fall 07 opa - olympic park associatesvoice of the wild olympics olympic park associates founded in...

VOICE of the WILD OLYMPICSOlympic Park Associates Founded in 1948

Vol. 15, No. 3Fall 2007

Contents

This fall, Olympic National Park took amajor step toward restoring its forest ecosystem:restoring fishers to the lowland forest. If publicresponse is any indication, the proposal isalready a success.

In a draft reintroduction plan and environ-mental assessment (EA) released in cooperationwith the Washington Department of Fish andWildlife (WDFW) in September, the twoagencies propose to release up to 100 fishersinto park forests. The animals would be capturedin British Columbia, where healthy populationsstill exist, and released over a three-year periodinto lowland forest areas from the Elwha to theQuinault. The animals would be closely moni-tored to evaluate the reintroduction. (Forbackground, see Return of the Fisher in thewinter, 2006, Voice).

Fishers (Martes pennanti) are sleek, cat-sizehunters of the lowland forest. They were oncecommon in Olympic forests but they werewiped out by commercial trapping and loggingin the early decades of the last century. Only afew isolated populations remain on the WestCoast. The fisher is listed as endangered byWashington State and is a candidate for federallisting.

Comment period closed for the EA inOctober, but the park received just under 200responses to the proposal – a large number foran EA. The overwhelming majority expressedenthusiastic support. A final decision is due inNovember.

This reintroduction would restore a keypredator to one of the most spectacular forestecosystems in the U.S., with ecological benefitsthat would reverberate through the forestwildlife community.

Fishers are reclusive, prefer remote forests,and would not pose a threat to humans orlivestock. A 2004 WDFW feasibility studyfound that Olympic Park forests provide the bestopportunity to restore fishers in Washington

Fisher to Return to Olympic Forestsby Tim McNulty

State. Fishers have been reintroduced successfullyin Oregon, Idaho and Montana, so chances forsuccess here are high. Partial funding has beenpromised by USGS and private organizations.

There was some concern on the peninsulaabout restrictions on industrial forestlands. Buteven if the animal becomes federally listed, it willnot impose undue economic costs on timberlands. The EA points out that Washington Stateand several logging companies already havehabitat conservation plans in place, which coverfisher habitat. Known den sites would be offlimits to logging activity only during activedenning. The vast majority of suitable fisherhabitat, 85 percent, is on national park andnational forest lands. Less than one percent is onprivate forest lands. Continued on P. 3, Fisher

Photo from Massachusetts Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.

OPA SupportsMining Appeal 3

Snorkeling theElwha River 4

In Memoriam:Ed Tisch 5

Park Fees 6

Dicks’ NewAppropriations 6

Dose RoadUpdate 7

Jackson TimberSale 8

Book Reviews:

Day Hiking:OlympicPeninsula 9

Wilderness Alps,& WildernessPhilosophy 10

2

VOICE OF THE WILD OLYMPICS

Olympic Park AssociatesBoard of Trustees*Executive Committee

President*Donna Osseward Seattle

Vice President*John Woolley Sequim

Secretary*Philip Zalesky Everett

Treasurer*Tom Bihn Port Angeles

*Paul Crawford Port Angeles*Polly Dyer Seattle

*Tim McNulty SequimJohn Edwards Seattle

David Friedman SeattlePatrick Goldsworthy Seattle

Joe Mentor, Jr. SeattleBruce Moorhead Port Angeles

Sally Soest SeattleAdvisory Board Members

Howard Apollonio BellinghamCarsten Lien Seattle

Harry Lydiard Port AngelesRandall Payne Renton

Rick Rutz Friday HarborJim Scarborough Bellingham

Norman Winn SeattleMembership Chair

Laura Zalesky 2433 Del Campo DrEverett, WA 98208

Newsletter EditorSally W. Soest 2055 43rd Av E #202

Seattle, WA 98112OPA’s Web Page

www.olympicparkassociates.org

OPA Board MeetingsNext: November 14Time: 6:00 pmPlace: Kingston Community CenterPlease join us. OPA members are always welcome at Board meetings.The regular OPA Board meetings are in the Kingston Community

Center on the 4th Wednesday of odd-numbered months, except forThanksgiving, and no meeting in July.

How to Reach Your Members of CongressU.S. Congress Switchboard: (202) 224-3121From this number you can reach any member of the US Senate or House of Representatives.

