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Allison
Feckless Swooner
Joined: 17 Dec 2001
Posts: 12287 | TRs | Pics
Location: putting on my Nikes before the comet comes |
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Allison
Feckless Swooner
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 Mon May 08, 2006 11:43 am |
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| Quote: | | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Forest Service Contact: Steve Johnson: (360) 825-6585
MidFORC Contact: Mark Boyer (206) 760-9041
Date: May 5, 2006 ALPS Contact: Rick McGuire (206) 363-6954
Forest Service Plans May 13 Middle Fork Snoqualmie Campground Dedication
NORTH BEND - A dedication ceremony is planned for Saturday, May 13, 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m., for the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest’s (MBS) new Middle Fork Snoqualmie Campground, the first new campground built in the national forest since the 1970s. The campground is located off the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Road, about 13 miles east of North Bend. Following the dedication ceremony, Washington Trails Association members will lead a hike on the new CCC trail which is connected to the campground.
“The public dedication ceremony will recognize and celebrate the work of many people who have made this project a reality,” says Snoqualmie District Ranger Jim Franzel. “I am very pleased that Slade Gorton, former US Senator, will be keynote speaker.”
When in the US Senate, Gorton was approached by a citizens’ group, the Middle Fork Outdoor Recreation Coalition (MidFORC), which first proposed a campground be built in the valley. As a result of the citizens’ work, Gorton secured $2 million for the construction of the campground.
“The Middle Fork Valley is King County’s wild backyard,” says Mark Boyar of the MidFORC. “The new campground is a centerpiece of the long effort to protect it. Families get a beautiful campground and we can now restore riverbanks where dozens of ad-hoc campsites were eroding into the river.”
Rick McGuire of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Society, and a member of MidFORC, says, “It is the citizen effort to take back the river valley from years of environmental degradation and threats to public use that brings us to this celebration.”
“Everyone has eagerly been anticipating the completion and opening of this campground. It has been a long process. Opening this new campground, and completion of a travel and access management plan for the area, symbolizes the good things that can result from citizen-based collaborative efforts,” concludes Franzel.
The campground will open to public use on May 26, 2006, for the Memorial Day Weekend. Camping reservations can soon be made at www.ReserveUSA.com.
Page 2/3 – Middle Fork Campground Dedication
To get to the campground, drive to the Edgewick “Truck Town” Exit 34 on I-90. Follow temporary signs to the SE Middle Fork Road junction, and turn right, following the paved road. It is about a 75-minute drive from downtown Seattle. The roads from Seattle to the campground are paved except for the last portion, about 12 miles of graveled road.
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Background – Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Valley Campground
For many years, the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Valley attracted illegal garbage dumping, methamphetamine labs, unsafe outdoor shooting, dangerous campfires, illegal drinking and drug use. Extensive resource damaging activities, such as user-made roads and makeshift campsites along the river’s sensitive riparian zone, have destroyed vegetation and caused erosion into the river.
In 1991, a citizen effort formed to “take back” the river valley and create a safe environment for public recreational activities. This local group, known as MidFORC (Middle Fork Outdoor Recreation Coalition), asked King County and Washington State in 1995 to fund development of the “Middle Fork Public Use Concept,” a valley-wide framework for future public use. The final proposal included a campground. The Forest Service joined the multi-year effort, along with local recreation and conservation groups, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, and King County.
Mark Boyar of MidFORC, and Rick McGuire of Alpine Lakes Protection Society, approached then US Senator Slade Gorton about funding the new campground construction. In 2000, Gorton secured the funds.
The Middle Fork Valley is part of the Mountains to Sound Greenway, the 100-mile long corridor of forest lands between Seattle and Eastern Washington. It is also located near the rugged Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
Forest Service staff went about planning and designing, and contracting the campground with its 39-unit campsites, two group-camping areas, adjacent day-use picnic area, and an interpretive nature trail. The construction contract was awarded to Wesslen Construction, Inc. of Spokane, WA.
“This is an exciting accomplishment that marks the first time a new campground has been built from scratch on this Forest since the late 1970s,” says Mike Miller, the MBS landscape architect and project contract coordinator. “It is unique because part of the campground is built in a former clear-cut logging area.”
<More>
Page 3/3 – Background – Middle Fork Campground
The trees replanted there have grown to about 30 feet tall, providing lush seclusion between campsites. All campsites and the interpretive trail are wheelchair accessible. The day-use picnic area is located in a former rock quarry that has been recontoured and seeded with native plants.
“The design process was made especially challenging because we knew we had to make the best use of landscapes where the ground had previously been disturbed,” says Miller. “Campers and picnickers will be rewarded with premium views of Mount Garfield and the rugged, craggy cliffs that rise above Rainy Creek--a visual bonus to those visiting the valley.”
In addition to building the campground, the MBS has recently approved forest restoration and other recreation projects in the area. Among them are the 2005 Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Access and Travel Management Plan (ATM), creating more miles of trails for hikers, mountain bikers, and stock use.
Major ATM-related projects have been completed with the help from partners such as Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and Earth Corps. Two of the projects that come to mind are the restoration of 20 damage sites along the river, and the decommissioning of six miles of unneeded roads. A four-mile trail which follows along the route of an abandoned road built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps has also been constructed, according to Jim Franzel, Snoqualmie District Ranger.
