, say, Colombian loggers) cannot cross into the States to reach the big timber, while U.S. the Mount Baker Wilderness. Beginning at fluctuates between summer’s trickle and logging outfits similarly cannot practicably Copper Ridge, just inside the park, three winter’s surge, and mushrooms sprouting enter and return through Canada to get forks of Silesia Creek converge to form a in terrific quantities come autumn. Some- there. With an additional assist from the broad and deep 9-mile valley of self-willed times also, the deepest of quiet. long-running bureaucratic inertia of the land on the U.S. side. It is a true lowland Although the Slesse has been savaged U.S. Forest Service, timber beasts can only stream upon finally reaching the border, north of the border prior to its confluence salivate over what might have been, while at just above 2,000 feet elevation, having with the Chilliwack, the upper two-thirds corvids both north and south celebrate the been lower than 3,000 feet from its middle of this drainage in the U.S. – the Silesia natural bounty that remains. fork onward. Here is a place of ancient – is fully protected from exploitation. At On the east slope of the Cascades, the groves broken by lush avalanche tracks, least in this remote spot, the meek and happiest boundary accident of all is no molested only by the occasional miner wild have inherited the Earth and will live doubt the fabled Pasayten River and its over the past century. Human endeavors, out their days according to their natural vast wilderness. West of the slope, in What- though, including a trail dropping down inclinations. And if the corvid could sing, com County, the “biggest and bestest” of to the Silesia bottomlands from near rather than merely croak and squawk, he this sort must surely be the Chilliwack Twin Lakes, are rapidly swallowed up and would alight atop the highest bow in the River, which drains several thousand digested by the forest. Travel up or down Silesia to melodiously pay his respects. primitive acres in the northwestern corner the valley is tough going, as it should be. As it happens, though, the oft-agitated of North Cascades National Park. Other Here is a place for the shy and sensitive corvid’s attention is drawn back to the examples in the adjacent national forest creatures, large and small. A home for Quartz/Damfino drainage, the happy are smaller in size, like Quartz/Damfino wolverines and bruins, for goshawks and accident farther west, where, in contrast, and Tomyhoi creeks. Yet for this corvid, it flying squirrels. There are no arguments a political quirk of Wilderness boundary is the mid-sized Silesia Creek valley that over off-road vehicles, or casual dayhikers drawing in the 1980s left its lower portion yields the promise and romance of truly seeking quick and easy boulevards to lakes on the U.S. side without permanent pro- untamed and largely forgotten land. or viewpoints, or misguided silviculturists tection. A job not yet completed. seeking to “improve” the forest. Instead, The mysterious Silesia, known as the there are rain and wind, big hemlocks Slesse north of the border, may well con- swaying against a slate sky, a current that stitute the finest portion of what is now

22  The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013 (four on the east side of the Forest and Okanogan-Wenatchee National one in its west side). Winter snow travel will not be addressed in this DEIS, as Forest planning update OWNF is waiting for Forest Service nation- al guidance, which may take a year, on the This summer, Okanogan-Wenatchee Na- a 90-day comment period, comments recent court ruling that requires winter tional Forest (OWNF) announced revised will be reviewed and a final EIS will be travel (e.g. snowmobile use) be included in timing for its forest planning processes. As prepared and released in winter 2014. A Travel Management planning. previously reported in TWC Summer/Fall final decision is expected to be signed and 2011, the Forest Plan Revision is the first implementation of the new plans to begin time in decades that the Forest Service spring 2015. will make wilderness recommendations More information, including notes forestwide. The Sierra Club and NCCC from earlier public meetings, new scien- NCCC challenges submitted a map in 2011 that proposes tific technical reports, briefing papers, motocross decision major wilderness additions, including the public comment summaries, and process Continued from page 9 Teanaway, Mad River, North Entiat and information can be found on the Forest Chelan-Sawtooth areas, which are highly Plan Revision website at: fs.usda.gov/goto/ setting. Motocross track noise, traffic and worthy of wilderness protection. okawen/plan-revision dust, visible and possibly audible from Mt. The next public comment opportunity A separate DEIS for the OWNF Travel Pilchuck, for instance, would likely mean on the Forest Plan Revision will be the Management Plan will designate which fewer visits from hikers, campers, hunters, Draft Environmental Impact Statement trails are open to off-road vehicles and photographers, birdwatchers, kayakers (DEIS). In August, the Forest Service which are open to hikers, bicycles and and other current recreational users of announced it is now targeting spring horses only. In a June meeting, the Forest the Highway and the public lands along it. 2014 for release of the DEIS. A series of Service said the Travel Management DEIS For more information about the appeal or public meetings/open houses is planned should appear later this fall, with a 50-day to make a donation to MLC for its appeal to share information about the alterna- comment period and five public meetings costs, visit www.mtloopconservancy.org. tives and comment process. Following

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24  The Wild Cascades • Summer/Fall 2013