Newsletter of the Those Bells! Bang Those Drums! Blow Those Trumpets! Harvey Manning . Remember the spring of 1976? Until then, there to travel modes fitting a wildland—human feet, from megalomania, has not ambitions to establish a weren't any Issaquah Alps. horse hooves, wildlife feet, wings, and (in the case of Roman Empire. We are the experts on affairs in our Remember January 22, 1980? Until that snakes and fish) bellies and fins. The trail system little corner of the world and are content with that evening, when the Issaquah Alps Trails Club pre- will provide humans with re-creation. The non- role. However, experience has given us vision. What wr sented its proposal to the King County group trailed and un-trailed enclaves will be guarded living do we see in our crystal ball? In the glass, darkly: charged to develop a Newcastle Communities Plan, room for mankind's companions in wildland. A King County Wilderness Act (or Wildiand there wasn't any Cougar Mountain Regional Wild- Ordinance)... : land Park n the public tablefor discussion..." The Committee on Parks forwarded Ihemaster A comprehensive inventory of open. space, green You definitely will want to remember Septem- space, and a determination of which spaces should be ber, 1994. That's when the character of the park was plan to the full Kinq County Council with a 'do for field sports and other active recreations, and formally, and officially defined by adoption of the which for passive re-creation amid "the wildness master plan. (NOTE: This is written in late August, pass' recommendaion. At the last minute two before the County Council has taken a vote, but we Councilors, Silhlivan and Hague, introduced an An alliance, a council of organizations, Friends are bullish. In the very unlikely, virtually impossible of King County Wildlands, Friends of the Wildness event that... Well, you recall what happened in the amendment to allow bikes in the park. At publi- Within... aftermath of "the shot heard round the world.") catloll date (Sept. 9) the issile remains in doubt Formation of new organizations, such as one de- The preparation of the master plan was as care- voted to Responsible Enjoyment of the Fatl'ire fl, civil, and thoughtful a public process as we have No the p2rk is not yet geographically "com- Bike. To counterbalance the SeattleBicycle Advisory ever seen. King County Parks supervised to perfec- plete." At several places the boundaries do not yet Board, a Seattle Pedestrians Advisory Board... tion, The Portico Group (consultants) served bril- adequately defend "the wildness within." Tasks that Continued public acquisition of lands so that all liantly, and the citizens advisory group spoke await. But the Constitution, the Magna Carta, the users of open space, green space, may have a larger sensitively to the needs of every activity proper to Mosaic Decalogue, the vision of 1976 and 1980 and pie to cut up... a wildland within the urbanizing core of"Puget the years since—all are in place, now. (Or will be A master plan, the process soon beginning, for Sound City" The County Council Committee on when the Council votes and the Executive signs.) Lake Desire-Spring Lake County Park that will give Parks listened attentively to presentation of the plan, As a famous John Muirism has it, everything in Echo Mountain, a.k.a. "a little Cougar Mountain," to criticisms, and came down flat-footed for wild- the universe is hitched to everything else. What hath the same guarantees as the big Cougar Mountain... land. The vote of the full Council will mark the tri- been wrought on Cougar Mountain is hitched to the In order that the timber industry may be freed umphant denouement of the vision of 1976, 1980. prospects for all the open spaces in King County that from a harum-scarum frontier past and readied for a Of the several thousand acres of the park, only have been or may be acquired for the public by King permanent, civil future, and in order that land-plan- several will be "civilized"---trailhead facilities, inter- County, by its municipalities, by the siate. ning for our urban-suburban areas may cast off the pretive center, and the like. The rest will be devoted The Issaquah Alps Trails Club does not suffer millstone imposed by Congress a century and a third ago, revest the Northern Pacific Land Grant... Well, that last item isn't on the agenda of the Is- saquah Alps Trails Club, but the others ought to and The Park Pointe Development probably will be. A George Comstock The battle over Grand Ridge has now been largely the construction of high density housing immediate- Park Pointe developers have acquired an interest in won and lost, and the coming years will show us ly adjacent to the Natural Resource area. This