Forum Index > Trail Talk > Talapus lake and Ira Spring TH access roads will close periodically throughout Spring/Summer 2022
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
Slim
This space for rent



Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 560 | TRs | Pics
Location: Falling off a turnip truck
Slim
This space for rent
PostWed May 11, 2022 8:48 am 
Intermittent closures of FS 9030 and FS 9031 will be required during the Bandera Restoration Project. Operations will take place throughout the spring and summer of 2022. The two roads are located off Exit 45 from I-90, and connect hikers to the Talapus Lake Trailhead and the Ira Springs Trailhead. The contract between SPI and DNR requires at least one of the roads to remain open to the public. Both roads must be open from noon on Fridays through Sunday nights, as well as on all federally recognized holidays. https://www.dnr.wa.gov/news/mt-baker-snoqualmie-national-forest-dnr-team-good-neighbor-authority-bandera-restoration

"Lean mean money-making-machines serving fiends"

ALW Hiker, Slugman
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
thunderhead
Member
Member


Joined: 14 Oct 2015
Posts: 1511 | TRs | Pics
thunderhead
Member
PostFri May 13, 2022 2:12 pm 
Good. Those roads are in rough shape, and it sounds like they are getting improved?

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks



Joined: 13 Feb 2007
Posts: 7216 | TRs | Pics
Location: Stuck in the middle
puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks
PostFri May 13, 2022 3:47 pm 
I'm not necessarily opposed to forest thinning along the I-90 corridor but a lot of this reads like a feel-good press release. "The Bandera Restoration Project will take place around the south side of Bandera Mountain. Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) successfully bid for the project in 2019. In addition to restoration of salmon habitat and trail improvements, the project will provide green power to homes through cogeneration and produce commercial lumber from the removal of younger trees and by thinning uniform stands that lack diversity for wildlife habitat and are prone to insect and disease outbreaks." 1. There are no salmon upstream of Snoqualmie Falls 2. I can only guess that cogeneration means burning some of the harvested forest product. Is that green?

Mid Fork Rocksflickr

Now I Fly
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Bramble_Scramble
Member
Member


Joined: 28 Dec 2012
Posts: 312 | TRs | Pics
Bramble_Scramble
Member
PostFri May 13, 2022 11:26 pm 
Didn't they thin along that road about ten years ago? I remember they put in or fixed up a side road as well as heli-logged. I had a very close call along 9031 around that time with a logging truck. He was going way too fast unloaded around a corner. We stopped within inches of each other. I had to back about a quarter mile to find somewhere to pull over with him following me right next to my bumper. Will be nice to see them fix up that road. It was in horrible condition the last time I was there 5 years ago. Haven't been back since because of how insane the parking on both sides of the road was. Couldn't turn around anywhere. That's what I get for trying to go on a weekend I guess.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Chief Joseph
Member
Member


Joined: 10 Nov 2007
Posts: 7676 | TRs | Pics
Location: Verlot-Priest Lake
Chief Joseph
Member
PostFri May 13, 2022 11:39 pm 
Bramble_Scramble wrote:
I had a very close call along 9031 around that time with a logging truck. He was going way too fast unloaded around a corner. We stopped within inches of each other. I had to back about a quarter mile to find somewhere to pull over with him following me right next to my bumper.
Yes, I am more afraid of logging trucks than grizzly bears over on the east side of Priest lake mainly, they obviously get paid by the load, frickin' maniacs.

Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
thunderhead
Member
Member


Joined: 14 Oct 2015
Posts: 1511 | TRs | Pics
thunderhead
Member
PostSun May 15, 2022 10:41 am 
puzzlr wrote:
2. I can only guess that cogeneration means burning some of the harvested forest product. Is that green?
Ya, you basically take the leftover scrap after you cut logs to standard lumber dimensions. Theres lots of sawdust, odd sized ends and edges... bark sometimes. Some of this gets processed into fuel pellets or mulch for selling, other times you burn it onsite to fuel a smallish power plant... a number of generators in the 25 to 50 MW range have been built at lumbermills for this purpose across the world... its a pretty standard practice these days. It is very green but provides only a very small fraction of our energy needs.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Kim Brown
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jul 2009
Posts: 6900 | TRs | Pics
Kim Brown
Member
PostTue May 17, 2022 11:08 am 
puzzlr wrote:
1. There are no salmon upstream of Snoqualmie Falls
but....it says salmon habitat, which the state is bound to protect and enhance - for if / when they do return. Someday. Same reason we protect grizzly habitat. I know there are salmon in Gold Creek Pond. It's weird because the Kittitas Conservation website says there aren't any there, but I've seen them and there are trip reports on WTA's site that have pictures of them. Those red ones with the green heads. Did they get stuck there and thrive anyway? Never followed up with that question.

"..living on the east side of the Sierra world be ideal - except for harsher winters and the chance of apocalyptic fires burning the whole area." Bosterson, NWHiker's marketing expert
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
solohiker
Member
Member


Joined: 23 Jan 2004
Posts: 1075 | TRs | Pics
Location: issaquah
solohiker
Member
PostWed May 18, 2022 9:20 am 
Gold Creek Pond is east of the crest, not affected by Snoqualmie falls, or any theoretical salmon habitat around Bandera. It is, however, blocked by Keecheles Dam, so maybe you’re pointing out that somehow spawning salmon could be able to figure out a way up the falls like salmon in Gold Creek found a way around Keecheles dam. More likely though, is that what appear to be salmon in that pond are actually very large rainbow trout. My take is that the statement issued on the Bandera project uses “salmon habitat” as a common term, synonymous to more generic “fish habitat.” I’m inclined to agree that it’s a bit of a feel good PR - but given the location am not really opposed to the work. I prefer exit 42 to access that area anyway.

I have never been lost, but I'll admit to being confused for several weeks. - Daniel Boone
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Trail Talk > Talapus lake and Ira Spring TH access roads will close periodically throughout Spring/Summer 2022
  Happy Birthday speyguy, Bandanabraids!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum