February 8, 2012
By Michele Mihalovich
About 150 showed up at an open house Feb. 1 to give their two cents about how the Washington Department of Natural Resources should manage 53,000 acres of newly acquired land referred to as the Snoqualmie Corridor. And those ideas often conflicted from one user group to another.
Doug McClelland, assistant region manager for the South Puget Sound Region, led the presentation part of the open house, held at Snoqualmie Middle School.
He said the main planning focus is going to be on the Middle Fork Snoqualmie area and the Raging River State Forest, to decide what recreational opportunities should be in the area, and whether any areas should be closed to recreation.
?We want to see how we should manage these areas for the next 10 to 15 years,? he said. ?And we want to see if there are opportunities for connections to other areas. Not just DNR lands to DNR lands, but also DNR lands to North Bend, Snoqualmie, Issaquah and Preston.?
Map courtesy Washington Department of Natural Resources Map depicts the 53,000-acre area known as the Snoqualmie Corridor. The Washington Department of Natural Resources is trying to determine the recreational uses and possible restrictions.
Those ?connections? could be roads, multiuse recreational trails or commuter bike routes.
Laura Cooper, a University of Washington graduate student helping the department with the project, told the group that the open house was the first of seven phases the project would go through before possible adoption in fall 2013.
She said the department would take a close look at the land itself, taking into account riparian, wetland and other habitats. Officials are also going to inventory fish-bearing and nonfish-bearing streams and conduct biological and geographical mappings of the area.
The department set up listening stations, where personnel listed feedback from the public about topics such as trail connections, current recreation uses at Middle Fork Snoqualmie and Mount Si, and concerns about opening up more areas to recreation.
As soon as people said they would like to see better access to trails already in the area, another person would say that a paved road takes away from the natural beauty and ruggedness of the area.
A man named Brad, who didn?t want to give his last name, said he?s concerned that paved roads would increase what?s already prolific in the area, ?beer bottles and used condoms.?
Additionally, department staff had written down that one person asked for better equestrian access and camping, but the very next comment was to minimize horse trails due to high maintenance costs.
A woman from the Snoqualmie Tribe wanted to make sure that all sacred tribal sites were protected, while another woman said she was concerned about the spread of noxious weeds and wanted to make sure the department had a plan in place for quick eradication. Mountain bikers expressed their concerns about losing their network of illegal trails. As it stands now, there is one legal mountain bike trail in the area, off the Little Fork Trail. It?s a multiuse trail, and mountain bikers can only use it every other day and only in the summer, said Mike, who would not give his last name.
Because of limited trails for mountain bikers, several ?bootleg? trails have been created in the past four to 10 years, he said.
?And they are very well- maintained and not creating any erosion problems,? he said.
But the public also listed illegal mountain bike trails as a concern in the corridor.
McClelland said people could sign up for email updates and that an online survey would be available soon for more public input.
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On the Web
Learn more about the Snoqualmie Corridor at www.dnr.wa.gov/Recreation-Education/Topics/Recreation-Planning/Pages/amp_rec_ snoqualmie_corridor_recre.aspx.
Written by Michele Mihalovich ? Filed Under Local News?
Copyright 2010 by Issaquah Press Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. E-mail editor@isspress.com
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Source: http://snovalleystar.com/2012/02/08/public-weighs-in-on-snoqualmie-corridor
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