[RodF]

After four rounds of public meetings and public comment periods over seven years, Olympic National Park adopted a new General Management Plan / Environmental Impact Statement in 2008. It is Olympic National Park's contract with the American people. It reads: "Where historic structures or cultural landscapes have been included within designated wilderness, they will be protected and maintained using methods that are consistent with preservation of wilderness character and values and cultural resources requirements. Structures and cultural landscapes listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places will be preserved and rehabilitated to retain a high degree of integrity and will be managed in accordance with the Secretary of the Interiors' Standards... The park staff will develop a strategy for the maintenance and preservation of historic structures using the existing list of classified structures and ongoing cultural resource assessments of condition and history." - Record of Decision, Final GMP/EIS, 2008. Wilderness Watch has now sued Olympic National Park in an attempt to overturn this General Management Plan. They are demanding that Elk Lake Shelter, Canyon Creek Shelter, Bear Camp Shelter, Botten Cabin, Wilder Shelter, and Anderson Pass Shelter (all eligible or listed on the National Register of Historic Places) be removed from the Park. Here is their complaint. Their complaint is a mix of selective facts and rumors (wherever it reads "on information and belief", a mix of true, false and purely imaginary claims follows). Many of their false claims are about helicopter use. Although it would have been legal, workers were unable to use tools that had already been airlifted with nearby replacement trail bridges, they had to wait for the same tools to be carried in by pack mules. Helicopter support of historic preservation projects has generally not been permitted out of an abundance of caution to forestall exactly this kind of lawsuit. This has crippled the Park's ability to do restoration and made it a lot more time consuming and expensive. Even though helicopters are used for replacement of prefabricated steel trail bridges, restocking wilderness ranger stations and search and rescue and fire caches, SNOTEL and radio relay sites, wildlife surveys and glacier monitoring, Wilderness Watch does not sue over these activities. They are equally necessary for administration of the area as Wilderness as is preservation of Wilderness historic sites. Few of these routine projects requires an EA or EIS, they can usually be accomplished under categorical exclusion. Not only did the Park not use helicopters for preservation projects as alleged, it would have been legal if even they had. WW's claim is not only false, it is a double standard. Wilderness Watch alleges the Park intends to rebuild Pelton Creek shelter. Not true: the Park reported the Pelton site was destroyed last year in the Paradise Fire, and has no intention of rebuilding it. More false statements are made about Anderson, Elk Lake, etc. Shades of Green Mountain Lookout! It survived despite them, now Olympic is their next victim.

[NacMacFeegle]

Of all the idiotic things to do....... Aside from obviously being in the wrong, I find it appalling that this group is wasting both theirs and the parks money in an attempt to remove unobtrusive historic structures that are doing no harm whatsoever. Don't they realize that their money, time, and effort is badly needed for conservation and preservation efforts that actually matter? They could be lobbying congress to get more wilderness designated, buying and restoring unprotected lands, or working to fight serious threats to the wilderness such as air pollution and global warming. Throwing a childish fit over a few harmless historic structures is mindbogglingly stupid.

[JVesquire]

The poll is a bit of a strawman, isn't it? ONP already lost one lawsuit on this issue about 10 years ago, didn't they? The reality is that these shelters collapsed and ONP turned a blind eye to activities they knew violated the law when volunteers totally rebuilt them from the ground up. This isn't preservation, it's re-creation.

[cefire]

[trestle]

Wilderness Watch = shelter haters That laws were broken has yet to be established.

[Pyrites]

If a third party files as a friend of the court, or some similar legal status, would negotiations require involvement of that third party?

[cefire]

[Slugman]

[Kim Brown]

[RodF]

[Kim Brown]

[JVesquire]

Nah, it's a pretty histrionic poll. The only answer is that either you are for historic preservation or against it in wilderness. There's no option to say you are for it if proper techniques that don't harm the wilderness character are used, such as no helicopters, power tools, etc. Personally, I'd rather not have shelters maintained. ONP has enough work to go around without spending staff resources on maintaining shelters in the backcountry. But, I can see this is valuable to some people. If they want to spend private resources to fund it, and follow proper wilderness management principles, go for it. I suspect that last part, wilderness management principles, is where we disagree. Which is why I think your poll is a fallacy. From your post a few years ago, Rod, it is apparent that these shelters have completely collapsed and been totally rebuilt. What's the point? https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7994695

[Logbear]

[graywolf]

I'm curious because I really don't know the answers. So, this group is against shelters - are they against any sign of human activity, such as maintained trails, bridges, etc? If so, are they okay with people walking anywhere they want, such as across alpine meadows, so long as no one is maintaining a trail there?

[Kim Brown]

Unless things have changed; they are even against bridges in wilderness. They commented against the replacement of the Skyline bridge over the Suiattle at the PCT after it was wiped out in 2003, and it wasn't because of a potential helo crop, it was because it was a bridge. They do not feel it appropriate that USGS install seismic equipment on volcanos in wilderness. Check this policy guideline out on their website re: trails. If this was the same used for the Skyline Bridge (I don't know that it was in effect then or if this is newer), even using this guide, which says bridges may be OK occasionally, a bridge over the Suiattle at the PCT was not deemed necessary; and if a bridge over the Suiattle at the PCT is not deemed necessary, no bridge is.