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kiliki
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PostThu Jun 03, 2004 9:31 am 
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK Historic Enchanted Valley Chalet Threatened by Changing River Channel; Park Seeks Public Input Regarding Possible Protection Measures Date June 2, 2004 Contact Barb Maynes, 360-565-3005 Olympic National Park is seeking input regarding the future of the historic Enchanted Valley chalet, located along the East Fork Quinault River in the southwestern corner of the park. Last October’s heavy rains dramatically changed the East Fork Quinault River’s channel through Enchanted Valley, bringing it to within 20 feet of the chalet. Prior to the autumn storms, the river’s path was approximately 170 feet from the chalet. Located 13 miles up trail from the Graves Creek trailhead, the chalet was built in the early 1930s, prior to establishment of Olympic National Park and served as a lodge for hikers and horse riders in Enchanted Valley. Today, Enchanted Valley remains a popular wilderness destination, and is used as a backcountry ranger station and emergency shelter for hikers. The chalet is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Because of the immediate threat to the chalet and the need for maintenance and rehabilitation to the historic building, the National Park Service will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) to identify and evaluate feasible alternatives, including no action, for chalet preservation. The EA will include an analysis of the predicted future actions of the river. Olympic National Park is seeking public feedback on issues related to the future of the Enchanted Valley chalet, and potential alternatives. Input received during this initial "scoping" period will be used to help identify issues and concerns that will be addressed in an upcoming EA, which will examine the environmental effects of alternative management actions for the chalet’s future. Additional public comment will be invited when the EA is released for review this coming fall. Comments should be sent to the following address no later than July 2, 2004. Superintendent – Enchanted Valley Scoping Olympic National Park 600 East Park Avenue Port Angeles, WA 98362 Fax: 360-565-3015 Website: http://parkplanning.nps.gov Email: olym_ea@nps.gov Comments may also be submitted on-line by visiting http://parkplanning.nps.gov, the website for the National Park Service’s new Planning Environment and Public Comment system (PEPC). Olympic National Park has been selected as a pilot park for testing this new program and encourages interested members of the public to help test it by visiting and using the website. Public comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, are considered public information and may be made available for public review. Individual respondents may request that their home address be withheld; individuals who wish their names and/or addresses to be withheld must state this prominently at the beginning of their comments. Comments from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, are available for public inspection in their entirety. The East Fork Quinault trail, which leads to Enchanted Valley, sustained extensive damage this past winter, including severe washouts and damaged or missing foot bridges. The Graves Creek trailhead bridge is under repair and not yet open for public use. The trip is considered difficult, and will require more time than usual. Stream fording and cross country travel are necessary. For current information on trail conditions, hikers are urged to call or visit the Olympic National Park Wilderness Information Center at (360)-565-3100 or click on the “trail conditions” link at www.nps.gov/olym/, the Olympic National Park website.

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Brain
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PostThu Jun 03, 2004 11:33 am 
I was just there at the end of April and it was quite obvious that the chalet was in trouble. The bank was crumbling away at a noticeable rate in just the one night that I was there. I think that it will probably be too late to do anything by the time they finally get through all of the red tape and finally make a decision. The end of the article mentions that it takes longer than usual to get to the valley from the East Fork trail; that is quite true, the route-finding and cross-country travel over all of the many sections of washed-out trail was enough to make the trail much more difficult than expected. Be prepared to climb over many enormous logs and up and down a lot of river banks and other obsticles. It's quite an adventure, although I'm sure it is much better now that more people have been over it and trodden down some paths around the destruction.

"It appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds." Doc Holiday (Val Kilmer) in Tombstone
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WrongBridge
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PostSun Jun 06, 2004 10:30 pm 
I say put the money into the trails in the park. If the trails are in such bad shape that it is an amazing feat for anyone to visit any place in the oly's let alone a building that is only used for emergency use. I want to know why the Olympic National Park has gone downhill just in my lifetime. I'm only 27 and I've seen a number of trails that have been abandoned and have disappeared forever. I have a bad feeling that this trend will continue until there are only a few trails left. The million dollar ? is, "what is the future of the Olympic National Park?" WB

Too much of a good thing is wonderful (May West)
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Slugman
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PostSun Jun 06, 2004 10:49 pm 
I'd like to see the chalet saved, but I question whether it is an important enough priority in light of the park's other needs. As far as the park's neglect overall, it saddens me. But at least we can be reassured that the damage isn't permanent. If future generations want to fix the place up, it will still be there, ready and wating. The biggest threat to the park is the notion going around DC right now that the national parks should be opened up for drilling, mining, and maybe even timber harvesting. That would set the park back 1,000 years, essentially destroying it forever, by the standard of our lifetimes, and our children's.

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greg
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PostMon Jun 07, 2004 10:28 am 
I was there Friday (see trip reports) and I think the chalet will be fine through the low flows of summer. By November/December, if something hasn't been done it will probably be gone. It's a cool old structure, made from wood from the valley, and although I think the Park Service is overbearing in its control of the place, I'd like to see it saved. I suspect park managers are pleased that the river is about to take it out, given their policy on old structures. The Grays Harbor Olympians spent two or three summers restoring the chalet, I think in 1983-'85. Also, the trail is in much better shape now than previous reports, with log crossings over all creeks and rivers, including the East Fork at the valley. A bit more rugged but not really a big deal.

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Damian
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PostMon Jun 07, 2004 11:12 am 
greg wrote:
I think the Park Service is overbearing in its control of the place....
I agree. I've always thought it was bogus that the chalet is occupied by a back country ranger in the summer, instead of being open for view by hikers. IMO ONP backcountry rangers are overbearing in general. For years all I hear about is how underfunded they are, and then I see more rangers than hikers on some hikes.

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JimK
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PostMon Jun 07, 2004 11:56 am 
I will be very sad if it washes away. My first extended backpack was there during spring break from the UW back in about 1978. We camped in the "ranger" side and used the stove. Tremendous waterfalls in April. Didn't see a soul for all 4 days.

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kiliki
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PostMon Jun 07, 2004 2:30 pm 
Quote:
I say put the money into the trails in the park. If the trails are in such bad shape that it is an amazing feat for anyone to visit any place in the oly's let alone a building that is only used for emergency use.
This isn' t possible-the Dept. of the Interior doesn't have the NPS set up that way. The parks are given separate allocations for trails and for preservation of historic structures, and money for one thing can' t be used for another, so saving the chalet doesn't take money away from trails. If you want $ put into trail maintenence you need to lobby the park (which puts together budget requests) AND your elected officials (who can get things done by going high up to the NPS appointees in DC) for trail money. It's not going to happen otherwise. You know how Bush has made a big deal of allocating money for park maintenence and repair? He also mandated that 80% of that money be spent on ROADS.
Quote:
For years all I hear about is how underfunded they are, and then I see more rangers than hikers on some hikes.
If you are seeing that many, most likely they were volunteers or the $50/week SCA or Americorps guys.

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Damian
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PostMon Jun 07, 2004 8:19 pm 
It is a nice place, alright...
Chalet
Chalet

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lipstick hiker
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PostTue Jun 08, 2004 1:36 am 
I think saving the building really depends on how much it will cost. How much will it cost to build something new? They could tear down the building and reuse the wood to build it somewhere else before the wood gets ruined by the water.

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