One Year Later, Much Storm Damage Awaits Repair

One year ago, national forests and parks across Western Washington were damaged hard by fierce storms. Hardest hit were Mount Rainier National Park, the Mount Baker-Snoqulamie and Gifford Pinchot National Forests. The damage estimate came in around $70 million.

Due to the hard work of local elected officials such as Congressman Norm Dicks and the efforts of thousands of eager volunteers who pitched in to help, many of the hardest-hit parts of Mount Rainer National Park have been recovered. In fact, the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier was completely reopened this summer, ahead of our expectations. But conditions on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest are much tighter, and some if its remaining damage dates back to the severe storm of 2003.

Some recent good news includes the reopening of some roads that had been closed: the Mountain Loop Highway, Talapus, Tonga Ridge, and Cayada Creek Roads. According to Gary Paull, Wilderness and Trails Coordinator for the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie, the forest has around $5 million in repairs left to do if they are to recover from the 2003 and 2006 storms. It received $1.2 million for repairs to the Pacific Crest Trail, $350,000 of which has been spent. Another $250,000 has been awarded to contractors, and they hope to complete the remainder of the repairs to the PCT by the end of next summer.

That will happen if forest staff can access the trail. The two main access points to the PCT as it runs through the Glacier Peak Wilderness—the Suiattle and White Chuck River Roads—are washed out many miles before they access the trail. Without these access points, the forest can’t get in to do the work they need to do, particularly on heavily equipment-intensive projects such as bridges. 

“The big focus is still the Glacier Peak Wilderness,” said Paull. “And access will be impaired for years to come due to road washouts and trail damage.”

As always, bridges are the big ticket items. Carrying stock and hikers over major rivers and streams means extensive engineering. The bridge on the Big Four Ice Caves Trail is expected to cost around $400,000. The Elbow Lake Trail bridge, on the Middle Fork Nooksack River is estimated at around $400,000 as well.  Neither of these projects are currently funded. 

What is the funding situation right now? Our Forest Service Region—Region 6, comprising Oregon and Washington—has $1.2 million to distribute to Forests for trail repair. Around $250,000 of that is obligated to projects that went unfunded last year, such as repairs to Snoqualmie Lake. Forests across Region 6 will be competing for the remainder trail repair funds.

The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest has requested $300,000 from Region 6; $150,000 of that would go to conducting environmental analysis on repair projects so that they can apply for grants.   (Most grant programs require or encourage completed NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) analysis before awarding funding.

Congress has not approved budget legislation for the Forest Service or National Park Service, so agencies are running on a temporary spending resolution which expires November 16. The budget documents that have come out exceed the president’s budget limits by $2 billion, and the administration has threatened a veto of any omnibus bill that exceeds his pre-set spending limits. But Congress has breached these spending limits for a number of reasons. Storm damage repairs are an infinitesimal part of the budget and must be done if hikers are to return to the trails that they love. 

Congressman Norm Dicks (D-WA), representing Tacoma and the Olympic Peninsula, chairs the Interior Appropriations Committee in the House of Representatives.  He did the heavy lifting to fund repair of Mount Rainier National Park last year. Congressman Dicks has signaled his interest in providing funds to repair National Forests as well, and has been working to include $65 million in the House budget to repair roads and trails on National Forests. Meanwhile, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) has been pushing to include nearly $36 million for road repairs in the Senate budget.  But the Congress is reluctant to run up against a promised presidential veto.

Congress demonstrated its ability to override a Presidential veto last week, by passing a water and energy bill over a veto.  Hikers must let our Representatives and Senators know how much we care about these lands and encourage them to push ahead with spending bills for Interior and Related Agencies.  

What You can Do

Please contact our Senators and your Representative and thank them for all the hard work they have done over the past year to get funding for storm damage.  You can find our elected officials here.  In your email, letter or phone call, please make sure to: