WA DNR News

Your smart phone can now help clean up Puget Sound.

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today announced the launch of MyCoast Washington – a mobile app that allows the public to help identify and remove marine debris. The app allows people to photograph large marine debris, creosote-treated wood, derelict vessels, storm surge damage, king tides and changes to shorelines while walking Washington’s beaches. DNR and its partners will then use that information to prioritize clean-ups and inform management of aquatic lands in a changing climate. DNR is a state leader in restoring marine environments. Since 2002, DNR has removed more than 50 million pounds of marine debris – the equivalent of 72 Boeing 747’s – from Washington’s waterways. Creosote-treated materials leach chemicals into beach and marine sediments causing toxic conditions for organisms that live in and use these areas.

But with only three full-time employees spearheading the work, the agency needs assistance in identifying debris that is polluting our waters around the state. “Now more than ever, it is our duty to safeguard Washington’s waters and beaches from toxins and pollutants,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz. “The MyCoast app allows all Washingtonians to participate in protecting our waters, ensuring our people, salmon, and orcas have clean, healthy habitat. We’re working to speed up our efforts to restore Puget Sound, and this app lets anyone who cares about Puget Sound’s health join in.” Washington MyCoast is a project of the Washington Department of Natural Resources, in collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, Washington Sea Grant, the Snohomish County Marine Resource Committee, and the Northwest Straits Initiative. HOW IT WORKS                                                            Anyone who spots creosote, old docks, floats, or other marine debris on the beach can simply take a picture in the MyCoast app, and that geo-located photo will go directly to the DNR Marine Debris Removal Program, letting them know what was spotted and where it is. Residents can also use the MyCoast Washington app to contribute to ongoing shoreline research and monitoring by documenting areas where storm surge or king tide events have changed shorelines. The app is available for the iPhone from the Apple App Store or for Android phones from Google Play. ACCELERATING CLEANUP EFFORTS Under the guidance of Commissioner Franz, DNR is committed to restoring development-damaged aquatic lands and access to rivers cut off by barriers to fish passage. Removing creosote treated logs from Puget Sound beaches is one of the several tasks that Washington Conservation Corps do each year. Photo: DNR

As part of that commitment, the agency is asking Washington’s legislature for a $90 million funding package to protect and restore aquatic habitats to boost salmon and orca recovery efforts. This package funds direct implementation of expanded restoration efforts, one of several actions recommended by the Southern Resident Killer Whale Task to boost orca habitat, as well as action items identified by the Puget Sound Partnership and Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission. STEWARDSHIP OF STATE AQUATIC LANDS As steward of 2.6 million acres of public aquatic lands, DNR manages the bedlands under Puget Sound and the coast, many of Washington’s beaches, and natural lakes and navigable rivers. DNR manages these lands to facilitate navigation, commerce, and public access, and to ensure protection of aquatic habitat. Since 2004, DNR has partnered with entities such as Marine Resources Committees (MRC), WSU BeachWatchers, People for Puget Sound, Washington State Parks, The Nature Conservancy, and the Northwest Straits Commission, to identify and remove creosote-treated debris.

Wind with drenching rains can create hazardous trees. Photo: DNR

Recent blasts of wind in Washington helps us appreciate the work of local utilities. They help our homes stay warm and toasty and keep the lights on during these darkening days of December.

Yet, as our annual storm season once again rolls in, it becomes more challenging to ensure the reliability of the power grid.

Storms bring high winds, high winds can bring down trees, and trees can bring down powerlines (like dominoes gone wrong).

Utility companies play a lead role in the prevention of power outages, but they can’t do it alone. We have three ideas on how you can help.

As responsible citizens, we need to monitor our trees for potential conflicts with powerlines and report any issues to the local utility…preferably before the next storm strikes.

Also, the best way to prevent future tree-related outages is by planting the right tree in the right place. Avoid planting a tree that will grow high enough to get into nearby powerlines as it matures.

By planting smaller trees, or by planting larger trees a safe distance away from powerlines, we can prevent problems before they happen. This practice can also reduce or eliminate the need to prune trees, and reduces you chance of a power outage.

DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program recognizes utilities in Washington who have committed to healthy tree care and maintenance, tree worker training programs, and community tree planting – including ways to reduce issues between trees and powerline. The Tree Line USA Program provides many benefits to electric utility providers and the communities they serve. It’s an Arbor Day Foundation Program that recognizes best practices in public and private utility arboriculture.

There are 11 recognized Tree Line USA Utilities in Washington:

• Avista Utilities
• Benton County PUD
• Benton REA
• Chelan County PUD #1
• Clark County PUD
• Pacificorp
• Puget Sound Energy
• Richland Energy Services
• Seattle City Light
• Snohomish County PUD No. 1
• Tacoma Power

Since it’s better to be safe (and warm) than sorry, do these three things to show your appreciation for both the twinkle of outdoor holiday lights and the equally lovely trees they rest on. Take a moment to check for tree/powerline conflicts where you live, and contact your local utility if necessary. Plant the right tree in the right place. And, encourage, or congratulate, your utility provider’s participation in the Tree Line USA Program.

For more information, visit the Arbor Day website or DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program.

When Chris Mastel was in the Marines, he had a sense of purpose every day, a clear mission to accomplish. It was something he missed when his time in the military ended.

“As soon as I got out – not having a purpose, no mission every day – it was a struggle for me,” said Mastel, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps for eight years.

Mastel’s councilor at the local veteran’s center recommended he check out Veterans Community Response, a nonprofit organization based in the Spokane area that helps veterans adjust to life after returning home from combat. Comprised entirely of volunteers, the organization fosters teamwork and camaraderie and helps veterans develop skills in a variety of areas – even in helping rural homeowners reduce wildfire risk on their property.

Investing in forest health, wildfire safety

Some members of Veterans Community Response are firefighters in the area so they were aware of the severity of the wildfire threat and saw an opportunity to help reduce that threat. About a year ago, Veterans Community Response contacted the Washington State Department of Natural Resources to find out how they could help. The veterans took wildfire chainsaw training and forest health classes covering tree identification, tree health, and forest thinning practices. They also learned of small forest landowners who needed help with forest restoration work.

One of those landowners was Dave Taskila who owns about 6 acres of heavily vegetated forest in the Spokane area, dense with lodge pole pine and ponderosa thickets.

“This area had burnt in 1991 – before we bought the land – in a firestorm, so I figured it would happen again,”he said.

Taskila knew he should get his house and the surrounding land assessed for wildfire risk and applied to DNR’s cost-sharing program for small-forest landowners. The program is typically a 50/50 cost-share to help landowners complete forest health work on their property. The landowner can hire someone to do the work and DNR will pay half of the fee, or the landowner can do the work themselves and be reimbursed for half the value of their labor.

Veterans Community Response volunteers remove brush, low limbs, and smaller trees to restore forest health and reduce wildfire risk in the Four Mound community of Spokane County on May 5, 2018 – National Wildfire Preparedness Day. The nonprofit tackled this project after working on Dave Taskila’s land.

This program is a valuable tool for DNR’s 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan, which aims to actively manage our forests, restoring them to a more natural and resilient condition.

After Taskila was accepted into the program, a forester came to his home, assessed his trees, and showed him what needed done to bring his forest to a healthier, more resilient state. The grant he received required that he finish the work within two years.

Taskila didn’t do much the first year, because he didn’t think the project would be that difficult – that is until he and his grandson started thinning trees and clearing brush. What they found was closely bunched trees and dense understory. He was about halfway through the project when he learned volunteers from Veterans Community Response could help him finish his project before the approaching deadline.

The project on Taskila’s land was the first forest health and fuels reduction project Veterans Community Response worked on, and it was the ideal site to start with because it was close to town while still being very overgrown.

“This property had not been thinned in quite some time and it was a thicket of pine. Nothing was growing in a healthy manner,” the organization’s president, Darrin Coldiron, said.

About 20 volunteers worked to thin the remaining 3 acres, with usually about six veterans working each day. The project took about a month to finish.

When the veterans finished the project within the timeline allocated by the grant, Taskila was extremely pleased with the work accomplished. “They ended up doing the worst part of the property. Even though it’s flat down there, it was really bad and thick,” he said.

Taskila donated his DNR cost-share money to the nonprofit in appreciation of their labor, allowing the organization to pay for more equipment, protective gear, and training, plus member retreats and recruiting.

Veterans Community Response is working on six similar forest health projects. It’s the type of collaboration that Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, who heads DNR, speaks about the state needing.

“With creative and collaborative approaches we can restore the health to our forests and reduce wildfire risk, keeping the Evergreen State true to its name,” Franz said. “I am proud of the important work being done by our veterans, our small forest landowners, DNR, and other partners.”

For the veterans, the rewards are close to home. Not only are they giving back to their community in ways that have the power to prevent a devastating wildfire, they’re also able to pass that sense of achievement onto new members.

Volunteers take a well-deserved break from thinning and brush removal during a project in the Four Mound area in May.

“We’re getting veterans back involved in the community,” said Mike Patterson, a veteran and member of the nonprofit. “Most combat vets tend to isolate when they come home, so this is a great way of getting them back involved and completing a project.”

Mastel, the Marine vet, attended a retreat put on by the nonprofit and found that sense of purpose he was searching for after retiring from the military. He decided to join the staff and devote some of his time to helping the organization with events and projects. He was one of the project leads on Taskila’s land and was pleased with the work he and the group accomplished.

“I had no idea what we were in for, but when we finished it looked amazing,” Mastel said.

And all of this work means all the more when community members like Taskila are so positively affected by the nonprofit’s work and happy with the final result.

“I can actually use some of (my land) and walk through it,” Taskila said, laughing. “It turned out great, I’m pleased.”

Brokedown Place. Jumping Jack. Goldfish. Silver Charm. Camp Draper.

