Forum Index > Public Lands Stewardship > the future of Wallace Falls State Park
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goldbarchuck
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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 7:24 pm 
Last night I stumbled across an on line petition to keep the Big Four Ice Caves open, the safety at the ice caves is best discussed elsewhere, in any event I signed it and noted that nearly 2,000 people are in favor of keeping the ice caves accessible. Here is a petition one of my neighbors started to bring attention to Wallace Falls State Park, the DNR currently has two clearcuts proposed that will impact existing or proposed trails, I would like to believe that preserving the epic vista of Wallace Falls from US2 and providing more hiking opportunity should at least be as popular at keeping the ice caves. I have not checked for a while, the two clear cuts may be on the block as I post. Let the governor know, the state has options for preservation of forests of national significance. I live a couple blocks from the entry to the park, I know how many people visit each year. Please speak up now before the chain saws carve up the sides of the park. Here is the link https://www.change.org/p/washington-state-board-of-natural-resources-bnr-stop-excessive-commercial-logging-in-the-sky-valley-wa?tk=ulRzEdERKZazs7HSlzURle6W7yHgNYELmPNmZCtzJ_Q&utm_medium=email&utm_source=signature_receipt&utm_campaign=new_signature

Wear sturdy boots and carry water Gold Bar Chuck
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Ski
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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 7:52 pm 
the links provided in the article you've cited are both dead links. are these State School Trust lands?

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Chico
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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 7:56 pm 
Ski wrote:
the links provided in the article you've cited are both dead links.
Both? One link. Seems to be working just fine.

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goldbarchuck
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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 8:05 pm 
Here is a map for the singletary sale, it is a shame the DNR re did their web page and eliminated the page with all of the documents, they were good links that linked to all of the files. Oh well. http://wa-dnr.s3.amazonaws.com/publications/sepa/amp_sepa_nw_ts_singletary_adj.pdf I will look for the moon beam information. Drat, the links did work. I will get with the sponsor of the petition.

Wear sturdy boots and carry water Gold Bar Chuck
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Kim Brown
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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 8:08 pm 
According to DNR, Moonbeam is already sold; I haven't checked on the other sale. Change.org petitions are pretty worthless; sorry. If you want to get somewhere with a petition, get good information, links that work, study the situation, and give people a good, solid overview and what you have done ahead of time. For instance, since you live right there, you probably already know how DNR is managed and who to call about the trail system there, and the timber operations. Have you done anything at all? Talked to anyone? Which trails are affected, and are new trails being built elsewhere that offset the loss of the trails? Help us out a little. I'm interested to know more.

"..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
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goldbarchuck
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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 8:11 pm 
Yes it is trust land so there is no free lunch, a fund transfer would need to be made. Please remember there was a time that the Wallace Falls area was not a state park, the expansion of the park would take money: A fraction of what is spent on Bertha or the light rail. The vista is considered a vista of national merit and it is one of the most popular hikes in the region. Please let me know if there is anywhere where there is free lunch.

Wear sturdy boots and carry water Gold Bar Chuck
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Kim Brown
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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 8:18 pm 
Do you have any information from DNR on these sales that you can share. It is tough to see places you care about be logged. Hopefully you're able to contact someone to find out more that will help.

"..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
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goldbarchuck
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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 8:25 pm 
What have we done? Well as we can see, this is a last minute event. It appears that Wallace Falls is taken for granted. Here is an editorial that was in the Everett paper last winter. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20140302/OPINION03/140309971 I think this story went under the radar in the Seattle Press and with the mainstream conservationists. We all have our fights and agendas, but this is a park that can be made a bus stop on the public transportation quite easily. I count 150 to 200 cars as a snap shot on a typical weekend. figure that there is turnover and 2 folks per car and this use will only increase. Yes it is late, but the chain saws have not started. It is unfortunate that school funding gets mixed in here, the local schools will benefit from the timber sale for a year or two but the local communities will benefit for decades from the recreational opportunities that the falls present.