US Senate, Washington DC 20510 www.senate.govSenator Patty Murray

Phone (DC): 202-224-2621Fax: 202-224-0238Seattle: 206-553-5545E-mail: [email protected]

Senator Maria CantwellPhone (DC): 202-224-3441Fax: 202-228-0514Seattle: 206-220-6400E-Mail: [email protected]

US House of Representatives, Washington DC 20515www.house.gov

Representative Jay Inslee, Dist. 1308 Cannon House Office BuildingPhone (DC): 202-225-6311FAX: 202-226-1606WA: 425-640-0233Web: www.house.gov/inslee

Representative Rick Larsen, Dist. 21529 Longworth HOBPhone (DC): 202-225-2605FAX: 202-225-4420WA: 425-252-3188Web: www.house.gov/larsen

Representative Brian Baird, Dist. 31721 Longworth HOBPhone (DC): 202-225-3536FAX: 202-225-3478WA: 360-695-6292email: [email protected]

Representative Doc Hastings, Dist. 41323 Longworth HOBPhone (DC): 202-225-5816FAX: 202-225-3251WA: 509-543-1972Web: www.house.gov/hastings

Rep. Cathy McMorris, Dist. 51708 Longworth HOBPhone: (202) 225-2006Web: www.mcmorris.house.gov

Representative Norm Dicks, Dist. 62467 Rayburn HOBPhone (DC): 202-225-5916Fax: 202-225-1176Toll-free 800-947-NORM (947-6676)Web: www.house.gov/dicks

Rep. Jim McDermott, Dist. 71035 Longworth HOBPhone (DC): 202-225-3106FAX: 202-225-6197WA: 206-553-7170Web:www.house.gov/mcdermott

Rep. David G. Reichert, Dist. 81223 Longworth HOBPhone (DC): (202) 225-7761Web: www.house.gov/reichert

Rep. Adam Smith, Dist. 9116 Cannon HOBPhone (DC): 202-225-8901FAX: 202-225-5893Toll free 1-888-smith09 (764-8409)Web:www.house.gov/adamsmith

Voice OF THE WILD OLYMPICS

is published three times per year by Olym-pic Park Associates. Unless specifically copyrighted, articlesmay be reprinted without permission.However, credit is appreciated.

OPA membership dues are:$20 for individuals;$25 for families;$35 (or more) contributing member;$50 for organizations;$5 for students or low income individuals;$250 for an individual life membership.

Printed by EcoGraphicson elemental-chlorine-free,

50% recycled paper,20% post-consumer waste.

3

NEWSLETTER OF OLYMPIC PARK ASSOCIATES

The EA also clearly points out the NationalPark Service’s obligation to restore extirpatedwildlife. Olympic National Park was estab-lished in part to protect native wildlife. TheNPS Management Policies (2006) states thatthe Park Service will strive to restore thebiological and physical components of naturalsystems in parks, including restoring plants andanimals. The same management policiesrecognize designated wilderness as “a compos-ite resource with interrelated parts,” and thatindigenous species are central components ofwilderness and the wilderness experience.

As climate change and an increasingpopulation threaten natural areas, it is criticalthat complete ecosystems be restored andpreserved as the best means for natural systemsto cope with dramatic change. Fishers are animportant part of the restoration of the Olym-pic peninsula’s forests.

OPA looks forward to the reestablishmentof this missing species at Olympic National

The Fisher Reintroduction Plan / EA is available on the park planning web site: http://parkplanning.nps.gov:80document.cfm?parkId=329&projectId=10586&documentID=20405.

For more information, go to olympicparkassociates.org

Fisher, continued from P. 1.

Fisher kits, courtesy of Mass. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.

Roaring gravel trucks and the thunder ofrock blasting are now part of the visitors’experience as they drive the Elwha River roadinto Olympic National Park. Wildlife andhikers, as well as local residents, endure noisydistractions in a place where one has expectedserenity.

Puget Sound Surfacers, Inc. has secured apermit to access their 40-acre site under theForest Practices Act, which permits “explora-tion”. By keeping mining operations to lessthan 3 acres, Puget Sound Surfacers are usingDNR’s forest practices permit to avoid miningregulation jurisdiction by either the DNR orClallam County.

Though logging is not the intent of thisoperation, the Department of Natural Re-sources (DNR) claims that they have issued thepermit properly.

Clallam County does have jurisdictionbecause the site is considered a critical area –land that is environmentally sensitive becauseof wetlands, aquatic habitats, rivers, and

OPA Supports Appeal of Elwha Miningby John Woolley

landslide hazard areas. The quarry site, on Olympic Hot Springs Road,falls into this category because it has been designated a landscapehazard area. Its slopes exceed the critical 65 percent; indeed, the site hasslopes up to 120 percent grade.

Toby Thaler, lawyer for the local citizen group, Upper Elwha Con-servation Committee says it appears that “they are evading countyjurisdiction over this messy operation.”

The marbled murrelet, an endangered species, nests in the area, soblasting was prohibited from April 1 to August 31. Protesters attemptedto block blasting operations that were performed March 30 and31. Blasting has been permitted since Sept 1.

OPA has decided to support the Elwha citizens in their effort to seethat “state laws are properly implemented, and public resources appro-priately conserved.” DNR is allowing mining with little or nomitigation. Mining neglects the needs of salmon, which need no moresilt in their waters. Noise and visual pollution at a major entrance toOlympic National Park is just not acceptable.

A hearing before the Forest Practices Appeal Board, scheduled forApril 28, 2008, in Port Angeles, will determine whether the quarry isoperating legally under the law.

For more information,see http:/web.mac.com/savetheupperelwha

Park. As we wrote in OPA’s comment letter on the EA, “We commendthe Park Service for producing an outstanding plan. It should serve as amodel for future species reintroductions in Olympic and elsewhere.”

4


In one of the longest snorkel surveys evercompleted in North America, fisheries biolo-gists recently swam the length of the ElwhaRiver – from its headwaters to its mouth – witha goal of establishing a baseline of the river’sfish population before dam removal begins.

The forty-two mile underwater trip began atan elevation of 2,250 feet, just above ChicagoCamp in the upper Elwha Valley, and ended atsea level where the river enters the Strait ofJuan de Fuca, west of Port Angeles.

Twenty-one biologists from the NationalPark Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,U.S. Geological Survey, the lower ElwhaKlallam Tribe, the National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration, PeninsulaCollege, and the Wild Salmon Center partici-

pated in the snorkelsurvey. The study wasprimarily funded bythe U.S. Fish andWildlife Service.

“We are verygrateful to our manypartners who pro-vided staff, expertiseand support for thislandmark study,” saidOlympic NationalPark Superintendent

Biologist-Divers Complete 42-mile Snorkel Survey of Elwha Riverby Barb Maynes, Olympic National Park

Bill Laitner. “As we continue to move closer toremoving the two Elwha River dams, it’svitally important that we have an understand-ing of the ecosystem as it is today.”

“Establishing a baseline of fish populationsbefore dam removal will help us better under-stand and measure the success of dam removaland restoration,” Laitner continued.

Biologists found the greatest diversity offish below the two dams, an expected resultsince the dams have blocked fish access sincethey were constructed in the early 1900s.Excellent fish habitat exists above the damshowever, where the river is protected withinOlympic National Park.

In the five river miles below the dams,divers observed Chinook, pink, and cohosalmon, along with sculpin, bull trout,threespine sticklebacks, starry flounder, andfreshwater mussels.

Above the dams, snorkelers encounteredonly rainbow trout and bull trout, species thathave been physically isolated from theircounterparts below the dams for over 90 years.Rainbow trout, bull trout and one non-nativebrook trout were found between the two dams.

In total, divers observed 7,300 rainbowtrout, 215 bull trout, 539 adult Chinooksalmon, and 26 pink salmon. The bull trout andChinook salmon found in the Elwha River areboth listed as threatened on the federal endan-gered species list.

“Perhaps the most riveting aspect of theheadwaters to ocean survey was the reality thatPacific salmonids will be rewarded withexceptionally high quality spawning gravels inremote sections of Olympic National Parkfollowing dam removal,” said Sam Brenkman,fisheries biologist at Olympic National Park.

The Elwha River was once one of the mostproductive salmon streams in the PacificNorthwest, home to all five species of Pacificsalmon, as well as other fish species. TheElwha and Giles Canyon dams have blockedfish from all but the lowest five miles of theriver since the early 1900s. Removal of the twodams will restore the Elwha to its natural, free-flowing state and will once again allow fishaccess to over 70 river miles of habitat nowprotected within Olympic National Park. Damremoval will begin after water quality protec-tion facilities are complete.

Above, a biologist/snorkeler records baseline data on Elwha River.Below, a rainbow trout in the upper Elwha.Photos courtesy of National Park Service.

5


OPA has lost a long-time and much-loved trustee, Ed Tisch. Edwas a friend, botanist, teacher, poet, and a devotee of Robert Frostand John Burroughs. He brought valuable knowledge and wisdom toOPA discussions of Olympic ecology, and wrote many fascinatingbotanical articles for the Voice over the years.

Ed grew up Catskill Mountains, and earned a master’s degree inwildlife biology at the University of Montana. He spent two years asone of the first Peace Corps volunteers in Chile and remained in touchwith the families he met there.

The following are excerpts from a memorial article written by EdSchrieiner and Diane Doss, friends and former students of Ed Tisch.

October 28, 1937- September 6, 2007Ed Tisch

Resurrectionby Ed Tisch

Small alder stumpfour inches at the crown...twelve summers it grew,donning moss socks,reaching for light,trespassing on a road.

Then someone in charge of spacenipped it two feet high,pridefully put it down.

Today the saw-cut darkens;death seems imminent.But half-way downsix dormant buds awaken,nudge bark aside,begin the re-ascent.

Port Angeles, WashingtonApril 23, 2003

Photo by Lynn Edgington, from PeninsulaCollege Buccaneer, June 13, 2007.

It is with great sadness we must report the passing ofEd Tisch. Ed was a botanist and teacher extraordinaire,spending 41 years teaching biology and botany in PortAngeles, Washington at Peninsula College…. Ed was afriend and mentor to many…. His boundless enthusiasmfor the natural world, particularly plants, was contagious.During his teaching career he taught on the order of 9,000students….

People who did not know Ed have no idea of themagnitude of his contribution to botany…. Ed Tischinitiated…a renewed interest in the unique flora of theOlympic Peninsula.

Ed Tisch arrived on the Olympic Peninsula in 1966; thefirst of his more than 100 specimens in the ONP herbariumis dated 31 August, 1966. Up to that point there wereapproximately 2,200 vascular plant specimens in the parkherbarium; today there are nearly 8,000 specimens. Ofthese, more than half are attributable to Ed, his students,and friends.

In addition to encouraging botanical exploration of thePeninsula, Ed discovered two previously undescribed taxa:Saxifraga tischii Skelly and Corallorhiza maculata Raf.var. ozettensis E.L. Tisch.

The collaboration of Ed [with two former students] ledto publication of Vascular Plants of the Olympic Penin-sula, Washington: A Catalog …. and later, a list of 100 orso native plants not previously known to occur on theOlympic Peninsula.

Ed Tisch was a man of many talents…. In 1974 he co-founded the Foothills Poetry Series (now the FoothillsWriters Series) along with Peninsula College Englishprofessor Jack Estes and local poets Tim McNulty andMike O’Connor. Ed continued to write poetry, publishingseveral in a special book, At the Open End of a Flower….

Celebrations of Ed Tisch’s life were held by Peninsula College andby family and friends in Port Angeles.

Ed’s family is establishing an Ed Tisch scholarship fund at Penin-sula College for the study of the natural environment on the NorthOlympic Peninsula.

6


A Park Service proposal to increase en-trance fees from $15 to $25 dollars has floppedin the marketplace. Individual (foot andbicyclist) fee would more than double from $5to $12. Seasonal passes would jump from $30to $50.

The proposed increase was met with aresounding groan.

Local communi-ties and tourist-basedindustries fear theextra expense wouldlimit park visitation,particularly whencoupled with risinggas prices. Others fearit will make Olympicand other high-feeparks the exclusive domain of the wealthy –and elderly. Lifetime passes for seniors (apowerful lobby) would remain at $10.

Olympic initiated entrance fees in the1980s. Currently the park raises $1.5 millionannually from fees. Eighty percent of thisremains in the park, where it pays for amenitiessuch as picnic tables, bear-proof food lockers,vault toilets, and updated visitor centers. Apark spokesman told the Seattle Times the newfee increases would bring in an additional$400,000 each year.

The park superintendent has not yet recom-mended a fee increase to the Washington D.C.office.

New Park Fees Flop, But Help Is On the WayOPA has long urged strong Congressional

support for our national parks, and help may beon the way.

Recently, Congressman Norm Dicks, chairof the House Interior and Environment Appro-priations Subcommittee, has stepped up andpassed a House budget bill that includes an

increase of $199million for the parks,as well as $85 millionfor critical repair andmaintenance and $50million for theCentennial ChallengeProgram, which willfund projects ofnational significancewithin the parks.

Dicks also guided through the House a $65million appropriation for national forest roadrepair and decommissioning, a $56 millionincrease for national wildlife refuge manage-ment, and a $70 million boost in the Land &Water Conservation Fund to purchase criticaladditions to national parks, preserves, andrecreation areas.

At press time, all this has moved over to theSenate for consideration.

It is a pleasure to see a Democratic Con-gress give well-deserved priority to naturalresource issues.

“It is a pleasure to see aDemocratic Congress

give well-deserved priorityto natural resource issues.”

As Chair of House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, he is championing:♦♦♦♦♦ $199 million for national parks♦♦♦♦♦ $85 million for critical repair and maintenance♦♦♦♦♦ $65 million for national forest road repair and decommissioning♦♦♦♦♦ $56 million for national wildlife refuge management♦♦♦♦♦ $50 million for Centennial Challenge Program for park projects of national significance♦♦♦♦♦ $70 million increase in Land & Water Conservation Fund to purchase critical areas

Thanks to Congressman Norm Dicks

7


As fall rains swell the Dosewallips River,the elk hunker down, and salmon and steelheadbegin their upriver migrations. But the multi-agency report on the fate of the DosewallipsRoad has once more experienced delay.Apparently, there is no easy way to presentthree bad choices for road management whilerefusing to consider the only one that makessense: convert the road beyond the washout toa trail.

