Hydro dam on the North Fork Snoqualmie?

Over the objections of the recreation and conservation community, including The Mountaineers, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a preliminary permit last fall for the proposed Black Canyon Hydroelectric Project that would construct a new dam  on the North Fork Snoqualmie River.

The river forms the border for the Department of Natural Resources Mt. Si Natural Resources Conservation Area that includes some of the best remaining intact old-growth riparian forest at low elevation in the western Cascades. The river section proposed for development has been found eligible and recommended for designation as a Wild and Scenic River by the U.S. Forest Service, and is identified as a protected area from hydropower development by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Finally, the lands along the river are protected by a conservation easement held by King County that specifically prohibits hydropower projects of the scale proposed. Despite these concerns, FERC concluded that these issues could all be evaluated once a formal application was filed.

Want to help keep the North Fork Snoqualmie free-flowing? FERC needs to hear from you during the current public comment period.  Mark your calendars & tell your friends – you can attend either the daytime or evening scoping meeting on Tuesday, June 19 to learn more and raise issues and concerns. The virtual site review will provide an opportunity to get a more in-depth overview of the project.  

Daytime scoping  meeting, Tuesday, June 19 11:00 a.m.

Virtual site review, Tuesday, June 19 2:00 p.m.

Evening scoping  meeting. Tuesday, June 196:00 p.m.

All meetings will be held  at the Cedar River Watershed Education Center Auditorium, 19901 Cedar Falls Road SE, North Bend, WA 98045.

A public comment period is now open with comments due by July 24, 2pm (PDT).  For more background and information about how to weigh in this proposal, visit American Whitewater’s webpage on the proposed North Fork Snoqualmie hydro developments.

Vantage Toilet Fundraiser!

Those of you who love the basalt and sunshine at Vantage (a.k.a. Frenchman’s Coulee) know that Eastern Washington's most popular climbing destination is in desperate need for a permanent toilet. 

This remarkable desert recreation area is a long way from the nearest rest stop. The area is used by hundreds of climbers on busy weekends during the spring and fall climbing season, and concert goers headed for the Gorge Amphitheater also camp here during the Summer concert season. This area is popular in large part because it is a unique bit of desert landscape and easily accessible because it is close to Interstate 90. It is also a fragile area. The desert environment does not support rapid decay of human waste and toilet paper left under rocks or even on the surface; human waste presents not only an unsightly mess but an environmental threat. 

The Washington Climbers Coalition, American Alpine Club & The Mountaineers are joining forces to help establish a toilet at Vantage - your dollars are appreciated, we have just $40k to go to reach our fundraising goal! Donate to WCC 's Vantage toilet fund today - $5 or $50, anything helps!

June 12th Open House regarding seasonal closure of Exit 38 for peregrine falcon nesting
By Kim Brown

Deception Wall and nesting site

The public is invited to an open house June 12, 6 p.m. in North Bend at the Snoqualmie Ranger District, 902 S.E. North Bend Way to learn more about the temporary, seasonal closures of Deception Wall at Exit 38 for peregrine falcon nesting. Representatives from State Parks, the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, and the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife will be on hand to discuss occasional seasonal closures, and gather ideas from the public on formalizing a process for future seasonal closures.

Insecticides containing DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) used from the late 1940’s to the time of DDT's ban in 1972 caused eggshell thinning, which resulted in high mortality for peregrine falcon chicks. In 1970, the US Fish & Wildlife listed the peregrine falcon as endangered, and Washington State Fish & Wildlife Commission listed it in 1980. See more information on the history of the listing here, and read more about peregrin falcons here.

Though peregrine eggshells are much healthier today, and the birds are more plentiful, peregrines are listed as a sensitive species in Washington and are federally-listed as a species of concern, because of their small numbers.

The nesting season for peregrine falcons typically ends in late June.

For more information about the closure or the June 12th meeting, contact Sonny Paz Paz at 425-888-8757 or Andrew Fielding at 509-665-4312.

Paving the Middle Fk Snoqualmie River Rd

Kim Brown, Public Lands Intern

A hiker sunbathes on shore of Mid Fk Snoqualmie River

Through Federal Highways, King County and the USFS have published an Environmental Assessment (EA) for proposed plans to upgrade and pave the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Road from milepost 2.4 to the new(ish) Middle Fork Campground, a short distance beyond the Middle Fork Trailhead at milepost 12.4.