Wear sturdy boots and carry water Gold Bar Chuck
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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 8:27 pm 
I'm having a hard time making sense of the map there, Kim. Looks like they're proposing to cut 75+ year old trees about 120 vertical feet above the river less than 1/10th of a mile away from a Class I stream? I'd question the buffer zone on that one, but again, the map here at my end looks screwy. Chuck, is this uncompromised virgin timber, or was it previously cut at some point in the past? (rotting stumps still visible anywhere?) Bertha is DOT budget: they get all the money they want, being one of the largest employers in the State. State Parks: Olympia legislature will let them die on the vine. They don't give a rip about State Parks. If it's School Trust Land, you've got a tough row to hoe there. Again, however, I'm kind of looking sideways at the buffer zone there at the upper left in unit 1. Just my lousy opinion, as always.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 8:29 pm 
all the most recent jibber-jabber here about Wallace Falls had to do with ATV/4x4/motorcycle trails - there was no conversation about timber harvest - just another hiker vs. motorcycle/motorized argument.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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goldbarchuck
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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 9:42 pm 
Ski, yup the chat I saw was about ORVs and name calling and broken windows and subarus, that is a story for a different day. We can discuss them next year, the ORVs and any name calling and etc will still be here. In the mean time, there is still a slim chance to preserve the forest and vista and provide more capacity for a park that is so heavily used and so popular. An email to the commissioner of public lands does not even cost 47 cents. In our latest parking lot count, Wallace Falls State Park was the most popular trail head in the Skykomish Valley, even more than Lake Serene or Blanca Lake. Here is another link. I have more detailed economic data but that will be here next year as well. If nothing else, why not postpone the sale, it is money in the savings account if a land swap can not be arranged. The trees are not rotting in the roots yet, does that not take a couple hundred years? http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20150302/NEWS01/150309874

Wear sturdy boots and carry water Gold Bar Chuck
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contour5
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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 10:05 pm 
We should get Chapo Guzman to run the Bertha Machine and use his money to buy the trees back from the school trusts!

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PostTue Jul 21, 2015 10:23 pm 
Amy Nile, reporting for the Herald wrote:
The state has owned the mature, second-growth forest east of Wallace Falls State Park since the 1930s.
(emphasis added) well...... although I don't know all the details, I don't have a big beef with 187 acres of timber harvest, but: I'd be concerned about the buffer zone at the northwest edge of unit #1, which appears to be less than 1/10 of a mile away and about 120 vertical feet above a Class I stream. Something about that equation doesn't sound right. I'm not at all familiar with the area, Chuck, and I'm a little confused about the trail system mentioned in the Herald article. Is that an existing trail system, or a new proposed trail? Either way, it seems a bit nutty to cut right over a trail - I've seen that down at Capitol State Forest and down on the Wright Meadow (#3) trail and on the (#271?) Blue Lake multi-use trail - where they've cut right over the trail corridor - kind of detracts from the "wilderness experience" most trail users seek. Eight leave trees per acre? I hope the wind doesn't blow too hard there. I'd assume they're leaving legacy specimens. Hope they have good root systems and not overly-large crowns. wink.gif

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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Cohokiller
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PostWed Jul 22, 2015 8:57 am 
I must be missing something. The trails are all on west side of the river/falls and all the logging will be done on right side. Yes? I haven't been up there in a few years but I don't recall ever hiking up the east side. The logging is also very low in the valley in relation the visible falls at about 700 feet max in elevation, the main falls is 1600 or so. The logging will hardly spoil the view of the falls. It'll green back up in less than a year. My main concern would be siltation of the Wallace due to the proximity of the cutting to the stream.

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PostWed Jul 22, 2015 10:34 am 
^ re: that last line: where's the landing site for unit 2? I'm assuming the white lines are roads, right? so.... how are they yarding the stuff out without cutting new roads? helicopter? looks like the north edge of unit 2 is a wee bit close to the stream as well, considering slope gradient. kind of difficult to make an informed statement because I don't know the area and I'm not sure I'm making sense of the map, but if I am interpreting it correctly, I have to wonder why they'd even bother with unit #2, and why they're operating so close to a Class I stream. they're going to catch holy hell if that slope slumps down into the river at a later date. they have a geologist go out and take a look at it yet? just my lousy opinion, of course.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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