The Forest Service, National Park Service,and federal highway administrators havealready announced that the environmentalimpact statement (EIS) on repairing theDosewallips Road will not look at the option oftrail conversion (see New Park Service Study toReconstruct Dosewallips Road in the Summer,2007 Voice). The rock and the hard-placeoptions the agencies have left are reconstruct-ing the road through critical spawning habitatin the river or building a bypass road up anexcessively steep side hill and through aspectacular grove of ancient forest.

Dosewallips Road Report Delayedby Tim McNulty

Both options would access two primitivecampgrounds (that are well-used now by hikersand bicyclists), and two trail heads.

Neither option makes much sense. But both reflect a Bush administration

obsession with motorized access coupled withan utter disregard for the environment, wild-land protections, or federally listedspecies. Threatened chinook salmon, steelhead,northern spotted owls and marbled murrelet allcome into play in this decision.

Unfortunately, what won’t come into playin the EIS is a sustainable solution for theDosewallips Valley, one that would involve anew trail head, parking area, and planning for adownstream campground. A similar solutionfor the Carbon River Valley at Mount Rainierreceived strong support from park users andlocal communities.

The Dosewallips Road EIS is now expectedin December. OPA, Olympic Forest Coalitionand other organizations are committed to asensible and sustainable solution for thisstunning wild river valley.

Look for announcements in a forthcoming issue of Voice of the Wild Olympics,in special mailings,

or on OPA’s web site at olympicparkassociates.org.

Polly Dyer, Bonnie Phillips, and Tim McNulty visit site of proposed Dosewallips bypass road. Photo by Jim Scarborough

8


Plan for Jackson Timber Sale ImprovesFrom OFCO News

by Jim Scarborough

Please sendcomments to:Forest Supervisor Dale Hom,c/o Yewah Lau, Hood Canal Ranger DistrictP.O. Box 280, Quilcene, WA 98376,or email to: [email protected].

The U.S. Forest Service has published a231-page environmental assessment (EA) forthe “Jackson Thinning” timber sale betweenQuilcene and Brinnon. The Olympic ForestCoalition (OFCO) has been monitoring thiscontroversial proposal since its roll-out inMarch, 2005, at which time it landed with adistinct thud. With the sale’s original iterationincluding logging on the recreational mecca ofMount Walker and the lovely slope of MountTurner above Hood Canal, public condemna-tion was swift. A Forest Service-sponsoredfield trip in ’05 was attended by 28 skepticalfolks made up of local residents, conservationorganizations, and government agencies. TheForest Service received a petition from 144individuals opposing the sale.

The public ire directed at the Jackson saleproposal had much to do with its highly visibleand visited location along Highway 101, aswell as the presence of many neighbors whovalue the unbroken expanse of green risingabove their back doors. The area’s popularityand accessibility contributed to its designationas “scenic” in Olympic National Forest’s 1990Land and Resource Management Plan. Alsotripping the alarms, however, was Jackson’sfocus on logging much older forest than hadbeen seen in any Olympic National Foresttimber sale since the bitterly contested “sal-vage rider” old-growth logging of the mid-1990s. Extensive swaths of naturally regener-ated forest dating from fires in the late 1800sblanket the area, particularly on Mounts Walkerand Turner. The latter peak also sports remnantlegacy trees over three hundred years of age.

The Forest Service packages each timbersale these days in the guise of “accelerating”the development of old-growth conditions.Relying primarily on Oregon-based research indryer, warmer forests, the supposition thatthinning somehow improves maturing (i.e.,greater than 50 years of age) second-growthforests has been hotly debated. But in the caseof the Jackson sale, it was clear that this statedjustification was mostly window dressing. Theforest of Mounts Walker and Turner is whollynatural and just a few decades away fromachieving genuine old-growth status all on its

own. Like generations of trees before, much ofthis forest has sprung up nicely from a stand-replacement fire, an infrequent but typicaldisturbance phenomenon in this unique,maritime-influenced part of the Olympicrainshadow.

As Teddy Roosevelt once said aboutanother special place: “Keep this great wonderas it is. You cannot improve it. The ages havebeen at work on it and man can only mar it.”We believe the winds, rain and sun shouldcontinue to have their way on the deep forestcloaking Mount Walker and Mount Turner. Theelements there need no help from us.

Consequently, we were mostly pleased toreceive the Jackson EA in late August, whicheliminates the proposed logging units in MountTurner’s ample marbled murrelet habitat, andappears to also be backing away from cuttingon Mount Walker. Our sense is the localcommunity will simply not allow Walker to besubjected to the chainsaw – a view DistrictRanger Dean Yoshina appears to share in hisintroductory letter to the EA, where he stateshis preference for a “modified” Alternative B,which includes no Walker units.