Evocative? Yes. Unique? Definitely. And just like their unique names, the state-land timber harvests managed by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources get individualized pre-auction assessments.

DNR’s primary reason for growing forests on state trust lands is to provide a quality timber harvest opportunity capable of generating funds for public beneficiaries, primarily schools. Timber harvests have generated nearly $900 million for beneficiaries over the past five years.

“Timber sales are a vital part of how we’re able to support schools and local governments throughout Washington,” says Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, the elected official who leads the Department of Natural Resources. “Just like each school and community has unique needs, these harvests receive individualized approaches to make them sustainable and environmentally sound — and they come with creative names that reflect that approach.”

Before a timber harvest is offered for sale, state foresters make a series of assessments. They review data and make site visits asking things like… Where are the streams and wetlands located? What are the potential effects of this harvest on water quality? How will the harvest affect fish and wildlife habitat? Are there nearby slopes that require a geologic assessment? Are there other areas that will require special attention?

As DNR foresters make these assessments they commonly find areas that do need special consideration. They use this information to create a set prescriptions, or rules, that a timber harvest company will have to abide by if they submit the winning bid to log the land. It’s at this point that the timber harvest gets its distinctive name, often inspired by the land itself. Ram’s Horn. Ninebark. Summer Breeze.

If a harvest has too many special requirements, timber companies will be more hesitant to bid for harvesting rights. This may lead to a lower bid and result in less revenue for schools and public services. This situation could also leave DNR exposed to legal action for failing to meet its legal mandate to generate that revenue. Alternatively, a harvest with too few restrictions could fail to adequately protect public lands and unnecessarily damaging public lands for years to come.

That’s why the proposed harvest, including the requirements a timber harvest company will need to meet, are reviewed in a transparent process after the assessment is complete. Proposed harvests go through a public comment process, called SEPA (an abbreviation for the State Environmental Policy Act, which created the procedure), designed to ferret out any site-specific environmental concerns that may have been missed initially. Then, the proposed harvest goes to the Board of Natural Resources, which is comprised of industry and beneficiary stakeholders. The public is invited to attend and provide comments at their public meeting, where the board then decides if the proposed harvest is approved for sale.

The process takes time – normally one to two years.

Only after these steps, and with full knowledge of all the requirements, do timber harvest companies get the opportunity to bid on a timber harvest. The highest offer — the bid that will generate the highest revenue for the public beneficiaries — wins.

So what are the possible prescription restrictions that a harvest company may have to abide by? They run can be anything from stream buffers, to trees that must remain or the mix of trees to replant, to how and when the harvest should be done.

Timing timber harvests to the seasons

Timber harvests can be restricted to the drier summer months in areas where runoff may be a special concern. Alternately, colder areas at higher altitudes may benefit from a winter harvest, when the ground is frozen or protected by a layer of snow.

Based on the site conditions, DNR may also set the harvesting system that companies can use. Some systems have advantages protecting soil, water, fish, amphibians or wildlife in given situations.

Harvest systems matched to meet the need

Ground-based harvesting systems are typically used on state trust lands with less extreme terrain, on soils not easily compacted and in areas with good road access. Look for them in flat areas and on slopes of less than 35 percent in Western Washington and less than 50 percent in Eastern Washington. These operations may be combined with rubber tire skidders, tracked skidders or shovels to achieve desired protection objectives.

Rubber tire skidders are used to push or pull logs distances of up to 700 feet in Western Washington and 1,300 feet in Eastern Washington. They can disturb and compact soils, so use is generally limited to non-sensitive areas. Tracked skidders, or “dozers,” perform many different jobs on a logging site. They can pull large loads of logs, operate on moderate slopes and work in softer soils with less compaction. Shovels are a versatile piece of equipment that put less pressure on the ground than skidders. You may see these operated around riparian areas, trees not being harvested, and across uneven surfaces with stumps, boulders and heavy brush. Shovels can also be used for site preparation, road construction and installing culverts. A fully mechanized harvesting system is another option that compacts the ground less than skidders. This system performs the entire harvest process, such as cutting, forwarding and bucking.

Cable systems partially or completely suspend logs moving them to landing zones up to 1,000 feet away. Because cable systems require special crews, they’re more expensive and are generally only required when ground-based systems can’t be used. Look for them on state trust lands with slopes greater than 35 percent, areas with broken topography, or wet or easily compacted soils.

Helicopter logging may be the only option in areas where road construction would be too expensive or would adversely affect an environmentally sensitive feature. Look for it on slopes steeper than 40 percent, though it’s not common, because it’s so expensive.

Regardless of the system, state land harvests require harvesters to work where they will disturb less soil, which can cause erosion and soil compaction while making it harder for trees to re-establish. To ensure this happens, DNR has timber harvest companies plan their skid trails in advance and mark the approved areas clearly.

Regenerating forests, regenerating value

Prior to a harvest being completed, DNR silviculturists make a plan to replant the working forest, accounting for myriad factors, including elevation, aspect and seed zone.

The silviculturists start with information gathered during DNR foresters’ environmental assessments before the timber harvest, and account for any adverse conditions at the site, such as the presence of laminated root rot or pests like the spruce weevil.

Then, silviculturists focus in on the details of the site. Generally, sites below 2,000 feet in elevation are more fertile than higher-elevation sites, so the planted seedlings will face competition from other plant species. Using information from reforesting similar sites, silviculturists decide whether a site preparation treatment will be necessary. The treatments control competition from both native and invasive species, giving the seedlings a better chance to establish themselves. At higher elevations, those treatments are less likely to be necessary. Depending on the site’s aspect (which direction the slope faces), different trees may be more likely to thrive.

Another important factor in replanting is using seedlings from the same tree zone as the harvest. Knowing the origin of a seed is crucial to determining where the tree will survive and grow successfully because of different environmental and climate differences. Native conifers in the Pacific Northwest have some of the highest levels of genetic variation found in plants.

After preparing the site after the harvest, foresters come in the next spring and repopulate the forest with seedlings selected specifically for that area. At lower elevations, about 300 Douglas-fir and 100 western red cedars are planted per acre; at higher elevations, about 300 Douglas-fir and 60 western redcedars are used.

“When you plant, you control the stocking, what’s growing there and how far apart it’s spaced,” says Cory McDonald, a forester in DNR’s Northwest region.

Some other native tree species are also introduced at the time to increase biodiversity, and foresters working at higher elevations also allow for natural repopulation of the forest. Douglas-firs and western redcedars are planted because they have the best return on financial investment to fulfill DNR’s obligation to generate money for its beneficiaries, like public schools and local governments.

“In order to have trees for the future, we have to have prompt reforestation with healthy, vigorous trees, that’s the biggest thing,” McDonald says. “If we just didn’t plant, there would be a lag time before the stand became naturally reforested. It would happen over time, but it wouldn’t be as quick, and that’s tougher to manage because you don’t have the certainty over the timing.”

The minimum amount of trees to replant after a timber harvest on state or private lands in Washington is 190 trees per acre, though most landowners plant far more than that so they have a bigger yield to harvest.

DNR has a nursery where it grows many of its trees for replanting from seed, a process that takes two years before trees are ready to be planted. That means foresters need to estimate years ahead what they will need to properly re-establish our working forests.

Harvest frequency

There’s no general rule for knowing when a landscape will be ready to harvest. Different species grow at different rates. Conditions can vary from one hillside to another. Droughts can last have a significant influence. The agency’s general approach, however, is to harvest trees once their growth rate slows, for the best return on the public’s investment.

When DNR prepares a harvest auction, it considers the surrounding area, too. Weighing factors include the maturity and size of trees on adjacent land, along with the size of the harvest area itself. Timber harvests are generally limited to 100 acres, though may be up to 120 acres in special situations. They also must border areas where trees have not been recently harvested – either adjacent to 30 percent mature forest, 60 percent young forest or 90 percent newer forest with trees growing there more than 5 years. The result is a landscape with trees of various sizes. The habitat is varied and no single watershed is too heavily affected within a short timeframe.

Accommodations for recreation

Many state forest lands are also prime areas for recreation. The agency retains a no-harvest buffer around its campgrounds, but with 1,500 miles of trail on DNR-managed lands, it’s inevitable that timber harvests affect trails.

DNR Forester John Moon with one of the trees that DNR identified as one to exclude from the Pathfinder Timber Sale in 2017 in Reiter Foothills State Forest for its importance to the local 4×4 community. (DNR photo)

When a trail traverses a harvest, it is closed temporarily while the harvest completed to protect public safety. After the harvest, the DNR and volunteers clean up and reopen the trail.

Some consider newly harvested areas less attractive than mature forest. As an accommodation, the agency may locate the harvest’s leave trees along trails or roads to provide a visual barrier. However, timber harvests can also provide an unexpected benefit: enhanced views.

Special landscapes get special protections

Not every landscape is appropriate for timber harvests. In addition to potentially unstable slopes, DNR also will not harvest at the state’s most precious ecological areas as a part of the natural areas program. In addition, uncommon habitats such as talus fields, caves, cliffs, oak woodlands, areas bald of vegetation, mineral springs and large mature (“old growth”) forests are excluded from harvest areas.

Areas are also excluded when they provide important habitat for endangered or threatened plant or animal species, such as the spotted owl or marbled murrelet.

All told, approximately one-third of the state lands managed by DNR are not harvested for timber.

Protecting and sustaining people, too

DNR is a founding member of the Logger Safety Initiative, which promotes occupational safety in the logging industry. Logging is historically one of Washington’s most hazardous industries — one where workers, particularly in non-mechanized logging jobs, suffer serious injuries much more often than in any other major industry while employers struggle to afford accelerating workers’ compensation insurance costs.