There will be an Open House at the North Bend Ranger Station on Thursday, April 18th , from 5:00pm-7:30pm at the Snoqualmie Ranger Station in North Bend at 902 Southeast North Bend Way. Engineers and staff from FHWA, King County and the Forest Service will be present to answer questions and discuss the preferred alternative.

There are two alternatives in this EA – a No Action alternative, and the Preferred Alternative (to upgrade and pave). Upgrading the road will :

• Provide better Aquatic Organism Passages (culverts)
• Include better signage
• Narrow those portions of the road where a wider corridor was created by drivers wishing to avoid potholes and washboarding.
• Replace three bridges
• Soften sharp curves
• Lower maintenance costs (King County reports in the EA that the road maintenance costs an average of $8,000 per mile each year, and nearly $500,000 total for years with high flood damage).

During the Open House in June, 2011, I spoke to an engineer who advised a non-permeable surface will top a coarse material on top of “better-than-native” material (used when native soils aren’t suitable). The non-permeable surface will better direct water to road ditches, and not percolate underneath the pavement, which is a major factor in the deterioration of roads.

During the scoping (planning) phase, the public made it known to the agencies that aesthetics are important to drivers. As a result, the road design is much narrower than the 28 feet originally proposed. Rock faces blasted for construction will be resurfaced to ensure a natural look. Native plants will be planted and monitored afterwards to minimize mortality and the establishment of invasive vegetation.

It is projected that the paving will invite more recreation in the Middle Fork watershed, and that there will be some increase in traffic – up to 24 vehicles per day by 2031 – that will somewhat impact the solititude of some trails, but the Middle Fork Snoqualmie should be inviting to everyone - and the road condition has been a limitation toward attaining that goal.

During construction, hikers can expect periodic closures and limited access in some areas. It is hoped that the road will be open during weekends; however that is not guaranteed. Closures will be posted on Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest's  (MBS) website, or hikers can call the North Bend District of MBS at (425) 888-1421.

This will not impact recreation this summer, however! Construction is not expected to begin until sometime in 2013.

The paving of the Middle Fork, along with the reconstruction of the Mailbox Peak trail, the on-going planning of improvements to DNR’s Snoqualmie Corridor Recreation Plan, and the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Natural Recreation Area, families and other recreationists in the Puget Sound area are guaranteed reliable recreation practically every day of the year!

Suiattle River Road Alternatives

Kim Brown, Public Lands Intern.

My buddy, Randy, atop Green Mountain

As a part of the National Environmental Policy (NEPA) process, the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposal to repair the Suiattle River Road (has been prepared and is ready for public commenting. The public comment period ends April 20th. 

The proposed repairs will be funded by Federal Highway’s (FHWA) Emergency Repair for Federally Owned Roads (ERFO). The Western Federal Lands Highway Division of Federal Highways (WLFHD) is the lead agency for ERFO funded projects in Washington.The EA includes 3 alternatives; the No Action Alternative, Alternative B (Preferred Alternative), and Alternative C. 

In parenthesis within this blog are page numbers of the EA where information in this blog can be found. Bewarned! The EA is a page-turner! Have snacks handy.

The No Action Alternative leaves the Suiattle River Road “as is,” gated at milepost 12.5. If no action is taken on the damaged road, hikers, bikers, and equestrians will continue walk 12 miles to the Suiattle Trailhead. Due to lack of administrative access, the campgrounds and trails will receive less and less maintenance, and numbers of visitors to trailheads will diminish. According to trailhead registers, in the years 1998-2003, Downey Creek, Suiattle, and Green Mountain trailheads reflect an average of 374, 1650 and 1765 annual visitors respectively. After 2006, when more floods closed the road at milepost 12, annual visitation to these trailheads dropped to 60, 93, and 19 (EA page 63).

Issues common to Alternatives B and C 

The road repair proposal for Alt’s B and C are the same regarding washout sites #1 through #5. The road re-routes are outside of the river’s channel migration zone. All repairs comply with federal environmental regulations, the Wild & Scenic River designation of the Suiattle River, standards and guidelines of the Northwest Forest Plan, and recommendations by the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (EA page 88).

