THE WILD CASCADES THE JOURNAL OF THE NORTH CAS CADES CONSERVATION COUNCIL SUMMER /FALL 2009 www.northcascades.org THE WILD CASCADES • Summer/Fall 2009 1 THE NOrtH CASCADES CONSERVATION COuncIL was THE WILD CASCADES Summer/Fall 2009 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 — Marc Bardsley this mission, NCCC keeps government officials, environmental organizations, 4 Whitechuck Update and the general public informed about 5 Stehekin Update issues affecting the Greater North NCCC Intervenes in Sultan Hydro Relicensing Cascades Ecosystem. Action is pursued Evergreen Mountain through legislative, legal, and public participation channels to protect the 6 Your Chance to Help Recover Wolves in Washington State lands, waters, plants and wildlife. — Jim Davis 8 Feds Review Mountain-dwelling Pika for Threatened-species List Over the past half century the NCCC — Lynda V. Mapes, Seattle Times has led or participated in campaigns to create the North Cascades National 9 Hiker Helps Turn Dumping Ground into Scenic Gem — Lynda V. Mapes, Seattle Times Park Complex, Glacier Peak Wilder- ness, and other units of the National 10 Good News, and a Wonderful Day on the Middle Fork Wilderness System from the W.O. — Rick McGuire Douglas Wilderness north to the 12 North Cascades Glacier Climate Project 2009 — Tom Hammond Alpine Lakes Wilderness, the Henry M. 14 Reiter Forest, DNR’s ORV Problems — Karl Forsgaard Jackson Wilderness, the Chelan-Saw- 16 Teanaway Forestlands at Risk tooth Wilderness, the Wild Sky Wil- derness and others. Among its most Irate Birdwatcher Premier Showing Nov. 4 dramatic victories has been working 17 Harvey Manning Statue Dedicated in Issaquah — John Edwards with British Columbia allies to block 18 A Welcome Change for the Nation’s Forests the raising of Ross Dam, which would 19 Forest Service Closes Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road have drowned Big Beaver Valley. NCCC membership application The NCCC is supported by member 20 The Granite Falls Motocross Fiasco — An Update — Bruce Barnbaum dues and private donations. These contributions support the full range of the Council’s activities, including publication of The Wild Cascades. As Cover: Rafting the Middle Fork Snoqualmie beneath Garfield Mountain. a 501(c)(3) organization, all contribu- —PHOTO TOM O’KEEFE tions are fully tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Membership dues for one year are: Living Lightly/ The Wild Cascades Student $10; Individual $30; Family $50; Sustaining $100; Other, $______. Journal of the North Cascades Conservation Council EDITOR: Betty Manning North Cascades EDITORIAL BOARD: John Edwards, Tom Hammond, Conservation Council Carolyn McConnell and Rick McGuire P.O. Box 95980 University Station Printing by EcoGraphics Seattle, WA 98145-2980 The Wild Cascades is published three times a year (Spring, Summer/Fall, Winter). Executive Director, Jim Davis Letters, comments, and articles are invited, subject to editorial review. 1-360-296-5159 The Wild Cascades Editor North Cascades Conservation Council NCCC Website University Station, Seattle, WA 98145-2980 www.northcascades.org The Wild Cascades is printed on recycled paper with soy-based ink. 2 THE WILD CASCADES • Summer/Fall 2009 NCCC Board PRESIDENT Marc Bardsley BOARD CHAIRMAN Founded in 1957 Patrick Goldsworthy SEATTLE, WASHINGTON VICE PRESIDENT Charles Ehlert TREASURER The President’s Report Summer/Fall 2009 Tom Brucker any of us might think that the idea of wilderness is a pretty SECRETARY straightforward concept — there are places with few motorized Phil Zalesky Mdevices, there is little evidence of other people, and it usually EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR takes a fair walk to get there. More correctly, this would only be true for Jim Davis so-called “deep wilderness”. Around the periphery, especially close to trailheads, wilderness is quite different and the land has often taken a beating. Despite efforts by government agencies, the result of too many Bruce Barnbaum enthusiastic users has been a hammering of the wilderness edge. A rough definition of “wilderness edge” is sometimes thought of as a day-hike Polly Dyer distance from the end of the road. The level of access, and the demand for more access, can place John Edwards enormous stress on the edges of our wilderness areas. Many folks demand that a road be available to make access to their traditional Dave Fluharty wilderness area be easy or at least as easy as it has been in the past. The Anders Forsgaard North Cascades Conservation Council is sometimes criticized for taking a principled stand on criteria for road projects. We devote a lot of effort Karl Forsgaard to analyzing road construction, decommissioning, maintenance, and re- openings. The point is, roads are a major factor in dictating protection Kevin Geraghty and