On the downside, though, Mr. Yoshinadesires to keep “Unit 6” near Rocky BrookFalls in the sale. Unit 6 is in a Late Succes-sional Reserve, where the forest is ostensiblymanaged for the maintenance and/or develop-ment of old-growth characteristics, with nosilvicultural activity allowed in forest over 80years of age. The Forest Service views Unit 6as younger than this age limit, but field visitsby OFCO have in fact revealed three ageclasses of trees intermixed there – two ofwhich are well over 80 years. Given that theJackson sale’s stated purpose and need re-volves around moving targeted stands towardolder forest conditions (putting aside for amoment the improbability of logging achievinganything of the sort), it makes little sense toretain Unit 6, which already features abundantolder-forest attributes. Even without Unit 6,Alternative B would still log 1,606 acres.

As feared, haul road construction stillplagues this sale, too – a perennial issue theForest Service is either unable or unwilling toface despite degraded watersheds, depressedsalmon stocks, and vast public monies beingexpended to help an ailing Puget Sound. Five

Continued on P. 9, Jackson

9


and a half miles of new road construction onboth virgin alignments and old, vegetatedgrades would occur even with Alternative B,which is unacceptable. Much of this would occurin a Late Successional Reserve, where theNorthwest Forest Plan makes clear that roadconstruction “generally is not recommended.”Helpfully, though, the Forest Service doesinclude an Alternative C in the Jackson EA thatwould entail less than a mile of new road

construction, but which includes logging onMount Walker with helicopters (a certain no-go).

OFCO will be submitting formal commentsto the Forest Service on the Jackson sale andencourages you to do the same. We would bewilling to accept a “hybrid” sale design,joining Alternative B’s elimination of theMount Walker units (and minus the “modified”B’s Unit 6) with Alternative C’s scaling backof harmful road construction.

Jackson, continued from P. 8

As one who first broke-in his old, leatherhiking boots under the influence of BobWood’s 1968 classic, Trail Country, OlympicNational Park, I’ve been uneasy with thestring of Olympic hiking guides that havefollowed.

Wood’s trail guide was updated, expandedand reissued by The Mountaineers in 1984 asthe definitive Olympic Mountains Trail Guide,National Park and National Forest (now in its3rd edition, $18.95 from The MountaineersBooks). Wood’s guide offers more than accu-rate route descriptions: it shares an intimacywith the back country won over a lifetime ofpassionate exploration. Wood remarkedknowledgeably on the Olympics’ geology,natural history, human history (of which hewas an expert), as well as the conservationissues that swirl over the area like storm clouds.

Having written about topics previouslycovered by Bob Wood, I know he is a tough actto follow. Nevertheless, a gaggle of Olympichiking guides have risen to the occasion. Myrough count, including Harvey Manning andIra Spring’s 100 Hikes in the South Cascadesand Olympics is a half dozen. The newest,Craig Romano’s Day Hiking: Olympic Penin-sula is easily the best of the lot.

Romano covers not only national park andforest hikes, but lowland rambles from theColumbia River (a new range extension for theOlympic Peninsula) to BainbridgeIsland. Included are lowland hikes aroundOlympia and Aberdeen as well as popularhikes in the park. The book is arranged geo-graphically and features a handy matrix listingdistance, difficulty, kid friendliness, and suchfor each hike. Descriptions include excellentarea maps showing roads, trails and topographic

Day Hiking, Olympic Peninsulaby Craig Romano, The Mountaineers Books, 360 pages, $18.95

features, and diagrams of elevations andmileages. Black and white photos are sprinkledthroughout.

The book is compact, easy to use andcomprehensive. Still, Romano manages to missa few. You won’t find the beautiful, all-seasonWest Elwha Trail described here (though it’smentioned as an “obscure trail”). And thestunning old-growth forest along the shortShady Lane Trail at Skokomish (one of BobWood’s favorites) gets no mention at all.

But these are small points to be sure. Amore serious disagreement with the author isover the Dosewallips Road.

In an extended sidebar, Romano favorsreconstructing the road, even though it couldmean “losing some old-growth trees andpossibly increasing sedimentation in theriver.” He gives extensive coverage to thearguments for reopening the road, includingthe discredited charge that “local businesseshave been hard hit” by the closure. He equatesmotorized access with public access, a strangeposition for the author of hiking guide: “If thetax-paying public can’t access their lands, willthey continue to vote to support them?” TheArctic Refuge has once again provided theanswer to that tiresome rhetorical question:Americans everywhere will vote for them.

The late Robert Wood and Harvey Manningwere committed wilderness activists first, whoshared their passion for wildlands in theirguidebooks. Both served on OPA’s board.Romano supports wilderness designation fornational forest roadless areas, and has written abook on preserving the Columbia highlands.But he fosters the impression that day-hikingenthusiasts today seem more committed to easeof access than to the wild areas they promote.