has this land and are threatening to log and/or develop it how much we won and lost, but for the moment the created opposition from the Washington State using the High School Trail as the access route. This sighs of relief heard from all partisans indicate that a Department of Natural Resources and the Tiger would turn the High School Trail into a sidewalk at reasonably satisfactory compromise was had by all. Mountain Advisory Committee, as well as the best, and seriously degrade the quality of hiking on Risking the accusation of naive optimism, I think IATC. One compensating aspect of this proposed the Lake Tradition Plateau. The IATC could never the political system worked, and Grand Ridge development is the construction of an improved accept the fulfillment of a threat so directly contrary stands a good chance of being a development we can trailhead and a dedicated right of way for the High to the public interest. Neither can we accept the use all live with. Unfortunately, some of the fundamen- School Trail, a vital access route to the Lake Tradi- of this threat to exact an unfair price in for the pres- tal environmental issues have not been addressed tion Plateau. Acceptable housing densities, improved ervation of this property. (e.g., can the Issaquah Aquifer survive this develop- trailheads, and many other aspects of this develop- Now more than ever we at the IATC hope the polit- ment?), but these issues will have to wait. Right now ment will be pawns in the battle, modified or sacri- ical process will work. We know there is a fair and other developments have entered the political pro- ficed as necessary for an acceptable compromise. just compromise which would balance the develop- cess, and there is no time to count the casualties. There is one pawn, however, which is too valu- ers' private interests with the public good, and we The proposed Park Pointe development, tightly able to be sacrificed: approximately 50 acres of for- are relying upon the City of Issaquah and King wedged between historic downtown Issaquah and ested land just south of Lake Tradition. The Section County to find that compromise. Based on the re- the Tiger Mountain Natural Resource Conservation Line Trail crosses over this land for a short distance, cent past, we have some faith that the city and coun- Area, now occupies the battlefield. One of the un- and the boundaries are marked with small signs on ty will serve the public well. A fortunate aspects of this development as proposed is the trail just a little east of the gas line clearing. The lEnt's Report Asthé summer winds down and the snow begins to ifly at the higher cicvations, those who roam the high alpine meadows and peaks of the Cascades during Rehabilitation . the bummer will soon retreat to the coml' confines $' of our local "Issaquah Alps." Several important Of The Historic i:-actions involving the Issaquah area are underway. Several public committees are being formed to Station Master"s fr... provide planning inputs for the proposed Grand House __ Ridge development. One committee will focus on planning and/or preserving a trail system. Current plans call for 1,408 acres of open space to be gifted to the County in exchange for urban density devel- opment credits on 352 acres at the westerly end, Margaret Macleod, Interagency Trails Coordinator above the gravel pit. This area could foreseeably sup- OnJune 11th of this year the City of Issaquah able statewide so it was an extremely competitive port up to 2,250 housing units. Public comment and received the good news that it had been awarded a process. participation is being solicited by the City, County, grant for the proposed "RainierBlvd. Non-motor- The city's success on obtaining and receiving the and Port Blakely. For more information, contact ized Transportation Corridor Improvements." The Ruth Windbauer of Port Blakely at 391-4700. ISTEA grant was due to the committed involvement grant of $335,700 was received through the Inter- and support of community groups and organiza- The King County Office of Open Space recently modal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act tions. It is only through such support that we are allocated an additional $500,000 for acquisition of (ISTEA) to match the City's commitment of able to accomplish our trail and acquisition goals. the 69-acre M&H and Santana Construction prop- . $185,700 of funds for a total project fund of S erties on Squak Mountain. This supplements The ISTEA funds cannot be obligated by the $521,400. The proposed project is for the continua- $400,000 which was awarded through the 1989 city until October 1st, the beginning of.the federal tion of the Rainier Blvd. urban non-motorized trail fiscal year.