establishment of new, existing, and de-facto wilderness. As conservationists, we need to multi-task our efforts to preserve wil- Tom Hammond derness. First, we need to continue efforts to convert as much roadless area as possible to protected status or de-facto wilderness. Second, we Betty Manning need to be the champions for using details of the wilderness act to main- tain the land as intended. Third, and no less important, we need to cam- Carolyn McConnell paign vigorously for facilities to encourage day-hiking opportunities that Rick McGuire meet the desires of recreationists who only need short-term experiences. These will be the majority of people and their trips. The new facilities Thom Peters should include more trails to interesting areas with low environmental impact and served by adequate parking and other amenities. Great ex- Mike Town amples of this concept of channeling folks into areas close to urban areas and in less sensitive areas would be the network of trails in the Issaquah Ken Wilcox Alps and around North Bend. This approach needs to be expanded into the Mountain Loop area. The goal should be to protect wilderness and at Laura Zalesky the same time, encourage as many people as possible to enjoy nature and the outdoors. Proposals for more wilderness or road closures must be ac- companied by plans for increasing the number of day-hiking opportuni- ties rather than reducing them. www.northcascades.org THE WILD CASCADES • Summer/Fall 2009 3 Whitechuck Update The Forest Service to stop rebuilding has released an Envi- the upper five miles ronmental Assess- of road is a welcome ment for rebuilding recognition of the the Whitechuck futility of keeping River road in the a road open in the Darrington Ranger Whitechuck, NCCC District. Readers may wonders why the remember previous Forest service applies articles in TWC de- this reasoning only scribing the effects to those upper five of the major 2003 miles. No substantive washouts, which to- reasons are given as tally erased substan- to why the lower road tial sections of the should be treated road, especially its differently. Perhaps lower reaches. The it is just institutional Whitechuck valley reluctance to give up has been a conser- on a major valley bot- vation priority ever tom road. since the Everett It is time to finish Mountaineers at- what was first attempt- tempted unsuccess- ed in 1927 and time fully to spare the val- Change is the only constant in the Whitechuck valley. to put the Whitechuck ley from the railroad road to bed. In its logging which began across the Suiattle River at its other end. comments on the EA, in its lower reaches in 1927. The road Rebuilding that bridge presents a host of NCCC praised the Forest Service for recog- should not be rebuilt, but instead convert- problems and it is unclear at the moment nizing the futility of rebuilding the upper ed to multiuse non-motorized trail. what will happen there. road but asked why the same reasoning About ten miles of road were rendered did not apply to the lower road. Hopefully The enormous amount of filling inaccessible to vehicles by the washouts. the Forest Service will ask itself the same required to rebuild the lower road as pro- In selecting their preferred alternative, the question before pouring taxpayers’ dollars posed by the Forest Service would damage Forest Service has cut the proverbial baby into what would be an unnecessary, dam- the Whitechuck River and its fisheries, and in half by deciding to rebuild the lower aging and very temporary rebuild of the violate the Aquatic Conservation Strat- five miles of road where the most damage lower Whitechuck road. egy of the Northwest Forest Plan. And if is, and closing the road above the junction rebuilt, the road will fail again, probably with the Rat Trap Pass road. The miles of sooner rather than later. road would be left with “walkable tread,” but not designated as trail. Although the Forest Service proposal Having fully expected the Forest Service to want to rebuild the entire road, the recommendation to not rebuild the upper five miles has come as a mildly pleasant surprise. The EA cites a number of reasons for not rebuilding, reasons which basically boil down to the fact that the unstable geology of the Whitechuck valley means that any road there is a temporary road. However, all the reasons cited for not rebuilding the upper five miles apply just as much or more to the lower five miles, where the greatest damage is. Just what would be gained from rebuild- ing the lower road is unclear. Part of it may be a desire to hold on to the crumbling Rat Trap Pass road, itself damaged in numerous spots, and a desire to keep it as a vehicular route between the Whitechuck Whitechuck River eats road on lower Whitechuck. and Suiattle valleys. Doing so would The Forest Service proposes to fill it back in.