[seawallrunner]

cross-posted to NWHikers, ClubTread and Bivouac The US National Park Service is planning for the future of Ross Lake National Recreation Area. The Park is creating a long-term vision for the Ross Lake NRA - and is creating a General Management Plan (GMP) - and is now seeking public input. This effort began in the winter of 2005. A brochure about this initiative is available online here In October 2006, the National Park Service is inviting Americans and Canadians to attend one of seven workshops being held in the local North Cascade area, British Columbia and Seattle. I received my mail late, so the remaining workshops are: Monday October 23, 6pm - 8pm -- Bellingham Bellingham Senior Center Room 16315 Halleck Street Tuesday October 24, 6pm - 8pm -- Surrey Hosted by the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission Surrey Community Services 9815 - 140th Street Wednesday October 25, 6pm - 8pm -- Chilliwack Hosted by the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission Chilliwack Arts Council Lounge 45899 Henderson Ave Thursday October 26, 6pm - 8pm -- Seattle Seattle Mountaineers Olympus Room 300 Third Ave West Last week's first three workshops werde in Concrete, Marblemount and in Sedro-Wooley There is more information here noca_superintendent@nps.gov ...and here www.nps.gov/rola ...and here at the planning site (not yet launched) http://parkplanning.nps.gov/rola If you are concerned about the future of the North Cascades, and the future of Ross Lake, please attend one of the workshops. And if you do attend, please post your thoughts and impressions here.

[Slugman]

Does anyone know where I can get one of the "enclosed comment forms" the PDF mentions? It isn't included in the PDF brochure that C-wall linked for us. My one comment will be that I hope they keep the area open for leashed dogs as it is now. I think they are doing a pretty good management job as it is, considering the overall funding situation. When the bridge over Thunder creek washed out, for example, they had a new one in place far more quickly than the FS has done in similar situations. I know that the NPS gets a lot more funding per acre than the NFS does, but they also seem to get more things accomplished and to provide more services.

[Allison]

I went tonight and sadly didn't see anyone else there representing issues concerning hikers. The climbing community has a specific issue (the rocks just north of Newhalem on non-wilderness land) and they turned out big time. That was nice to see. Bill Paleck ,who is the superintedent in charge of the NCNP complex (the park plus the Chelan NRA and the Ross Lake NRA) ran the meeting and listened in on the workshops even though he's retiring from the NPS in a couple of months. He ran us through a basic outline of the Complex and its features before we split off into 2 groups. There we went through some questions about how Ross Lake National Recreation Area (ROLA) can best serve the public while also maintaining its mission. A lot of ideas were tossed out, some good, some bad. I went representing myself as a park user, with a little bit of Trail Blazer mixed in, and came close to openly arguing with a very nice elderly person who was representing the NCCC. I think the toughest part of that for me was that this person had his/her facts mixed up a few times. At one point, the idea of trams was brought up, and this person said "once there was a tram proposed in the NRA, and I never want to see another tram proposal." I countered with the fact that there were actually FOUR trams proposed at that time, and also that all of the proposed areas are designated wilderness, and there is no other available real estate for trams outside of that, so it's a non-issue. Them's the facts, and not why I went. On an aside, the grizzly habitat plan came up and Bill P. explained it. It was the first time I've ever had it properly explained to me. It has to do with why any new mile of road or trail has to be balanced with the decomisissioning of an equivalent mile. If questions are raised about this, I will share what I learned tonight. Bill Paleck wrapped up the meeting by telling us why he was present at a scoping meeting when he's about to retire. He said that he inherited some GMAs in his career and that he wanted this one to be in good shape when he left. As a park user, I say that his leadership and unique ability to connect with the people who use the park will be hard to match. Bill, thanks for your great leadership and ethics. Those will be hard shoes to fill. I will have more information to share at the next Trail Blazers meeting next week.