In response, DNR, private land owners, logging industry employers and the Department of Labor & Industries formed the Washington State Logger Safety Initiative. The agency continues as an active landowner member of this broad-based effort to promote occupational safety, reduce fatalities, and decrease the frequency and severity of workplace injuries in the logging industry. DNR also works to include companies logging on state lands as participating members.

Sustainable forests

DNR has also achieved multiple sustainable landowner certifications. Certified forests are grown to an approved set of standards, which demonstrate environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable management practices that promote responsible forestry. The agency aims to exceed best management practices, and it goes through a rigorous third-party audit of its practices every two years to identify any areas in need of improvement.

These certifications are good for harvest companies, too. Timber harvested from state lands can able to demand higher prices in the marketplace due to its FSC or SFI sustainable certification status. This, in turn, means harvest companies are willing to bid more, providing greater revenue to schools and other beneficiaries.

Case-by-case assessments and care are a big part of how DNR ensures both economically viable and environmentally sound timber harvests on DNR-managed state trust lands. Doing so protects waterways, fish, wildlife, public resources, recreation and the forest’s ability to continue growing timber (a sustainable source of revenue) for public beneficiaries in perpetuity.

The one-of-a-kind names? Well, that part’s mostly just for fun.

Imagine standing at 4,700-feet overlooking a hilly, snow-dusted treeline with a view of Mount Rainier and getting some of the best powder you’ve ever seen.

But the thing is, you don’t have to daydream about it – because you can go there. Tucked away in our Tahoma State Forest awaits three huts and a yurt dotting a trail system. And it’s only a two hour drive from the Greater Seattle Area.

Here’s the hut-to-hut breakdown.

HIGH HUT

• Elevation: 4,760 feet
• Gain: 2,400 feet
• Miles to hut: 4
• Sleeping capacity: 8 people
• Find a trail map here

High hut. Image: DNR

SNOW BOWL

• Elevation: 4, 250 feet
• Gain: 2,000 feet
• Miles to hut: 4
• Sleeping capacity: 14 people
• Find a trail map here

Bruni’s Snow Bowl. Image: MTTA

COPPER CREEK

• Elevation: 4,200 feet
• Gain: 2,400 feet
• Miles: 4
• Sleeping capacity: 14 people
• Only accessible in winter in respect
  to conservation efforts
• Find a trail map here

Copper Creek Hut. Image: MTTA

THE YURT

• Elevation: 4,100 feet
• Gain: 1,740 feet
• Miles: 6.5
• Sleeping capacity: 6 people
• Find a trail map here

The Yurt. Image: MTTA So you want to go? Here’s what to know

HUT AMENITIES: Each hut provides a stovetop, pots to melt snow for water, bunk beds, kitchen essentials, a fireplace, and an outside bathroom.

WHAT TO BRING: Bring the Ten Essentials! Don’t forget your Discover Pass and sno-park permit. Find a trail map here.

ETIQUETTE: Snowshoers should stay to the side to preserve the groomed trails
for skiers. You may be sharing the huts with other groups, so be respectful and practice Leave No Trace principles.

RESERVATIONS: The huts are free to use from 7 a.m. – p.m.. An annual gala is held every November, which includes a lottery for first-round reservations. Beginning in late-November, the website opens all remaining spots for reservation. The huts are always full on weekends, but weekdays often have openings, and you can check back regularly for weekend cancellations. For more information, visit skimtta.org.

DIRECTIONS TO TRAILHEAD: The location of the 1 Road Sno-Park moves depending on the snow level. If there is a lot of snow and the gate to the upper area is locked, then use the lower Sno-park at 2,360 feet elevation. If there is less snow and the gate to the upper area is open, then head farther up the road to the Upper 1 Road Sno-Park at 3,000-feet elevation.

The location of the 1 Road Sno-Park moves depending on the snow level. If there is a lot of snow and the gate to the upper area is locked, then use the lower Sno-park at 2,360 feet elevation. If there is less snow and the gate to the upper area is open, then head farther up the road to the Upper 1 Road Sno-Park at 3,000-feet elevation.

How long have the huts been there? Who are the people behind this trail? What makes the huts different than others in the northwest? 

Looking for a conversation starter with your group on the trail? Read about how this all came together. You may discover that you love the story of how this trail system came together as much as you love the trail system itself. Story first published in Mountaineer Magazine. 

The view of Elbe and Tahoma State Forests as seen from what is now the High Hut. Building a hut system

On a winter day in 1989, Bob Brown’s mind was wandering as he explored Mount Rainier’s Paradise area during a backcountry ski. A Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) forest manager, Bob had recently read about hut-to-hut skiing trail systems. European-inspired, hut-based backcountry skiing took off in America nearly a century before his trip that day, and while hut systems were available in Eastern Washington, none had been built on the western side of the Cascades. Not yet that is.

“I thought, gee, [a hut system] would be sort of neat [in Western Washington]. And then I thought, gee, all the roads – on both the DNR land and private timber company land,
and even some forest service land – are all snow covered in the winter. So there’s ready-made trail. And you have landings, which are cleared areas, where you can build huts
on and they would have views.”

Bob called a meeting between DNR, Washington State Parks, and the Forest Service about opening a new hut-to-hut skiing trail in the Tahoma State Forests. They sent out 1,500
questionnaires to measure public interest. Only two people didn’t like the idea.

The group established Mount Tahoma Trail Association (MTTA) in 1989 as a nonprofit and started fundraising. The state gave $160,000 — money pitched by a state senator who later said the funds were the best he’s ever allocated because of how well they were used. Other contributions came from grassroots fundraising efforts and in-kind work- hours by volunteers.

By fall, MTTA was working on building the High Hut. Its completion in 1990 was followed by Snow Bowl Hut, Copper Creek Hut, and The Yurt in 1991.

The view of Mount Rainier from the High Hut.

For three decades, volunteers donated more than 4,000 hours every year to operate and maintain the huts and trails, doing everything from work parties to weekend ski patrols. This allows MTTA to be a 100% volunteer-run organization, which means every penny donated or raised goes directly back into operating the facilities.

“If you come up with a good idea, then there’s a chance it might turn into something. But the [credit goes to] all the talented people who get excited about this thing and pour their heart and soul into it and make it work,” Bob said.

‘Ready-made’ trails in our working forests

When you ski or snowshoe from the lower sno-park near Ashford, it’s not long before a sign welcomes you into in the heart of a working forest. As part of Washington’s three million acres of federally-granted state trust lands, Tahoma State Forests are managed by the Washington DNR and are legally obligated to provide an array of benefits to Washington residents. Priority is placed on perpetually generating revenue to support public institutions, like funding construction of schools, namely through timber harvests.

Timber harvesting techniques have come a long way over the last century, which had previously left this land nearly barren. DNR and partnering conservation groups have worked together to revitalize the area, returning it to a resilient, productive working forest to sustain healthy and diverse habitats.

“When Snow Bowl Hut was built, there was a big open clear cut in front of it, and people would ski in that clear cut…and you can’t ski in the clear cut anymore,” Bob said. “And the reason you can’t ski in that clear cut is because there’s too many trees.”

A snowshower looks out into the forest on the trail.

When the season turns to winter, logging truck roads go dormant in the snow. Utilizing these existing roads for recreation preserves nearby conservation areas while also offering a backcountry experience. The trail system also evolves and changes with timber production and forest growth. That’s why the trails fluctuate between 50 and 75 miles of terrain from season to season.

“I’m proud that my agency and our partners are able to manage the public’s lands in ways that protect our natural resources, provide millions of dollars for public services, and give us some of the most beautiful areas to explore,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, a skier who manages DNR. “The Tahoma State Forests are a great example of what our working forests can do for us, from timber harvests to recreational opportunities.”

Accessible and affordable

More than 100,000 people have stayed overnight at the huts since their inception in the 1990s, not counting the thousands of day users who’ve skied through the forest. But many still consider this trail system to be among Western Washington’s best kept secrets. Most people find out about it through word of mouth and the MTTA Communications Director was no exception. Like many of the organization’s 90 volunteers, Heath Jones was inspired by his first trip up to the huts to give back. He volunteered on ski patrol for several years, and now focuses on creating awareness and accessibility for both summer and winter users.

“Making it accessible is important, and making it fun for all ages, whether playing board games or having bachelor or bachelorette parties or things like that … getting more people to understand what the huts are capable of… I think is a huge,” Heath said.

For MTTA, accessibility means providing ongoing improvements to enhance experiences for all skill levels, and that includes adding to the trail system. As the forests and trails evolve, so do the huts. For example: once powered by screw-on propane bottles, the huts now run on solar.

The High Hut with Mount Rainier peeking around it.

These upgrades, intersecting with convenience and safety, are met with respect by the users who practice Leave No Trace principles.

“People come up and take a sense of pride in it,” Jones said. “They keep it pretty clean,
refill water, sweep up, and leave it for the next people, which is important because they’re all public use. From what I’ve seen people are pretty respectful of the property and the ability to go up and enjoy the view.”

Bob and Heath both agree that what really sets these huts apart from others in the United States is they are relatively affordable for everyone.

Take it from us: Christmas is better with a Christmas tree.

(Even Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz weighed in on this last year.)

Please don’t take your tree from us, however. You’ll have to get one from somewhere besides a state forest, just like we do.

Because the trust lands under our supervision are needed to generate sustainable revenue while managed in an environmentally conscious way, we can’t have people cutting down our juvenile trees before they reach maturity. If we did, then there would be less money generated for schools, libraries, and other public services for the agencies that depend on us.

Instead, to generate solid returns for those public services, we have to wait until the trees in the forest have reached maturity before auctioning them for harvest.

However, there are plenty of places on federal lands for Washington residents to be able to cut their own Christmas trees, and there’s also many tree farms open for residents shopping across the state.

National Forests

• Colville National Forest 
• Gifford Pinchot National Forest 
• Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
• Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
• Olympic National Forest

Private tree farms

• Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Association

Here’s to hoping for a safe harvest, and a happy holiday season, too!

