By Kim Brown, Public Lands Intern
The turquoise of Ross Lake & green mosses and trees |
Here’s more information to impress your friends with: North Cascades National Park (NCNP) and Ross
Lake National Recreation Area (Ross Lake NRA) are both managed by the National
Parks Service (NPS), but the Park and the NRA are managed for different
objectives.
The primary purpose of a NRA is to provide for outdoor recreation,
rather than the focus of the National Park System on conservation and historic
preservation. The management plan of an NRA is consistent with the management
plan of its land manager, in this case, Ross Lake NRA is managed by North
Cascades National Park.
OK now for the business at hand: It's time to
update the management guidance for Ross Lake NRA, which historically has been a
part of the North Cascades National Park General Management Plan (GMP). The separate
Ross Lake GMP will guide management of the Ross Lake NRA for the next 15-20
years.
NPS has completed the Environmental Impact Statement detailing the various Alternative management plans for Ross Lake NRA,
the Preferred plan being Alternative B (see Chapter 4, Alternatives, at bottom of the page of this link ). The
public comment period ends January 17.
Since the last GMP was implemented in 1988, campgrounds have
been severely damaged by storms and visitation has increased, so a facelift is
needed for Ross NRA.
Alternative B allows for the management of future storm
damage with as little interruption to recreation as possible. Visitors may have more front-country and
better backcountry trails, more front- and backcountry campsites, better
campground amenities, more educational opportunities and new viewpoints. Sport
climbing in the gorge between Newhalem and Diablo will be better managed
through four Climbing Management Areas.
Wild places will be kept wild, continued efforts for the preservation of grizzly bear habitat, and nearly 5,000 acres of previously proposed
Wilderness at Big Beaver Natural Preservation Area and Thunder Creek will be
officially added to the Stephen Mather Wilderness Area. Goodell and Newhalem
Creeks and a portion of the Skagit will be recommended for Wild & Scenic River status.
With the new GMP, we may see an on-line reservation system
for backpacking permits, which will benefit National Park visitors as well. You’ll still have to pick up the permits in person,
however. The last mile of the road to Thornton Lakes (within the Wilderness
boundary), will be officially decommissioned and a better trailhead built.
A second water taxi for Ross Lake Resort will better serve
backpackers and resort visitors, its footprint on the lake being tempered by more
restrictions on types of motors allowed on the lake.
Currently a National Forest Byway and a Washington State Scenic Highway, the North Cascades Highway will be nominated as a designated
National Scenic Byway.
An immediate change will be the name -- to better associate
the Ross Lake NRA with North Cascades National Park, it will be re-named “North
Cascades National Recreation Area.”
Ross Lake, the Skagit River, the Seattle City Light dams and
the North Cascades Highway corridor compose a special destination for
recreationists, and the proposed Alternative B for the GMP will continue to provide
a range of opportunities at the re-named North Cascades NRA, while providing an
appropriate gateway to the grandeur of North Cascades National Park.
4 comments:
Will dogs be allowed in the new recreation area?
Anonymous, there's no change to the pooch policy at Ross Lake NRA; dogs are allowed in the NRA
if they're on a leash.
Will the fishing change, and how about the current Ross Lake Resort, any changes there?
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