Outdoor recreation lobbyists fight to get keep Mount Si trail open
March 7, 2010
By Dan Catchpole
NEW — 6:00 a.m. March 7, 2009
With the State Legislature’s current session winding down, advocates for outdoor groups are lobbying representatives to restore money to operate 22 popular trails and campgrounds in Snoqualmie Valley and the rest of Washington.
The money was initially cut from Gov. Chris Gregoire’s supplemental budget proposal in January to close the state’s $2.8 billion budget shortfall. She proposed cutting $278,000 from Washington State Department of Natural Resources’ Recreation Program general fund, which pays for the sites’ operation and maintenance.
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.
The Senate’s budget proposal adds back the $278,000 to DNR. But the House budget does not.
Advocates for outdoor groups are lobbying House members to add the money in the final version of their budget proposal, but it could come down to conference when the budgets from the Senate and the House are reconciled, said Jonathan Guzzo, advocacy director for the Washington Trails Association.
“There’s a decent chance we can get that money restored,” he said.
Without the money, DNR would have to close the facilities at the end of March, according Mark Mauren, a DNR assistant division manager for recreation and public access.
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.
In Washington, the DNR manages about 2.2 million acres of forestland.
Dan Catchpole: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com.
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