Outdoor burning is a leading cause of wildfire ignitions, smoke and certain pollutants. Photo DNR

With slash piles around and the cold November rain right around the corner, it’s a perfect time of year for forest landowners to consider their outdoor burning needs of branches and bark left behind after thinning, pruning or harvesting forest trees.

So, to answer the question of is it burning season: Yes, but not if the air quality is poor in your area.

Fire danger is low once again here in Western Washington as summer fades away and temperatures cool down.

Burning slash now avoids the future risk of uncontrolled fire during the summer, and it reduces the potential for nuisance smoke later amid the cold winter air.

Burning can also reduce the number of insects harmful to the forest that overwinter in slash and create more open ground for forest regeneration, which can boost forest health.

Nearly all slash burning is done under permits issued by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). These permits address how much can be burned, what equipment can be used and that attendance is mandatory on site during the burning. Other land-clearing burning typically falls under county permits. DNR also can deny burning if conditions could cause a fire to escape or if there is unhealthy air.

DNR fire personnel, county fire dispatch centers, and county fire marshals are notified daily of permitted burns.

Forest landowners are looking for those slightly breezy days ahead of or following a period of rain when there is upward movement in the air to help the fire burn hot and disperse the smoke high in the atmosphere.

Don’t be alarmed when you see columns of smoke or flames at night in the hills. Sometimes the amount of smoke or height of the flames may seem alarming and similar to what wildfires produce, but the outward spread of the slash fire is controlled during fall burning. A slash fire that burns hot and fast has more complete combustion and produces fewer pollutants than a slower-burning fire.

Always follow the Department of Ecology’s website (https://ecology.wa.gov/Air-Climate/Air-quality/Smoke-fire/Burn-bans) for air quality and burn ban information in your area.

Slash burns are usually completed and out within a week or two. If you do see smoke from a slash pile that continues to smolder for weeks, please call the forest landowner or your local DNR Region Office.

The diversity of our employees’ experience gives shape to the work of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Lalena Amiotte has been with DNR since 2008. She is currently working as the Aquatic Resources Division’s Habitat Stewardship Unit Supervisor, where she specializes in environmental stewardship of overwater structures and endangered species recovery. Lalena previously served as the department’s interim tribal liaison. This essay is brought to you by our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council.

I often find myself thinking of the teachings that come with the species we are trying to protect at DNR. Take the beaver, for example: In my culture, the beaver brings life; water, water is life. Without water, we cease to exist. Beaver are also the most industrious of all the creatures (and probably my favorite aquatic species) – they remind us to keep working and to not give up.

Lalena Amiotte, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is the supervisor of the DNR Aquatic Resources Division’s Habitat Stewardship Unit.

I am constantly reminded at work of these stories and songs, and somehow this gives my work added meaning and importance.

As an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe from South Dakota, and the wife of a Skokomish tribal fisherman, the connection to the water and forests is who we are. We are raising our children on the Skokomish Indian Reservation in Mason County, teaching them to know the lands, the waters, and all the creatures big and small that call those places home. But we are also passing onto them how to use their voices to protect these precious resources for future generations.

Our teachings tell us that each one of us has a role in our family, our community and this world. My husband’s role is that of the fisherman and head of family by bringing the bounty of the sea home to our family and community. My role has always been to use my voice and be the example for the next generations – especially young native women in my community – by showing that women belong in natural resource management and that tribal perspectives matter in Washington state and across this country. Our daughter’s role might be the hardest – to remember everything we have taught her, so that when we are gone our family’s traditions and culture are not lost.

Teaching our next generation is so important. Without my education, my path in life would have been incredibly limited. Thanks to my parents and grandparents, I was encouraged from a very early age to go for higher education. I’m fortunate – without those people pushing me, I imagine my life would be very challenging. I try to pass this on to the next generation, both to my daughter and to the children in my community: Once you have a degree or a trade certificate, that can never be taken away. You earned that.

I like to share my culture’s teachings with my co-workers at DNR to add to their perspective about the conservation work we do here, and I feel like my perspective and experiences are welcome here. For someone with such a diverse background and traditions, for someone who cares so deeply for this land we are charged to manage, working for DNR is a natural fit.

As the Puget Sound resident orca population continues to dwindle, reaching a 30-year low, we have a ray of hope.

Or three – a trio of female orcas are pregnant right now, researchers announced recently.

But we haven’t seen a juvenile orca survive in three years in Puget Sound waters, and the populations of salmon the iconic sea mammals feed on have continued to decline in quantity, too.

Orca populations in Puget Sound are at a 30-year low. (Photo by Candice Emmons, NOAA Fisheries)

That’s why Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources today announced a $90 million environmental funding request to conserve critical aquatic habitat, improve water quality, and grow the trees and forests to ensure clean, cool waters necessary for salmon to survive.

“The existential struggle of many of Washington’s native species requires us to make immediate and significant investments in our landscapes,” Franz said. “This funding package allows DNR to take the next steps needed to protect and restore salmon habitat and water quality, helping secure a future for our orcas, our salmon, our way of life.”

According to the Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery and Task Force, the decline in orca and salmon populations is primarily driven by vessel traffic and noise, toxic contaminants in the water, poor habitat, and declining prey.

The funding package is designed to support the work of the task force and other entities by protecting and repairing habitat damaged by toxins, development and barriers to fish passage. By repairing salmon habitat, populations of salmon have more places to rebound, providing food for orcas and sufficient salmon to support tribal treaty fishing obligations, while also reopening closed commercial and recreational fishing opportunities.

Several of the actions recommended by the state’s Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery and Task Force would be fully funded and implemented, as well as proposals from the Puget Sound Partnership and the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

Here are a handful of different ways this proposal would improve salmon and orca habitat:

A worker segments a polluting piling removed from Washington’s waters so that it can be removed from the beach. (DNR photo)

• $7 million from the state operating budget would provide permanent funding to protect the aquatic food web by removing legacy toxins, restoring eelgrass beds, and removing marine debris.
• $1.5 million would help DNR’s scientists assess the impact of ocean acidification in Washington, advancing research critical to the continued viability of oyster harvesting and other aquaculture.
• $2.1 million would enhance urban forestry, keeping more stormwater runoff – the top pollutant of Washington’s waters – in the ground and out of salmon and orca habitat.
• $8 million would fund Puget SoundCorps workers performing critical salmon habitat restoration.
• $5 million would pay to remove several large derelict boats that are dangers to both fish habitat and public safety.
• $1.5 million would allow DNR to perform conservation work on its natural lands, preserving threatened environments while providing natural resilience to climate change.
• $1.6 million would fund experts to help small private landowners protect salmon habitat in their lands, and $23 million would be set aside to help landowners maintain protective buffers around streams and unstable slopes.
• $31 million would go toward removing barriers to fish passage, including the removal or replacement of undersized culverts, on both state and private lands.
• $1.4 million would go toward glacial landslide research, so DNR can understand and limit slides into streams and rivers.
• $820,000 would be used to ensure that roads built for forest practices purposes are safe and do not add sediment to salmon-bearing streams.

How you can help

You can help protect the Puget Sound ecosystem at home, too.

Be mindful of when you use fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides, and try using non-chemical alternatives, like compost or pest-deterring plants. Make sure your car, truck or SUV doesn’t have any leaks, and recycle used oil whenever possible. Use commercial car washes or wash your car on your lawn or in other areas where the water can be absorbed, so it doesn’t go into storm drains. And if you have a septic tank at your property, make sure to service it regularly so it does not fail and release sewage into the environment. (Find a full collection of water-friendly tips at the state Department of Ecology’s website.)

The Blanchard Forest Strategy is one step closer to full completion.

The plan, funded to completion by legislators last year, calls for the conservation of the 1,600-acre central portion of the state forest in Skagit County, with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources acquiring other lands nearby to replace the revenue once generated by timber harvests in the forest’s core.

Today, the state Board of Natural Resources approved DNR’s proposal to purchase nearly 200 acres of working forest next to Blanchard State Forest at its monthly meeting in Olympia.

“Completing this purchase ensures continued financial support for Skagit County students and local forestry jobs, all while protecting the core of Blanchard State Forest for present and future generations to enjoy,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, who leads DNR and chairs the Board of Natural Resources.

A series of trails winds through the Blanchard State Forest in Skagit County. The core of the forest is being conserved as part of a Legislature-funded plan, and replacement working forests have been acquired nearby. (Photo by Ashli Blow, DNR)

Blanchard State Forest is a 4,800-acre forest in Skagit County managed by DNR. It is located on the southern end of the Chuckanut Range, north of the city of Burlington. The forest is state trust land that DNR manages to generate revenue to support Skagit County public services.

The acquisitions — two parcels of forest land offered by the Goodyear Nelson Lumber Co., totaling 193.25 acres and costing $1.22 million — will help replace the timber revenue that Skagit County once received from the popular, scenic portion of the inner forest that is being put into conservation status, while also increasing public access to the area.

DNR’s purchases are part of the Blanchard Forest Strategy, which calls for placing the 1,600-acre core zone that includes Samish Overlook, Oyster Dome and backcountry camping areas at Lily and Lizard lakes into permanent conservation status. That core zone was used to provide revenue to several Skagit County junior taxing districts, which prompted DNR to acquire replacement working forest elsewhere in the county.

Funds for these purchases are part of a recent $2 million legislative appropriation for DNR to continue the Blanchard Forest Strategy. The beneficiaries include Skagit County, Medic One, the Port of Skagit and United General Hospital, as well as the Burlington-Edison School District. The purchase of the other two private parcels in the appropriation, totaling 76 acres, was approved by the Board of Natural Resources in September.

One more land transaction is expected before the Blanchard Forest Strategy will be completed.

Looking to learn more about Blanchard State Forest or the recreation opportunities there? Visit dnr.wa.gov/Blanchard for more information.

It’s World Tsunami Awareness Day, and you should know that Washington faces one of the highest tsunami risks in the U.S. That’s why we are working hard to learn about tsunami hazards and produce maps and evacuation products to help you stay informed about the hazards for you and your family.

Here’s a not so fun tsunami awareness fact for you: all of Washington’s coastline is at risk for tsunamis; if you feel an earthquake get to high ground as soon as possible. Learn about tsunami hazard areas and evacuation routes ahead of time so if you are near the coast when the next earthquake happens you will already know where to go to get to safety.

As we saw in September in Palu, Indonesia, tsunamis can be devastating events that re-shape the ground, destroy structures and claim thousands of lives. Washington is also vulnerable to this type of event.

Tsunami deposits, submarine landslides, and buried trees remain reminders of the 1700 A.D. Magnitude 9 megathrust earthquake along the Cascadia subduction zone that produced a tsunami that flooded much of Washington’s coast. These clues have been located in numerous places along the Washington, Oregon, California, and Vancouver Island coasts.

Large waves generated by the 9.2 magnitude Alaskan earthquake in 1964 destroyed this bridge in Washington State.

We’re also vulnerable to tsunamis caused by distant earthquakes. A magnitude 9.2 earthquake shook the coast of Alaska southeast of Anchorage in 1964. The quake last almost 4.5 minutes, impacting many in Alaska. The ensuing tsunami traveled more than 1,300 miles to unundate the coast of Washington, Oregon and California, killing 16 people.

Another remarkable tsunami struck inland, when a series of landslides into Lake Roosevelt produced tsunami waves as high 65 feet.

This is why The Washington Geological Survey helps communities across Washington identify how they may be vulnerable to similar tsunami events and how they can craft innovative strategies for preparing for those threats.

We work with scientists and emergency managers to map results from modeled tsunami scenarios to show where waves would likely strike after a Cascadia quake, identify evacuation routes, and help communities with vertical evacuation strategies. Earlier this year, we released new tsunami inundation hazard maps for Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Bellingham, Anacortes, and the southwest Washington coast.

Earthquakes

In addition, Washington faces the second highest risk from earthquakes in the U.S., and one of the highest for tsunamis, yet remains the only west coast state that does not have an inventory of the seismic hazard for critical infrastructure. We’re working every day to identify and map faults, so you can know where your nearest hazards lie.

The Washington Emergency Management Division says the best way to survive any type of disaster is to have a plan, keep informed, and have a mobile survival kit.

Find your best routes

Want to find the best evacuation routes for your community? Our Geologic Information Portal has a tsunami layer that shows tsunami hazard zones, evacuation routes, and designated assembly areas. Use the address locator tool to find evacuation routes and assembly areas near your home, school or workplace.

Using our interactive maps, you can create, save, and print custom maps, find more information about map features, and download map data for use in a geographic information system (GIS). In addition to a variety of geoscience layers that can be turned on and off, each interactive map has many base layers to choose from, so you can customize your map in any number of ways.

 

 

 

 

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently acquired 24 acres of land in the Rattlesnake Mountain Scenic Area. Rattlesnake Mountain provides an important connection between the Cascade Mountains and the Puget Sound lowlands by protecting critical wildlife corridors and recreation in the lower Snoqualmie Valley.

Co-managed by DNR and King County, this Scenic Area is a 1,771-acre Natural Resource Conservation Area that protects wildlife habitat and numerous riparian systems.
The acquisition completes a cluster of protected lands between the Raging River State Forest, Cedar River Watershed, Rattlesnake Mountain Scenic Area, Meadowbrook Farm, and Three Forks Natural Area.

“This makes the Rattlesnake Mountain Scenic Area a true example of partnership in the Snoqualmie Corridor for conservation and recreation opportunities,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, who leads DNR.

“The completion of this conservation will benefit our local communities and economy by providing connecting trails on public lands and wildlife corridors.”

Jon Hoekstra, Executive Director of the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, said this conservation acquisition represents the final piece of a 25-year effort to connect public lands, enable trail connections, and protect wildlife habitat on beautiful Rattlesnake Mountain, a popular recreation destination just outside North Bend.

“These incremental conservation success stories are ones we need to celebrate and diligently pursue in order to stitch together a landscape that will ensure ecological integrity and livability of our region,” said Jon.

Bald Mountain from Cutthroat Lakes

The 24-acre acquisition was funded by a grant from the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund Program through the US Fish and Wildlife Service. It represents a coordinated effort by both DNR and King County, as well as Forterra, Trust for Public Lands, and the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust to conserve the scenic and ecological character of Rattlesnake Mountain.

The Rattlesnake Mountain Scenic Area represents one of the first conservation acquisition efforts within the Mountains to Sound Greenway. In 1993, DNR and King County purchased 1,800 acres on the northern flank of the mountain. Over the last 25 years, the Trust for Public Land has partnered with DNR, King County, and the U.S. Forest Service to purchase 2,150 additional acres of conservation land, working forest, and easements along Rattlesnake Mountain and the Raging River State Forest.

Natural Areas Program

Under the oversight of the Commissioner of Public lands, DNR conserves nearly 159,000 acres of lands and ecological features in designated natural area preserves and natural resources conservation areas, protecting the highest-quality examples of natural Washington and providing opportunities for research, environmental education and low-impact recreation.

In addition, the Commissioner manages 2.5 million acres of trust lands for public benefit to ensure forested watersheds for clean water, wildlife habitat, recreation access, and wildfire protections. Commissioner Franz also oversees the state’s 3 million acres of aquatic lands, as well as industrial activities within forested areas, statewide geologic information and forest health efforts.

Northport School District Superintendent Don Baribault had an expensive problem on his hands: An old diesel boiler in the preschool-through-eighth-grade building on the Northport Elementary/Middle/High School campus was failing. It needed constant maintenance, but the district didn’t have the budget to upgrade its heating system.

Then the district received a call from the Washington State University Energy Program, inquiring if the district had an interest in some grant money to install wood energy at the school through a state-funded bioenergy pilot program. It would be the first time the state installed a wood pellet boiler for a public building.

“It was not only greener, but it was a long-term cost savings,” Baribault said. The school district agreed to the project, and after a couple years of planning, crews installed the boiler this week.

The 340 MBH biomass boiler in Northport is expected to use about 70 tons of wood pellets, displacing about 8,500 gallons of fuel oil per year. (Wisewood Energy photo)

The campus serves about 200 students, and Baribault said they have all enjoyed watching the project unfold.

The boiler system was installed in a shipping container and placed alongside a 24-foot-tall silo that can hold 30 tons of wood pellets. As crews used a crane to install the system, some of the younger kids at recess asked if they were getting a spaceship, Baribault said. Older students and the staff appreciate that they are getting a heating system that is more energy efficient and better for the environment.

“To be able to do that on a grant was pretty cool,” he said.

The boiler is heating two buildings on the campus: the building for preschool through eighth grade, and the building that houses the gymnasium and cafeteria. In addition to installing the biomass system, the project also included integrating the heating systems for the two buildings.

Energy efficient, low carbon

Using wood pellets or wood chips to displace oil for heating is one of the best, low carbon examples of modern wood energy. These wood fuels are made from the byproducts of timber or forest restoration activities, and when used in a highly efficient system such as Northport’s new boiler, the amount of carbon emitted during combustion is recaptured by tree growth in a short period of time, if not immediately.

At Northport, the boiler requires 70 tons of wood pellets a year, and it has an estimated 85 percent efficiency rating, meaning 15 percent of the energy burned is lost while the remaining 85 percent becomes heat.

The new heating system is expected to save the school district approximately $10,000 a year – and even more if the price of oil rises, according to Wisewood Energy, the Portland-based biomass energy developer that led the project’s construction and final design.

Here’s how the 340 MBH (100 kW) boiler works:

• Pellets are conveyed from the nearby silo to the boiler as needed, where they are burned to heat water.
• The hot water travels to three thermal storage tanks, which combined can hold 1,085 gallons of water.
• The system dispatches hot water from the tanks as needed to heat the buildings.
• As hot water leaves the thermal tanks, it passes through an oil boiler in the gym, which was retained to serve as a backup and supplemental heat source for the wood pellet boiler.
• If the backup boiler senses that the water coming from the thermal storage tanks is too cold, it will kick in to assist.

“The biomass boiler was sized to be able to provide approximately 95 percent of the school’s heat demand,” said Meagan Hartman of Wisewood Energy. “The gymnasium’s existing oil boiler will provide the remaining 5 percent, which will occur during peak demand and shoulder seasons.”

Building and installing the new boiler, and integrating it into the backup system, cost about $400,000, Nuss said.

 

Wood chip heating in Forks

The Northport project is the first time Washington state has funded the installation of a wood pellet boiler to heat a public facility, but it’s not the first biomass energy project supported by the Washington State Wood Energy Team.

In 2010, the Quillayute Valley School District installed a biomass boiler at Fork High School that runs on wood chips rather than pellets. Funding for the $2.6 million project (which included a new building and a heating and cooling system), was provided by a $1 million state grant and a $1.6 million local school bond.

That boiler runs 24/7 from November to May, heating the school facilities, providing hot water, and creating less stress for maintenance staff. At the time of installation, the wood system cost half as much as diesel to operate.

Read more about that project here.

 

The building that houses the wood chip boiler for Forks Middle School and Forks High School.

Did you know?

Today is National Bioenergy Day, and this week is George Geissler . Across the country today, communities are highlighting the ecological, social, and economic benefits of a locally sourced renewable wood energy industry.

Fall has settled in across Washington and nowhere is that more evident than beneath the trees in Teanaway Community Forest.

