Legislators seek alternatives to closing Mount Si trail
January 20, 2010
By Dan Catchpole
NEW — 7:30 a.m. Jan. 20, 2010
State legislators are looking for alternatives to a budget cut which would close several popular Snoqualmie Valley trail systems and campgrounds. The cut is part of Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal to close the state’s $2.6 billion budget gap.
If no alternative is found, more than 20 trail systems and campgrounds operated by the Washington state Department of Natural Resources would close in April when DNR’s recreation program runs out of money. Facilities at Mount Si, Little Si and Rattlesnake Lake would be closed. Together, Mount Si and Little Si trailheads get over 500,000 visitors a year, and are key components of North Bend’s strategy to become an outdoor recreational destination.
Activists for outdoor groups are lobbying the 2010 Legislature to restore the $278,000 in the DNR recreation program’s general fund needed to keep the facilities open. The agency’s budget was cut in half last year.
“$278,000 is, frankly, a small price to pay to keep these places open,” said Jonathon Guzzo, advocacy director for the Washington Trails Association.
Despite the Legislature’s difficult task of closing the $2.6 billion gap, Guzzo is optimistic.
“I would say we have a fighting chance this year,” he said.
Of course, other programs on the chopping block have their supporters lobbying for their restoration.
“There’re a lot of things” people want restored, said state Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle, chairman of the Senate’s Natural Resources, Oceans and Recreation Committee.
Jacobsen will propose expanding state-sanctioned Keno, which could increase state revenue by $30 million. Half of that would go to state natural resource agencies.
“It’s a small drop in the bucket, but it sure makes a difference for those natural resource agencies,” he said.
Gregoire presented a revised budget proposal Jan. 12, which would close the gap by using a “responsible, balanced approach of painful cuts and new revenue.” Her proposal still includes $950 million in service cuts.
State Rep. Glenn Anderson, R-Fall City, said he will work to stop the closures.
“Those recreational areas serve all of King County,” he said.
He doesn’t know what a solution would look like, though.
He is wary of raising taxes, which, he said, could make Washington’s economy worse.
Other members of the Legislature’s Republican minority share Anderson’s skepticism.
“I’m not going to be blackmailed into making tax increases on my constituents when they can’t afford them,” said state Sen. Cheryl Pflug, R-Maple Valley, a former member of the Washington Trail Association’s advisory board.
Legislators are also exploring long-term solutions. A bill to be introduced in the House and the Senate this session would:
q let DNR charge user fees for certain recreation sites and events hosted on its lands;
q establish a statewide pass for access to lands managed by DNR, state parks and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife; and
q permit private concessionaires at two DNR sites as a cost-saving measure.
Any revenue increase would not be seen for some time, though, Mark Mauren, a DNR assistant division manager for recreation and public access.
Right now, Mauren’s focused on keeping the parks open, which will require money immediately for the department’s general fund.
In Washington, the DNR manages about 2.2 million acres of forestland.
The recreation program’s general fund pays for things, such as trail maintenance; pumping outhouses; garbage cleanup; volunteer training; and replacing vandalized and worn-out signs, picnic tables and other infrastructure.
“When the general fund money disappears, we don’t have any money to support these sites,” Mauren said.
DNR needs general-fund money in the next couple months to avoid shuttering facilities, including locking restrooms.
If that happens, it could cause serious problems for the Valley’s popular trailheads, which will still draw visitors, albeit in smaller numbers, said Wade Holden, president of Valley-based Friends of the Trail.
“There’ll be people going to the bathroom in the woods,” Holden said. “Maybe they’ll go into the woods and dig their little hole like they’re supposed to, but with 350,000 people that could get a little gnarly.”
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