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Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore
Joined: 15 May 2003
Posts: 14152 | TRs | Pics
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Quark
Niece of Alvy Moore
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Mon May 08, 2006 12:05 pm |
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I saw this notice on the FS website Friday, and was planning on going to check out the campground on Saturday just for the hell of it, cuz I was in the area anyway. I didn't get a chance to, though. I like seeing stuff when it's new because someday it'll be all worn out & used. I also like to sit & contemplate the past use of something no longer used (I once sat in the middle of a stretch of Hwy 175 in East Texas before it was opened, just for that reason, and sat in the middle of an abandoned section of Rt 66 and on an old mossy picnic table in the old campground of the Mid Fk Cascade river before it was restored).
anyway, the funny thing is, the directions say to take the "Edgewick" exit, which no longer says "Edgwick," it says 437th or something equally inane, and I can never remember what it says, so anytime I try to give folks directions to Twin Falls, I always say, "well, it used to be Edgewick, but look for the sign that says "Ken's Truck Town." The FS did the same thing with this.
"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate."
Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
"...Other than that, the post was more or less accurate."
Bernardo, NW Hikers' Bureau Chief of Reporting
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Malachai Constant
Member
Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 16107 | TRs | Pics
Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
Between Slade and closing the Middle Fork I think I will take a pass, gotta see a man about a dog bout then 
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cle Elum |
Oh GOODIE! Maybe there will be a magnitude 25.5 earthquake directly under Gardfield mountain saturday morning? Hey, you can always hope..... Why not simply build 48,000 condo units at the middle fork/taylor junction? The effect of turning this place into Lake Sammamish east is going to be the same over the long term....
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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Tom
Admin
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 17865 | TRs | Pics
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Tom
Admin
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Mon May 08, 2006 2:57 pm |
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| Quote: | | For many years, the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Valley attracted illegal garbage dumping, methamphetamine labs, unsafe outdoor shooting, dangerous campfires, illegal drinking and drug use. |
OMG! Dangerous campfires!  I hadn't heard that one before. 
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lopper
off-route
Joined: 22 Jan 2002
Posts: 845 | TRs | Pics
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lopper
off-route
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Mon May 08, 2006 2:58 pm |
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Wonderful. Just think! A "ceremony". wow. goose bumps.
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tofu on toast hiker
Santiago!
Joined: 06 Sep 2004
Posts: 477 | TRs | Pics
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T-O-F-U in the USA! T-O-F-U in the USA!
Tofu in the USA!
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1k
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Joined: 29 Jun 2004
Posts: 606 | TRs | Pics
Location: Ballard |
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1k
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Tue May 09, 2006 7:14 am |
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Was at the new campground about month ago. They did a good job with the site placement as it affords much nicer views of the surrounding peaks than you can see from the Middle Fork Trail parking area. Will have to wait and see how it impacts MFK road use.
So what was that bit on page 3 referring to the closing of six miles of "unneeded" roads? Assume they are talking about the future gate at Dingford.  
Life is short, hike hard...
Life is short, hike hard...
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Tom
Admin
Joined: 15 Dec 2001
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Tom
Admin
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Tue May 09, 2006 9:20 am |
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As far as the decommissioning of six miles of "unneeded" roads, I don't think they can be referring to the Dingford gate since inholders will still be able to drive the road.
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Stefan
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Joined: 17 Dec 2001
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Stefan
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Tue May 09, 2006 11:15 am |
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The contract for that campground was around $1million I believe.
And remember, they have no money for maintaining that road to the end...
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Riverside Laker
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Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 2821 | TRs | Pics
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There's a nice car campground in the middle of I-90, so I'm pretty sure they won't close I-90 (at least up to exit 47 -- for us western campers).
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MtnGoat
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Joined: 17 Dec 2001
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Location: Lyle, WA |
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MtnGoat
Member
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Tue May 09, 2006 11:33 am |
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| Stefan wrote: | | The contract for that campground was around $1million I believe.
And remember, they have no money for maintaining that road to the end... |
nothing 5-10 folks with shovels, chainsaws, and come alongs can't do. after all, given the standard to which the last miles of the road were already maintained, shouldn't be impossible.
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. - Will Rogers
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wbs
member
Joined: 11 Aug 2003
Posts: 661 | TRs | Pics
Location: Kirkland WA |
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wbs
member
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Tue May 09, 2006 12:38 pm |
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Tom wrote:
| Quote: | | OMG! Dangerous campfires! I hadn't heard that one before. |
I remember back in 1985 (or was it 86?) driving down that road to Taylor River (where the ORV'rs really mudded things up) and seeing a monstor bonfire that was way out of control, burning stumps etc.. Of course the "recreationalists" around said bonfire looked out of control too.
 
It will be interesting to see how things change around. MFK's sure better than back in the days of dodging casts around the discarded cars IN the river.
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polarbear
Member
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 3680 | TRs | Pics
Location: Snow Lake hide-away |
| MtnGoat wrote: | | Stefan wrote: | | The contract for that campground was around $1million I believe.
And remember, they have no money for maintaining that road to the end... |
nothing 5-10 folks with shovels, chainsaws, and come alongs can't do. after all, given the standard to which the last miles of the road were already maintained, shouldn't be impossible. |
And the average person can rent some pretty nifty shovels...
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