The sun cast a warm glow across the landscape through a kaleidoscope of yellow, red, and fiery orange leaves on Friday afternoon for gathering members of the Teanaway Community Forest Advisory Committee.

Over the past 18 months, the departments of Natural Resources (DNR) and Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the committee developed a supplemental recreation plan for Teanaway to be included in the community forest’s management plan developed in 2015.

The recreation plan puts opportunity on the page for hiking, camping, mountain biking, horseback riding, scenic driving, and motorcycling, as well as fishing, hunting, and nature activities. It will serve as a guide for the management of recreation and public access in the Teanaway over the next 15 years.

On Oct. 24, the plan will enter a two-week State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) comment period—one of the final steps in the development process. The agencies and committee anticipate adopting the recreation plan in early December.

“The Teanaway is a special place that means a lot to people – that was evident throughout the planning process,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz. “They’ve helped develop an environmentally responsible recreation plan that will shape family and outdoor adventures in the Teanaway for generations to come.”

Commissioner Franz leads DNR in managing 1,100 miles of trails and 160-plus recreation sites in 3 million acres of working forest state trust lands and 92 natural areas.

As more members of the committee arrived to talk about the final phases of the recreation plan, two riders saddled up their gaited horses for an afternoon ride and a family returned from a hike along the Middle Fork Teanaway River with their dogs. Even on a workday, people found time to escape into Teanaway.

Teanaway has a long history of impact for generations of humans who have looked to it as a jewel in Central Washington—there is evidence of Native Americans inhabiting the area 11,500 years ago.

In 2013, the state legislature established Teanaway as the state’s first community forest. The advisory committee assembled to assist DNR and DFW in developing a management plan. They completed the plan in 2015—though it didn’t include a recreation plan yet. Everyone decided that would take a little more time to get right.

“So many people have a tie to the Teanaway and everyone who comes here just falls in love with it,” Larry Leach, Southeast Region assistant manager, said. “Making this place a better forest—and that includes everything in the forest—that’s what’s rewarding and why we put so much effort into this.”

The agencies and committee spent 18 months listening to extensive community input and developing a plan that identified recreation opportunities that were compatible with the priority of conservation and restoration of the upper Yakima Basin as part of the Yakima Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Plan.

“It’s been a remarkable group of 20 of us who come from many different walks of life and many interest areas,” Martha Wyckoff, neighboring landowner and committee member, said. “We’re not all of one like mind but we’ve come to find the civic process to be very rewarding. We worked well together to serve the community, serve the forest, and create a plan that we believe will be great for this community for the next 15 of years.”

Throughout the process, one thing became abundantly clear: People love and care deeply for Teanaway.

In the summer of 2017, more than 2,600 people participated in a survey to provide input and ideas regarding recreational opportunity in Teanaway.

The agencies and committee developed a “word cloud” depicting the most common words and phrases used in the survey participants’ responses. The more common the word, the larger it appears.

Hunting, trails, riding, camping, hiking, wildlife, great, quiet, beautiful, family—that’s what Teanaway represents for users.

The agencies and committee had their work cut out for them.

Planning for the seasons

The recreation plan addresses the seasonal variations presented by the area and separates its overall management strategies into two seasonal groups: “Spring, Summer, and Fall” and “Winter”.

The agencies and committee opted for this route after looking at biological, soil, geologic, and management constraints across the landscape throughout the year. This approach considers the needs of wildlife during some seasons and threats of soil erosion and damage to river floodplains in others. Ultimately, these primary management objectives come together to managing sustainable trails, camping areas, and trailheads.

“We’ve worked hard to make sure recreational uses are compatible with watershed protection and other values that were identified in the overall management plan,” said WDFW Director Kelly Susewind.

The advisory committee originally assembled to develop the 2015 Teanaway Community Forest Management Plan, so the members had a strong understanding of the five guiding goals for management in the area:

• Protect and enhance the water supply and protect the watershed
• Maintain working lands for forestry and grazing while protecting key watershed functions and aquatic habitat
• Maintain and where possible expand recreational opportunities consistent with watershed protection, for activities such as hiking, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, camping, birding, and snowmobiling
• Conserve and restore vital habitat for fish, including steelhead, spring Chinook, and bull trout, and wildlife, including deer, elk, large predators, and spotted owls
• Support a strong community partnership, in which the Yakama Nation, residents, business owners, local governments, conservation groups, and others provide advice about ongoing land management

“They offered up solutions that helped us balance the habitat needs and the water quality needs and the restoration intent of the forest,” Leach said. “Really, the outcome of the plan is to improve what is already here for recreation and sustain what already is an incredible place to come and play.”

Perhaps the coolest part about recreation in Teanaway is the partnerships that have allowed the opportunity for visitors to discover different towns and landscapes during their adventures.

From the U.S. Forest Service providing connections to multi-use trails in Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest to the non-motorized trails stretching over Cle Elum Ridge to the communities of Cle Elum, Roslyn and Ronald, collaboration between agencies will play a big roll connecting recreationists to opportunities for play across this incredible landscape.

Spring, Summer, and Fall Concept

The priorities for Spring, Summer, and Fall primarily focus on non-motorized recreation. It includes hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, camping, fishing, hunting, and nature activities. However, it also establishes a scenic driving route for motorized fun.

Doug McClelland, DNR Teanaway recreation Planning, looks at the Summer recreation in the draft recreation plan.

The scenic driving routes will follow forest roads from Indian Camp to the North Fork Teanaway Road, giving recreationists beautiful views of the Teanaway Butte area and restoration activities along Lick Creek. These routes will also enhance connections at Jack Creek Road to Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and Hwy 97.

In addition to the scenic driving route, the plan outlines zones for trail development—including trailheads with parking, restrooms, and information kiosks.

Recreationists can also expect to see improvements at the Teanaway, 29 Pines, and Indian Camp camping areas.

Winter

For the winter months, the recreation plan outlines enhanced groomed motorized and non-motorized trails with opportunities for dispersed snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.

This includes zones for a snowmobile area to enhance the groomed snowmobile trail network, and a non-motorized winter recreation area for non-motorized winter activities and sports. Sno-parks will be located at 29 Pines camp area for access to the snowmobile area and at the West Teanaway camp area for access to the non-motorized winter recreation area.

Warming Huts will be developed and managed in cooperation with user groups.

Get involved

From those who volunteered to be on the committee to help develop management and recreation for generations to come to the community members who have attended meetings to share their ideas and insights, it’s evident that Teanaway is a special place to people across the state.

Now, there’s one more chance to get involved and share your thoughts.

Community members and recreationists are invited to attend the comment period kick-off meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 24 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Putnam Centennial Center in Cle Elum. Attendees will have an opportunity to learn about the concepts, priorities, strategies, and tools from the planning effort and learn how to comment during the environmental review.

The recreation plan begins its SEPA review on Oct. 24 and will be open for comment through Nov. 7.

In the high desert, Red Mountain stands above vineyards growing hundreds of acres, harvesting some of the best grapes in the state — leading some to call it The Napa Valley of Washington.

“It’s the slopes, it’s the elevation, and then it’s the soils,” said Quintessence and Shaw’s Vineyard Manager Marshall Edwards, who is a decades-long expert deep appreciation for the mountain’s terrain.

Marshall Edwards has worked as vineyard operations manager for nearly 20 years for Shaw and Quintessence Vineyards.

“These ancient soils brought in from the Missoula Flood that swirled around Red Mountain and deposited in here that are so rich … It’s the combination of those three things that make it so special,” he said.

Red Mountain isn’t just an American Viticultural Area (AVA) — a federal designation that recognizes a region for wine growing — but part of it is public trust land, which is owned by Washington State Department of Natural Resources.

 

 

DNR gives agriculture leases out to private businesses, and in turn, generates $24 million annually that goes to funding public services.

“Most of the revenue generated goes to the public trust, so the Common School Construction Fund, and another small portion is leasehold tax, and that tax goes back to the county in lieu of property taxes,” said DNR Land Manager Tim Kopf. “So the [revenue generated] for the Common School Construction Fund helps to offset taxes in local communities for helping to pay for the construction of schools for local communities.”

Quintessence grows on about 300 acres. The vineyard strives to get 40 tons of fruit an acre.

Additionally, the property itself can become more valuable when leased out. When it comes to Quintessence, they took a bare piece of land and turned it into a crown jewel of a property — increasing the value by an 100 fold from when DNR initially bought it in the 1990s.

“The asset value for the department has increased remarkably,” Koph said. “The Shaw’s are good stewards of the land. They take good care of that property, and we like folks who take good care of [the] ground like it’s their own, and they do a great job of that.”

Workers wait for macro-bins, where they will dump their hand-picked grapes. The macro-bins are weighed, and then the fruit is shipped to wineries.

Quintessence just wrapped up its 18th fall harvest with nearly 1,000 tons of grapes hand picked from the vine. Trucks bring the fruit over the Cascades to wineries, and they create full-bodied cabernets, merlots, and syrahs.

It’s wine that’s not only good for happy hour, but it’s good for Washington.

Twenty-seven years ago today, gale-force winds combined with dry and unseasonably warm weather combined to ignite the Fire Storm in Spokane County. It was called ‘Fire Storm’ because that’s exactly what took place. On October 16, 1991, wind gusts of up to 62 miles per hour were recorded in eastern Washington. Within hours, 92 wildfires had started — approximately 90 percent of them due to the gale-force winds that snapped power lines or pushed trees into power lines.

Most of the homes lost to wildfire in the following days were in what we call the wildland urban interface, where homes and forest intermix. There was one fatality during the fire and 114 homes and numerous other structures were destroyed. Population growth in wildland urban interfaces is a major reason that wildfires have become more disastrous.

Lessons learned
Many homeowners affected by the Fire Storm of 1991 were caught with a lack of knowledge about the wildfire risks where they lived. As a result, the National Fire Protection Association developed a program, Firewise, to help homeowners protect themselves and their property from wildfire. Since then, dozens of communities in eastern and western Washington state have qualified as Firewise communities because they took steps to reduce wildfire risks.

