Bob K
Member
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Posts: 433 | TRs | Pics
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Bob K
Member
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 Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:29 pm |
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DUSEL: Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory that UW Scientists and others want to build deep underneath Mt Cashmere and the Enchantments.
Please see this site (run by the Port of Chelan, I believe) for the latest news and info: http://www.duselprocess.com/
In particular, visit the Meetings and Summaries page to keep up with the very latest. Overall, the townspeople in the area seem to favor it because of its economic impact, but there are many concerns. (So far, I am leaning very slightly towards it, also because of the technological and economic benefits it might bring the area.)
In the August meeting, one person voiced concerns that might find sympathy among the members of this message board:
| Quote: | | Alan Moen’s Interests, Issues and Concerns
MY CONCERNS ABOUT THE DUSEL PROJECT IN THE ICICLE CANYON
I first visited the Icicle Canyon some 40 years ago this summer, when I took a hike with some friends into the Enchantment Lakes with the goal of climbing Dragontail Peak. Our trip was something of a comedy of errors.
I remember the long trail up from the Snow Lakes trailhead, weighed down with 18 pounds of canned food, the July heat in the canyon, and the foolish bushwhacking we did when we decided to take a "shortcut" around the North side of upper Snow Lake. We did not carry a tent, and when we reached Lake Viviane, had to seek shelter from the evening rain under a large boulder. One of my friends kept us amused all night with stories about earthquakes in the region.
In the morning we crossed snow and scrambled over rock slabs in the mist toward what we thought was Dragontail, and instead found we were traveling in a circle. The rain began to turn to snow, and we decided to retreat cross-country down Crystal Creek past the Nightmare Needles, finally reaching Ingalls Creek far below. We hiked out the 10 miles to the Blewett Pass highway the next day. It was quite an adventure for a few kids who dreamed of climbing mountains.
I've had many adventures since in the Icicle and its adjoining wilderness. As the region has become quite popular, it's now virtually impossible to visit it in the summer without encountering a single person, as we did on that first trip. But the land remains remarkably wild still - a place of magical mountains and cliffs, rushing streams, gem-like lakes, and quiet forests.
The Icicle area and Cashmere Mountain certainly deserve to be protected from human development, and especially from large industrial projects like DUSEL. I don't believe there is any way that such a venture could be compatible with preserving the environmental integrity of the region, which has already been seriously compromised by logging and residential development.
My concern is that once we have lost what wildness remains here, we can't bring it back.
Another concern is that what has brought me and so many others to this special place over the years - the quality of the recreational experience there- would be significantly harmed by this project. Access to what is now the major trail route into the Enchantments, the Asgard Pass route, is by the Eight Mile Road, crossing Icicle Creek/River at the Bridge Creek campground - the very same place where, if this project is allowed to proceed, giant trucks will be hauling their loads of granite for nearly three years. Trying to direct this all hiker traffic to the overcrowded Snow Lakes trailhead instead, already full most of the time in the summer, would not be a reasonable option.
I've also visited the tunnel site, and I don't believe its location is very compatible with its projected use. This is no slam-dunk ideal spot for any kind of big mining project, scientific or otherwise. The current staging area is small, and will likely have to be enlarged nearly to the banks of Icicle Creek. It seems that quite a lot of rock will have to be blasted out before tunneling can even begin.
It is undeniable that there will be some economic benefits to the area should DUSEL be approved. But, in my opinion, these are far outweighed by the environmental and spiritual losses to the region that DUSEL would create, as well as the potential economic loss during the constriction period and afterward from discouraging recreation in one of the State's finest recreational areas.
Whatever decision is made, I will continue to hike and climb in the Icicle Canyon and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. But I hope that future generations can still experience something of the wonder of the mountains that I discovered on my first trip, without the feeling that we have forever alerted a special place we should have left alone.
Alan Moen
August 2004 |
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