Reviewed by Tim McNulty

Book Review:

10


This book, Wilderness Alps: Conservationand Conflict in Washington’s North Cas-cades, was written and edited by the partici-pants in the events to be discussed in thisreview. Most of the copy has been written byHarvey Manning. Ken Wilcox, together withsome North Cascades Conservation Councilboard members, who took over the editing ofthe book, rewrote portions of it and addedsections about some of the events that hap-pened in recent years.

Sally Soest, editor of Voice of the WildOlympics, pushed the book to me, asking me towrite a review for the Voice. I stalled her in mybest procrastination mode. Why? Because Iwas one of the participants and I could not geta handle on how to go about writing a review.

That changed recently after attending anational Wilderness Society gathering for theirGoverning Council at Sun Mountain Lodgenear Winthrop. The gathering was a prelude toa North Cascades Initiative that the WildernessSociety is working toward. That event gave mea purpose for this book review. This book, Irealized after I left the meeting, is a guide book(a cook book, if you will) on how to create anational park and/or a wilderness area onpublic land.

During dinner on the second evening of theWilderness Society’s gathering, one of theeminent leaders of their Governing Councilasked to sit at our table to hear about how theNorth Cascades Conservation Council helpedcreate a national park. He sat between my wife,Laura, and me as I sketched that story for him.What emerged in 35 minutes of discussion wasa troubling contrast in philosophies – theidealists of the classical conservation organiza-tions in the Northwest, versus a newly collabo-rative philosophy among those who believe ina so-called “new reality”.“Idealist” Conservation

During dinner I described essentially thehistory that is recorded in Wilderness Alps:Conservation and Conflict in Washington’sNorth Cascades – how we created NorthCascades National Park. I explained that afterWorld War II the Northwest was a dead zonefor conservation. The Mountaineers emergedout of its conservation doldrums, and conserva-tion-minded citizens brought wilderness

conferences to Portland and Seattle. Attendeesincluded national leaders in conservation suchas Howard Zahniser of the Wilderness Society,George Marshall (brother of Robert Marshall),David Brower of the Sierra Club, and FredPackard of National Parks Association.

Out of The Mountaineers, the North Cas-cades Conservation Council emerged, to takeup the special issues of wilderness and publicland. This movement was kick-started byBrower and Grant McConnell of Stehekin,Vice-Provost of the University of California atSanta Barbara. It was the first step towardcreating a national park in the North Cascades.

We saw the need to build public supportfrom other organizations: local people inter-ested in the hiking and climbing, and the publicat large. We visited Senator Scoop Jackson inhis office who, told us, “You get up the parade,and I will lead it.” So we did. One result was afilm by Brower, Wilderness Alps of theStehekin, with many copies produced. Localorganizations always seemed to need a pro-gram, and the film Wilderness Alps of theStehekin filled that need. So local people wereexposed to the magnificence and beauty of theNorth Cascades.

In addition, two table-top format bookswere published, one by The Mountaineers andone by the Sierra Club. Beautiful and enticingphotos demonstrated the special character ofthe Northwest mountains. Both books includedliterary quality writing by Harvey Manningand others.

Step by step, public interest was buildingfor this parade. Finally two major Northwestmedia companies entered in. Young KING TVproduced a program essentially even-handed,but the ammunition thrown in by the “idealis-tic” conservationists overwhelmed the specialinterests. Then came the Seattle Times with aseries of personal editorials from one of itslead editors, Walt Woodward, promoting anational park. Little by little we built up publicsupport for Scoop’s parade.

When Senator Jackson passed a nationalpark bill in the Senate, Wayne Aspinall of theHouse Committee on Interior was not happy,and scheduled a hearing in Seattle to hear whatthe locals thought, no doubt from the urging of

Wilderness Alps: Conservation and Conflict in Washington’s North Cascadesby Harvey Manning with the North Cascades Conservation Council. Northwest Wild Books, Bellingham Washington.Copyright 2007 by North Cascades Conservation Council, PO Box 95980, University Station, Seattle, Washington 98145.

Reviewed byPhilip H. Zalesky

Book Review and Wilderness Philosophy:

Wilderness, continued on P. 11.

11


Jackson. At the time of this dinner discussionwith our Wilderness Society leader, I cited thenumber who wanted to testify. Afterward Iwent back to Wilderness Alps: Conservationand Conflict, I found I had been far, far toolow in the estimate. Actually the numberasking to testify was between 700 to 800people. This wave of testimony was duelargely to the diligent efforts of one man –Patrick Goldsworthy, president of the NorthCascades Conservation Council. (At this pointin our dinner discussion with the leader of theWilderness Society, he turned to some staffpeople nearby and said, “Now this is what youhave to do.”)

