Proponents of expanding the North Cascades National Park would have one believe that there is "a great demand for moving the park boundaries closer to the Methow valley and Marblemount" (The Wild Cascades newsletter, Spring '09).
Well, that depends on who you and where you ask: In the local communities on both sides of the crest, it would not be a stretch to say there is a great deal of concern about plans to expand the park and turning these rural towns into "national park gateways," that would apparently, according to AALP supporters and their Economic Study, bring great economic prosperity to these regions (more on that later).
For better or for worse, the small hamlet of Stehekin at the north end of Lake Chelan provides an excellent and local example of what can occur with public land designation changes that brings the National Park Service into an existing community (in this case the formation of Lake Chelan National Recreation Area back in 1968 when the park was established). Surely, like other places across the country, becoming and developing into a national park gateway community is a double-edged sword – some sort of jobs and dollars come into play, but so do a host of growth and development concerns, like traffic congestion, pollution, crime issues and rapid growth. If you have been to places like West Yellowstone and Gaitlinburg, TN then you have experienced one example of a national park gateway community.
But maybe, one can argue, it would be different in Marblemount, Mazama and Winthrop. Who can really say 10 or 20 years from now what may happen to these communities after turning into national park gateways?
Folks in Stehekin can offer their perspective, and it seems like a mixed bag, for sure. This quote from a Seattle Times article back in 1991 offers some insight: "There were 1,700 acres in private hands when the 62,000-acre recreation area was created. But the Park Service has been buying private land, and it is now down to 477 acres."
Interesting.
On a humorous note, here is a spoof video to enjoy that is a bit over the top, but perhaps poignant as well: Big Park