Road repair at various sites for Alternatives B and C will impact wetlands. Providing habitat and food for wildlife, wetlands also benefit fish by reducing sediment deposition into rivers when watercourses entering them slow down and drop their sediment before discharging into the river. Because wetlands are important to our ecosystem, there is a federal no net loss policy on wetland mitigation. As a result, 0.66 acres of wetlands impacted by the road construction will be mitigated (EA page 105).

It is folly to think that there will be no environmental affects when making repairs  the scale of the Suiattle project. However, the environmental regulations and their compliance mandates ensure that during the last decade, the roadbed (or what's left of it) has been bristling with environmental engineers and  regulatory agents and scientists in order to balance the solution that best addresses environmental impact while providing benefits to the greatest number of people, given the land agencies policies and budget.  It is important to look at these affects on a watershed and landscape scale and not solely on a site scale. The EA discusses both the local affects and large scale affects upon the watershed by the road construction.

Beginning on page 108 of the EA is a great overview of some techniques planned to mitigate environmental affects, such as construction taking place during “work windows” when soils are drier, and taking care to not work during the hours of the day marbled murrelets or other birds are likely to be feeding. The affect that construction and the road design will have on wildlife has been studied by FHWA and the Forest Service, and consultations with National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Fish & Wildlife Service have taken place frequently during the last 8 and a half years the road has been damaged, and any recommendations they have regarding construction will be followed. See the discussion regarding wildlife considerations beginning on page 124 of the EA.

Differences between Alternative B and C

Alternative C repairs the Suiattle Road to approximately milepost 20 where it would be gated just beyond the Green Mountain Road (Forest Road 2680). The Suiattle River trail is a nearly 5 mile road walk from there. (EA page 67). There are no plans for a reliable, sustained crossing of Downey Creek in Alternative C. There is no funding for a parking lot, road-to-trail conversion, and no plan to maintain at-capacity outhouses at Downey and Sulphur Creek campgrounds.

Alternative B (the Proposed Action), repairs the road beyond the Green Mountain Road, to its pre-2003 end, at the Suiattle trailhead. This alternative restores full access to the Sulphur Creek campground and the Downey Creek, Sulphur Creek, Sulphur Mountain, and Suiattle River trails.

Alternative B’s proposed repair at milepost 20.8 is likely to require routine maintenance to keep it in good working  order. Loose material from the steep slope above the cut bank will occasionally slide onto the road and will need to be removed (EA page 53).  If repaired, the Suiattle River Road in the future will receive as much attention as it has in the past due to its popularity - and because of federally mandated requirements for monitoring the work and its affects upon the environment, we can expect more USFS personnel on the Suiattle in the upcoming years.

Alternative B also includes an already-funded opportunity to build a Downey Creek crossing more suitable to natural watershed processes and fish habitat than the current bridge site. Old construction techniques installed fill that narrowed the creekbed at the bridge site (EA pages 91, 101), which causes sustained energy capable of carrying large woody debris. The new design excavates 3500 cubic yards of old fill material, and adds three 70 foot long spans to the existing 115 foot bridge, allowing Downey Creek to move around its alluvial plain once again and the water to flow under the bridge, rather than fight against the road as it finds its way to the Suiattle River (see drawings on pages 102 and 103 of the EA). Widening the mouth of Downey Creek will also diffuse the energy of the water large flood events, reducing the likelihood of woody debris slamming into bridge pilings and damaging them.

Conclusion

In making design decisions and the decision to go forward with the repair, a land manager weighs the impact of making the repair as well as the impact of not making the repair - "environment" includes the the impact upon the human environment - hikers, climbers, equestrians, fishermen, car campers, nature photographers. The No Action Alternative is discussed throughout the EA so that a reader can understand the implications of the land manager not taking any action.

How do you make a comment?  Whichever Alternative is your choice, just write a few lines and send it in to the address below. The NEPA process is for everyone; no one need be a literary or grammatical genius - heck - more than half the people who recreate from the Suiattle River Road don't even know how to pronounce it! (Soo AT tl).  But one thing is sure - if you don't make a comment, your voice will not be heard! 

The Environmental Assessment can be found here, and comments may be sent by email to wfl.suiattleriverroad@dot.gov or by mail to Federal Highway Administration,610 East Fifth Street, Vancouver, WA 98661-3893 by April 20, 2012.