The two largest risks for homes during wildfires are:

• A flammable roof, vulnerable to the wind-carried embers during a wildfire
• Vegetation close to a house that can ignite and generate heat or flames that burn siding or other parts of the structure

The legacies of Fire Storm include the establishment of the State Mobilization Process that is under the authority of the Washington State Patrol and a greater awareness of the problems associated with people moving into the wildland urban interface.

Quick facts about Fire Storm 1991
Maximum wind gust: 62 mph
Homes destroyed: 114
Acres burned: 35,000
Homes threatened: 511
Separate fires: 92
Largest single fire: 13,840 acres
Firefighters responding: 4,000
Fire engines responding: 400
Fatalities: 1
9-1-1 calls received, first 24 hours: 3,000

Follow DNR on:

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz unveiled Wednesday the largest budget request of its kind in state history: a $55 million Department of Natural Resources proposal for fighting wildfires and maintaining healthier forests in Washington.

The 2019-21 budget package, which already has bipartisan support from members of the Legislature’s Wildfire Caucus, would transform DNR’s firefighting strategy and reduce that hazards that unhealthy forests pose to Washington communities. In Central and Eastern Washington alone, 2.7 million acres of forest are dead or dying, increasing the potential for catastrophic wildfires seen in recent years.

This year, DNR responded to about 1,700 wildfires – second only to the number of wildfire responses in 2009. Smoke from this year’s fires at times gave Washington the worst air quality in the world, and numerous fires forced families to evacuate their homes.

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz speaks about her budget request Wednesday at the Department of Natural Resources helicopter maintenance hangar in Olympia.

“We need bold, forward-thinking investments to reduce wildfires. Inaction is not an option,” Franz said. “It’s time to come together to invest in strategies that keep wildfires small and our skies clear of smoke, and I look forward to working with the governor and the Legislature to ensure we have the resources we need to keep our communities healthy and safe.”

Wildfire fighting, prevention

The biennium budget request includes nearly $12 million to transform 30 engine-leader jobs, which are seasonal positions, into year-round permanent positions. This would help retain seasoned firefighters at DNR and provide a staff to carry out critical forest health treatments, such as prescribed burning, during the offseason. The vast majority of DNR’s firefighting force is seasonal (only 43 firefighters work full time), prompting many firefighters to take their skills elsewhere.

“I love serving my community as a wildland firefighter,” said Tommy Matsuda, a seasonal firefighter at DNR. “But the part-time nature of the job makes it hard to sign up year after year. I would gladly stay on full time performing forest health work in the offseason if I was able.”

The agency’s firefighters would also receive more training to deal with increasingly complex wildfire seasons under the commissioner’s budget plan, to the tune of $2.2 million in the 2019-21 biennium. They would receive two additional helicopters – increasing their helicopter fleet to nine and helping them respond more rapidly to fires.

Additionally, more than $4.8 million would grow the firefighting force supplied by Washington’s prison system – from 300 to 380 workers – allowing incarcerated people to learn firefighting and forestry skills while reducing the state’s firefighting costs. The budget also would provide $100,000 to improve emergency communications and $234,200 to help assess landslide risk in areas affected by wildfire.

These requests support the commissioner’s Wildland Fire Protection Strategic Plan to make the fundamental changes necessary to stop and prevent uncharacteristically large wildfires.

“As a fire chief and incident management team member in a community impacted by wildfire, I know we need more resources on the ground,” Spokane County Fire District 9 Chief Jack Cates said. “With more full-time firefighters and air resources, the Department of Natural Resources will be better able to assist us in protecting endangered communities like Spokane County.”

Franz made her announcement alongside state Reps. Larry Springer, D-Kirkland, and Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, as well as Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Chairman Rodney Cawston, Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue Chief Dave LaFave, and Matsuda.

“The facts are simple: When fire is running across the landscape, it’s terrifying. It doesn’t matter if it’s 15,000. It doesn’t matter if it’s 80,000 acres. It’s terrifying,” said LaFave, a member of the the state’s Wildland Fire Advisory Council and the Washington Fire Chiefs Association. “We want to see these initiatives move forward. We want to see a different decision today, so there’s a different outcome tomorrow.”

Because people cause 90 percent of all wildfires, teaching the public about wildfire prevention is another key part of the commissioner’s budget.

It would invest nearly $2 million in the creation of seven public-outreach specialists scattered across the state, and it includes $4.2 million for DNR’s Landowner Assistance Program. This program helps private forestland owners reduce the wildfire threat on their lands.

Restoring resilient, healthy forests

To get at the core of the problem, Franz’s budget request includes more than $5.7 million to speed up forest health restoration by creating a division solely committed to forest health. The proposal also asks for $17.7 million in capital budget funds to treat more than 32,000 acres of state, federal and private forests in targeted, high-risk areas.

And more than $724,000 in the proposal would dedicate two employees to manage the federal contracts, finances, and grants necessary to carrying out restoration treatments on federal lands. DNR and the U.S. Forest Service work together through the Good Neighbor Authority agreement to work toward their forest health goals.

These investments align with Franz’s 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan for Central and Eastern Washington. Through partnerships with local, state, tribal and federal agencies and organizations, the strategic plan aims to improve forest health and rural economic development while decreasing wildfire risk.

“Wildfire doesn’t respect property boundaries,” Cawston said. “By increasing resources for our state’s wildland firefighters, we decrease the risk that wildfires pose to tribal communities and private property owners. This is a win-win for Washington.”

Bipartisan support from lawmakers

Dent and Springer said Washington’s dangerous wildfire seasons, as well as its forest health crisis, cannot go ignored.

“The communities I represent are on the frontlines of our wildfire and forest health crisis,” said Dent, founder and chair of the Legislature’s Wildfire Caucus. “It is critical that our firefighters and foresters have the tools they need to reduce large, destructive wildfires in the future.”

“For too long, we have been penny wise, pound foolish, paying huge costs to suppress megafires instead of investing in wildfire reduction strategies,” Springer said. “As a member of the Wildfire Caucus, this investment in preparedness and forest health is a top priority.”

A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck north of Palu, Indonesia late last week, re-shaping the ground beneath the city and destroying dozens of structures. The tsunami that resulted from the earthquake proved much more devastating, killing, as of Monday, at least 844 people.

This devastation is a strong reminder that Washington is also vulnerable to this type of event.

Closer to home, other reminders are tsunami deposits, submarine landslides, and buried trees from the 1700 A.D. Magnitude 9 megathrust earthquake along the Cascadia subduction zone. These clues have been located in numerous places along the Washington, Oregon, California, and Vancouver Island coasts.

This is why The Washington Geological Survey helps Washington communities identify how they may be vulnerable to similar tsunami events and how they can craft innovative strategies for preparing for those threats.

We have produced tsunami inundation maps to show how tsunamis would likely impact communities.

 

We work with scientists and emergency managers to map results from modeled tsunami scenarios to show where waves would likely strike after a Cascadia quake, identify evacuation routes, and help communities with vertical evacuation strategies. Earlier this year, we released new tsunami inundation hazard maps for Port Angeles, Port Townsend, Bellingham, Anacortes, and the southwest Washington coast.

Earthquakes

In addition, Washington faces the second highest risk from earthquakes in the U.S., and one of the highest for tsunamis, yet remains the only west coast state that does not have an inventory of the seismic hazard for critical infrastructure. We’re working every day to identify and map faults, so you can know where your nearest hazards lie.

The Washington Emergency Management Division says the best way to survive any type of disaster is to have a plan, keep informed, and have a mobile survival kit.

Find your best routes

Want to find the best evacuation routes for your community? Our Geologic Information Portal has a tsunami layer that shows tsunami hazard zones, evacuation routes, and designated assembly areas. Use the address locator tool to find evacuation routes and assembly areas near your home, school or workplace.

Using our interactive maps, you can create, save, and print custom maps, find more information about map features, and download map data for use in a geographic information system (GIS). In addition to a variety of geoscience layers that can be turned on and off, each interactive map has many base layers to choose from, so you can customize your map in any number of ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLE ELUM – A group of firefighters and foresters stood outside a home earlier this week and sketched out a hypothetical plan for setting controlled fires to the homeowner’s 20-acre property. They gathered around trainer Ray Guse to learn about the level of detail necessary to draft and execute such a burn plan.

The group was in Central Washington for a two-week program called the Training Exchange (TREX), which combines classroom work with hands-on experience in lighting and managing controlled fires. These prescribed burns help control overgrown vegetation, serving as a crucial tool for protecting communities from uncharacteristically large wildfires, and for restoring healthy forests.

Guse called prescribed burning “an art and a science” – and he would know. He’s overseen controlled burns in forests across the country and helped create the TREX program.

“We have scientific ways of modeling the fire behavior and we have a tremendous amount of experience,” he said. And when it comes time to burn, “we’ve got a lot of options to manage the fire – both in how we ignite it and the day that we choose to ignite it.”

Burn bosses, the professionals leading a burn, also “know before we light the match how much smoke we might put up,” Guse added.

Before the trainees started walking the property, Guse instructed them to gather an abundance of information, including: the slope of the land, the types of vegetation and how they would burn, the water sources, the wind patterns, and the presence of elk trails or dirt roads that could serve as fire lines. When they were done, the trainees headed back to the classroom to mock up a plan, including how to respond swiftly in the rare event that fire escapes the boundaries of the prescribed burn.

In the days that followed, they would also get the chance to participate in a number of controlled burns.

Brenda and Ryan Nash’s Hidden Valley home sits on 20 acres in Kittitas County. TREX participants visited their property Sept. 25, 2018, to practice evaluating land ahead of a prescribed burn. (Washington State Department of Natural Resources photo)

Why burn?