As Aspinall walked into the hearing roomfuming, he was heard saying, “Who are thesepeople anyway!” Representative Morris Udallfound another room in the Benjamin Franklinhotel where he and Representative LloydMeeds heard additional testimony from peoplefor two days. People were asked to draw strawsto testify and others were asked to just submittheir paper testimony.

The parade succeeded! The “idealists” wonthe day! The bill passed, and we had a newnational park! The book, Wilderness Alps:Conservation and Conflict in Washington’sNorth Cascades, is a fine history of theaccomplishment of volunteer conservationists.“Realist” Conservation: Collaborat-ing Our Wilderness Away?

In the next stage of our dinner discussionthe Wilderness Society leader espoused a verydifferent philosophy. He said that the world haschanged, and old tactics often are not suffi-cient. In Idaho you had to be “realistic.”“Traditional tactics simply would not work.You have to collaborate with groups and thecommunity to get what you can get.”

So this explains what happened with theBoulder-White Cloud Wilderness bill. TheWilderness Society was just one of the playersdeveloping a wilderness proposal. Landconveyance backers, economic interests, andmotorized advocacy groups were part of thegroup.

Although the local Idaho WildernessSociety had worked hard for wilderness, theresulting “collaboration”, in my opinion, is adisaster. It would leave open an existing single-track motorized trail lying between twoproposed Wilderness Areas. The proposalwould prohibit any federal reservation of water

rights in wilderness. The bill hands over about7,000 acres of federal land to towns in Custerand Blaine counties to be opened for secondhome development, with the goal of creating alocal tax base on currently federal land. Fiftymillion dollars of private easement moneydedicated for scenic land in the SawtoothNational Recreation Area will be given away,including an easement of land funded bydonations of $341,000 to be presented to thetown of Stanley. A policy of no net loss ofmotorized trails, mainly in the SawtoothNational Recreation Area, means that if onetrail is closed due to environmental damage,equivalent new mileage must be opened upelsewhere. The Boulder-White Cloud Wilder-ness proposal ended up wrapped into theCentral Idaho Economic Development andRecreation (CIEDRA) Plan, H.R. 222.

Laura, John Edwards, and I peppered ourWilderness Society dinner companion withquestions. We said that groups such as ourOlympic Park Associates and North CascadesConservation Council were frightened by theimplications of this sort of collaboration. Wasthis going to be the new public policy of theWilderness Society? Representative MikeSimpson of Idaho introduced the CIEDRA bill,and a Simpson staff member for public landswas quoted as saying, “We think stand-alonewilderness is done. The trend seems to betowards legislation based on compromiseamong various interests.” (This staff memberformerly worked for Representative GregWalton of Oregon, who had created the SteensMountain Wilderness Area, a “collaboration”with the cattle industry.)

This new “realistic” philosophy of collabo-ration coming from a national environmentalleader like The Wilderness Society concerns usdeeply. This approach is in stark contrast to thesuccessful campaigns described in the bookbeing reviewed. This is why you should readWilderness Alps: Conservation and Conflictin Washington’s North Cascades as a guide-book.

Our philosophy of vigorous grassrootsinvolvement and “idealistic” reluctance tocompromise away our treasures has beensuccessful in the past, and should continue tobe so. Copies of this “guide” book were givento members of the Wilderness Society’sGoverning Council and to a few staff members,with some hope that their North CascadesInitiative develops differently from whathappened in Idaho.

“Our philosophyof vigorousgrassrootsinvolvement and‘idealistic’reluctance tocompromise awayour treasureshas beensuccessfulin the past, andshould continueto be so.”

Wilderness, continued from P. 10.

12


Olympic Park AssociatesMembership Application

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of a World Heritage Site and its wildernessis infinite.

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VOICE OF THE WILD OLYMPICSSally W. Soest, Editor

Olympic Park Associates13245 40th Avenue N.E.Seattle, WA 98125

Olympic Park AssociatesMembership Application

Membership includes subscription to the OPApublication, Voice of the Wild Olympics.

$250 Individual Life$50 Associate Organization$35+ Contributing$25 Family$20 Individual Member$5 Student / Low Income$____ Gift (not tax-deductible)

The value of an organization endeavoring to promotethe protection and integrity

of a World Heritage Site and its wildernessis infinite.

Name____________________Date_____Street_____________________________City______________State___ZIP______

Please mail to:Laura Zalesky, Membership Chair2433 Del Campo Drive, Everett, WA 98208

Were it not for alert and watchful groupslike Olympic Park Associates and

the North Cascades Conservation Council...the parks and forests would be in shambles

under commercial control.Michael Frome, noted conservationist,

writer and wilderness advocate.

Tisch’s saxifrage. Photo by Malcolm McGregor.

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