Monday, November 8, 2010

Skeptical observations

Here are two recent posts taken from the Turns-All-Year website where there is a lengthy thread on the proposed expansion:

     I attended the AALP presentation at REI last night (in Bellingham) and  left with far more questions and concerns than I went in with. Sorry I didn’t get the name of the presenters and will have to refer to them as THEM. Or the AALP. The meeting was populated by folks who seemed sympathetic to the expansion proposal. I might have been the only skeptic in the room, if there were others they didn’t speak up. City of Subdued Excitement after all.

     The AALP is not done drawing their proposal map apparently. The presenter asked the group what other areas they would like to see included in the proposal and the Nooksack Cirque and Artist Point received nods from the audience. The presenter expressed a personal desire to see better access to the Nooksack Cirque and Artist Point was touted as a possible visitor center. They also discussed moving the park boundary at Hannegan Pass to include the pass. 

The speaker discussed some of the meetings he has had with the various user groups. He was unapologetic about negative outcomes for other user groups saying that a certain loss of freedom is necessary to adequately protect the natural resources of the region.

I was able to ask two questions. 
Q. What percentage of the 300,000 annual visitors to the HWY 20 corridor are engaged in activities that would be prohibited if the  park proposal goes through?
A.  I don’t know, the park study didn’t address that.

Q. Regarding the hatch marked area of the proposed expansion(see map), what specific threat do you see to that area?
A. Small Hydroelectric development. The permits are on the books.
Q. Is that a realistic threat? Hydro in the shadow of Liberty Bell?
A. (shrug) The permits are on the book
s.

And another post by the same person:

Indeed, their shoulder  shrugging was very telling. Some other unsettling attitudes emerged during the meeting. Any talk about accommodating the desires of affected user groups is lip service at best. A very clear anti-hunting, anti-motor, anti-dog, anti-mountain bike, anti-ski area agenda was voiced. Regarding backcountry skiers they made it clear they don’t understand the demographic, referring to , “cross country skiers who like to use snowmobiles to access the backcountry.”  Huh? As someone stated earlier in the thread this appears to be an attempt to garner a wide base of support early in the game using soothing language and gauzy environmental platitudes. The people currently using the Hwy 20 corridor are exactly the people who would stand up to a legitimate environmental threat to the area. This proposal alienates nearly all of them by creating a police state wilderness.

JRD’s post on page 2 of this thread reads like a doomsday scenario. A very cynical vision of the North Cascades future. Gold mining! Logging! Hydro! Biomass extraction? Should I buy my backyard bomb shelter now?

The AALP suggestion that we should be willing to give up the freedom we currently enjoy makes me very prickly. The proposal in it’s current form is probably intentionally over reaching in anticipation of the whittling that will occur when the various interest groups catch wind of it. They are asking for a lot of territory and their sights are set on  Hwy 542 to include Mt. Sefrit, Goat Mt., Larabee, Tomyhoi and low elevation wetlands along the Nooksack river.

My skin in the game? I’m an avid split boarder, dog owner, hunter/gatherer, mountain biker, Nordic skier and wannabe heli-rider. The reason I moved to Whatcom County is to have the North Cascades as a backyard. This ill-advised proposal hits home.
 

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

The North Cascades Parkway

     It took nearly 100 years for the North Cascades Highway to finally be completed since the concept of a northern crossing in the state was first considered. The first public crossing of the highway took place in 1968, back when this stretch of road was referred to as the North Cross State Highway. Officially, the highway opened in September of 1972 for two and a half months. And since then, except for the winter of 1976-77, the highway has closed for several months in the winter.
    Relative to its youthful age and remote location, the North Cascades Highway has been a longtime popular traveling destination for tourists and recreation enthusiasts as well as being an important commerce and transportation route for the rural communities on both sides of the mountain range. The highway also continues to grow in popularity as evidenced by the increase in traffic the last past decade. Statistics from the Washington State Department of Transportation from their Cutthroat junction traffic counter show a steady, yearly increase in the average daily number of vehicles from 640 in 2006 to 920 in 2009.
     That may not seem like much traffic, but if you are familiar with the highway, then you know that for a daily average, those numbers, growing as they are, are pretty impressive. The past week, especially given this time of year and weather conditions, there certainly wasn't 920 vehicles coming or going over the North Cascades Highway each day.
     Without a doubt, the bulk of the traffic occurs on weekends from July to September. Before that time, there is some periods of significant travel, but with much of the high country that is accessible from the road still buried under snow, the vast majority of the traffic is just passing through.
     And that is one of the main concerns with plans to expand the park: This could turn the North Cascades Highway into an absolute nightmare to drive, especially on certain weekends. Already annual traffic counts are growing. Creating a national park that encompasses the highway, changing that section into the North Cascades Parkway, as presented in the AALP Economic Study, will suddenly jack the number of vehicles way beyond what is steadily growing now. AALP proponents, concerned as they seem about climate change, laud the increased visitation that will come to the highway with a park expansion. Nearly all of this increased numbers will be by vehicle. Congestion, traffic hazards, noise and air pollution could all become major issues on this scenic highway.
      The North Cascades Highway is an unique and beautiful stretch of road that will have its current qualities diminish if the North Cascades National Park is expanded along its corridor.