The training comes as the Washington State Department of Natural Resources gears up for the need to apply a number of forest treatments, including prescribed burning, to more than a million acres of high-risk forests in Washington.

DNR employs the largest wildfire fighting force in the state – firefighters who have seen first-hand how treated forests help slow the spread of wildfire.

“In treated forests, our rates of spread are a lot lower,” said Austin Marshall, the agency’s fire unit manager in Kittitas County. “Our flame lengths are down lower, so it gives us more time to respond to it, and once we get to the fire, we’re able to get crews in there safely.”

In Central Washington, prescribed fires also help the natural landscape recover from more than a century of human meddling that, over time, made forests susceptible to dangerous megafires.

“Prescribed fire is the right fire, in the right place, for the right reasons,” said Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Fire Staff Officer Rob Allen. “It’s a proactive step – a choice to put fire to work for our communities and forests rather than just fight against it year after year.”

Prior to American pioneer settlement, ponderosa pine and other forest species in Central Washington experienced about one low-intensity wildfire each decade. Those fires left behind large, widely-spaced trees, and in time, patches of grass and small shrubs would grow in between them.

But largely due to decades of fire suppression, the grass, shrubs and smaller trees have grown unchecked in these forests, creating a thick understory that, when ignited, can cause fires that kill even the largest trees. These larger fires are harder for firefighters to control and threaten the homes and livelihoods of families living in the region.

Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz, who oversees DNR, is leading an effort to help address this problem through the 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan for Central and Eastern Washington. Through partnerships with local, state and federal agencies and organizations, the plan acknowledges the links between forest health, wildfire risk, and economic development in rural Washington.

“Fire has and will always be part of the landscape in Central Washington,” Franz said. “That’s why prescribed burning is one of the many strategies we can use, where appropriate, to help our forests and rural communities thrive for generations. Part of this strategy includes providing our firefighters with the skills necessary to do this precise and important work.”

Training Exchange (TREX) trainer and prescribed fire consultant Ray Guse, far right, leads a workshop Sept. 25, 2018, in Kittitas County about the planning necessary to conduct a controlled burn. The workshop was part of a two-week TREX event in Cle Elum designed to teach wildland firefighters the skills necessary to conduct prescribed burning. (Washington State Department of Natural Resources photo)

Sharpening, gain skills

TREX was created in 2008 to help address a shortage of firefighters trained in prescribed burning. For firefighters, TREX is also a chance to gain new insights and skills from the seven agencies participating: DNR, the U.S. Forest Service, the federal Bureau of Land Management, the Roslyn Fire Department, Kittitas County Fire District 1, the National Park Service, and the British Columbia Wildfire Service.

By conducting prescribed burns, the firefighters see up-close how low- to moderate-intensity fires can restore forests. They learn about the local vegetation. They learn spot-weather forecasts and other tools that help ensure optimal smoke dispersal during and after a prescribed burn. (Controlled burns are designed to reduce the chance of heavy smoke in nearby communities.)

The TREX event in Cle Elum concludes Oct. 5. It is hosted by DNR, the Washington Prescribed Fire Council, The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Forest Service, the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, and the Fire Learning Network.

For more information about TREX, visit the program’s Facebook page.

We’re celebrating National Public Lands Day with even more opportunities to get out and discover recreation opportunities with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

On Sept. 22, the Dirty Harry’s Peak Trail and Far Side Climbing Area open, offering increased recreation access in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Natural Resources Conservation Area (NRCA) east of North Bend and just 45 minutes from Seattle.

The new trail received the majority of its funding from the Natural Areas and Sustainable Recreation capital budgets and are part of an ongoing project to enhance access in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie NRCA.

DNR got started on the project in 2015. Specialists designed and permitted the trail and began looking for stakeholders interested in collaborating to make it happen. A mix of non-profit groups, volunteers, government-led trail crews, and community members rallied behind the project. Then, they got to work.

“Through the collaboration process and working with multiple groups to help complete this project, it was great to see everyone step up and bring their organization’s skillset to the table with enthusiasm,” Sam Jarrett, DNR statewide trails specialist, said.  “The vital role these groups played in seeing this project come to fruition is really a testament to how strong and effective our state’s outdoor recreation organizations, volunteers, and agency trail crews can be when working together.”

Three years of collaboration

The first phase of the project was to decommission a significant segment of the old informal Dirty Harry’s Peak hiking route. The route was located on an old forest road where the agency was acting to remove old culverts and other barriers to enhance fish passage and habitat along a South Fork Snoqualmie River tributary.

With the loss of a segment of the old forest road route and an unsanctioned path to the Dirty Harry’s Peak area, DNR decided to repurpose an undesignated hiking and rock climbing access route and collaborated with Washington State Parks to provide developed access from the trailhead it manages at Far Side.

This route, known informally as Birdhouse Trail, was redesigned into a more sustainable location limiting new impacts to the conservation area. This strategy also eliminated the need to create a new trailhead.

DNR worked with the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust (MTSG) to convert 1.7 miles of upper elevation forest road to trail and decommission remaining forest roads. MTSG developed an additional 0.7 miles of new machine built trail that connects down to the project area boundary tackled by the Washington Trails Association (WTA).

WTA helped lead dozens of volunteer work parties and focused their efforts on a particularly difficult one-mile segment of hand-built trail over steep and rocky terrain.  This trail segment required technical trail construction skills to build carefully constructed rock steps and rock retaining walls on an approximately 1-mile segment of challenging trail. WTA contributed more than 12,000 volunteer labor hours to complete this part of the project.

A local DNR trail crew, with support from a Washington Conservation Corps crew, renovated the lower 0.4 miles of trail by repurposing an old forest road grade-to-trail and developing a new trail segment adjacent to the trailhead. These crews also focused their efforts on sign and kiosk installations.

Discover Dirty Harry’s Peak Trail

The years of collaboration and sweat poured into the trail up Dirty Harry’s Peak paid off. DNR is proud to present the new trail with formal access to the Far Side climbing area—though the hike is not to be underestimated.

Dirty Harry’s Peak Trail is a challenging 3.8 mile trail that provides a much-needed hiking addition to the very popular and often overcrowded recreation areas within the Mountains to Sound Greenway corridor, west of Snoqualmie Pass. It begins near the South Fork River valley bottom north of I-90 and ascends to approximately 4,200 feet on elevation.

Dirty Harry’s Peak Trail uses re-routed and renovated segments of a former unsustainable and non-designated trail and is rocky and steep in many sections. It’s perfect for visitors with technical hiking skills and a good level of fitness. It’s not recommended for children or pets because some segments have off-trail exposure to cliff bands and the hike is considered challenging. Hikers are rewarded for their effort with treks through older forest stands that have intermittent views of both the South Fork River valley and surrounding mountains.

To download or print a trail map, click here.

Head out to the Far Side Climbing Area

DNR staff are excited to increase access to more outdoor climbing opportunities near Seattle.

The Far Side Climbing Area has informally existed for years, but this project provided access signs for the trail junctions and maps of the area.

Far Side offers predominately bolted crags ranging in difficulty from 5.6 to 5.12a. There are a handful of trad lines and six multi-pitch options.

The Access Fund and Washington Climbers Coalition were instrumental in providing climbing expertise and helping to bring DNR together with local climbers from the community to provide feedback and to help evaluate an existing network of undesignated trails that served as an informal access to various climbing routes.

“Our partners in the climbing community were really receptive to DNR’s project design goals of developing the minimal trail mileage necessary to provide both the main hiking route to Dirty Harry’s Peak and access to popular climbing area spur trail junctions,” Jarrett said. “We’re reducing the overall associated impacts to the natural area landscape in an effort to provide low-impact recreation.”

The Access Fund and Washington Climber’s Coalition also teamed up to bring trail building resources to the project.  The Access Fund-Jeep Conservation Team contributed a mobile pair of professional trail builders that travel across the nation. They oversaw several large volunteer work parties throughout the three-year project development period.

The partnership has resulted in fewer unsanctioned trails and associated impacts, with improved visitor information.

“We worked together to help visitors navigate between hiking and rock climbing pursuits through an improved signage system,” Jarrett said. “We also tried to retain the natural aesthetic of the surrounding environment as much as possible while still providing enough wayfinding information for visitors.”

For a map of the climbing area, click here.

To visit the Far Side Climbing Area’s Mountain Project page, click here.

The public planning process

The DNR Snoqualmie Corridor Recreation Plan was released in March 2015 and included high-priority plans to identify and establish new hiking trail opportunities from the Far Side Trailhead to access the Dirty Harry’s Peak area. It also called for DNR to work with the climbing community to improve rock-climbing access and management in the Interstate 90, Exit 38 area.

The new trail system is a result of the local input and community support that went into that planning effort.  Visitors will continue to see improvements identified in the plan on the ground for the next decade.

Conservation efforts in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River Valley 
Middle Fork Snoqualmie Natural Resources Conservation Area, managed by DNR, was established in 2011 and stretches across the forestland east of North Bend to the Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest. It protects wildlife habitat, scenic views, and the upper reaches of the rivers. In addition, it provides an approximate 20-mile trail system for low-impact day-use recreation opportunities.

Getting there
Traveling east on Interstate 90, take Exit 38. Follow SE Homestead Valley Road staying briefly on Grouse Ridge Road before tuning into the Far Side Trailhead, which closes each day at dusk.  Traveling west on Interstate 90, take Exit 38. Take an immediate right turn on Grouse Ridge Road, after a short drive park at the Far Side Trailhead.

To download or print a trail map, click here.

The Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission owns, manages, and maintains the Far Side Trailhead.  DNR collaborated with state parks to improve visitor information at the trailhead kiosk, including new trail system maps to improve the user experience.

A Discover Pass is required to park at the trailhead, get yours here.