A New Campaign for the American Alps (Part II)

Ken Wilcox is an author and environmental planning consultant in Bellingham. He was also the editor and publisher of Harvey Manning’s last book, “Wilderness Alps” (Northwest Wild Books, 2007).

Part 2

In Part I of “American Alps” (July issue), a brief history brought us a who’s-who of park and wilderness advocates who have been active since at least the 1950s in protecting wildlands in the North Cascades. Among them are some of America’s most prominent conservationists. David Brower and Bob Marshall, to name a couple, were intimately involved in early efforts to designate park and wilderness lands in the North Cascades.

Brower’s 1958 film, “Wilderness Alps of Stehekin,” reached tens of thousands of Americans from coast to coast, eloquently pleading the case for preservation. Brower was the first Executive Director of the Sierra Club and the founder of Friends of the Earth and Earth Island Institute. Bob Marshall, a co-founder of the Wilderness Society and a top Forest Service official in the 1930s, roamed the high country around Glacier Peak and came away recommending that nearly 800,000 acres of wilderness be set aside for his own and, yes, future generations. That would be us.

But there were many more who were directly involved in the cause, some well known, like U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. In the 1960s, Douglas led a rally near Glacier Peak in opposition to a proposed open pit copper mine on a pristine ridge, high above the Suiattle River. Wilderness Society co-founder Olaus Murie and especially his wife Mardy, widely regarded for their work to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, were outspoken on the need to protect the North Cascades.

Some lesser-known but equally dedicated troopers included dozens of board members and volunteers with the North Cascades Conservation Council or N3C, founded in 1957 to lead the cause for park and wilderness protection in the North Cascades. Working through the N3C, a couple of young lawyers, Brock Evans and Mike McCloskey, cut their teeth on environmental law and park and wilderness politics in the North Cascades. Evans would later become a leading conservation lobbyist in Washington, D.C. McCloskey would take the helm of the Sierra Club after Brower’s departure.

The N3C’s campaign achieved success in October 1968 with the establishment of North Cascades National Park, the Pasayten Wilderness and two national recreation areas at Ross Lake and Lake Chelan. The N3C today still leads the cause and three of its original founders are as active now as they’ve ever been. Two are in their eighties, one’s in his nineties. Patrick Goldsworthy, Polly Dyer and Phil Zalesky all agree that, despite their great victory in 1968, there is unfinished business in the North Cascades.

In May of this year, the American Alps Legacy Project was launched in Seattle to begin the campaign to protect perhaps 300,000 acres or more of spectacular wildlands that were left outside the park and wilderness boundaries of 1968. At the heart of it is North Cascades National Park and a desire to add new areas to the park on all sides — except the north, where the park currently abuts Canada. Several large roadless areas, somewhat more distant from the park, are also among the study areas being considered for wilderness designation.

The campaign is asking for citizen input on which areas should be park, which should be wilderness, or conversely, which areas should not be protected as park or wilderness. You can offer your comments by visiting the website (http://www.americanalps.org.)

Here’s a sampling of the areas under consideration:

Along the Baker River and Baker Lake, giant trees, a steep-walled canyon, the river’s deep whitewater, plus a popular three-season trail make this an attractive addition to North Cascades National Park. Currently, the Baker River Trail reaches the park boundary near Sulfide Creek. Moving the park boundary south and west, perhaps as far as Swift Creek, would help round out the stark rectangular boundary of the present national park. The current boundary reflects a political compromise that placed Mount Shuksan inside the park, while excluding much of the mid- to high-elevation wilderness on the west and south flanks of the mountain. Remote portions of the lake shore might also be suitable for addition to the park.

Supporting one of the most popular trails in the Mount Baker region, Sauk Mountain comprises the largest unprotected roadless area in the entire Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Clearly, it should be protected as park or added to Noisy-Diobsud Wilderness. The study area includes a large area of old-growth forest and has few trails other than the spectacular “Sound of Music” trail to the summit. The area also sustains substantial wildlife populations.

Old-growth forests, a crashing river, numerous trailheads, great camping and world-class scenery make this a perfect candidate for addition to the national park. The current boundary is so close already! The Cascade River Road has been the subject of debate among local and federal agencies due to the cost of maintenance and expensive repairs following recent storm events. Though it’s a county road traversing national forest land, it is heavily used by visitors to the national park, especially those headed to Cascade Pass. Transferring this scenic valley to the National Park Service makes sense on many levels.

East of Washington Pass, ragged ridges and the deep valley of Cedar Creek already offer a very high-quality wilderness experience east of the Cascade Crest, making it a well deserved addition to the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness. It’s unclear why so much of this area was left out of the 1984 Washington Wilderness Act that originally established the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Wilderness. It’s a sizable area, important to wildlife from wolves to wolverines, and well worth protecting.

Few people realize that the spectacular 30-mile drive between Mazama and Ross Lake is almost entirely unprotected! Managed by the Forest Service as the “North Cascades Scenic Highway Corridor,” the area should be a high priority for addition to the national park. The entire valley from ridge to ridge looks like a national park, feels like a national park, and most of us assume it is a national park. It’s no wonder we’re confused, since the bulk of the high-mountain scenery people experience is found along this stretch. The overlook at Washington Pass is one of the more famous stops in the North Cascades for sight-seeing motorists and cyclists. Several popular trails lead to the high country, and the towering crags of Liberty Bell, Early Winter Spires and Silver Star Mountain are world-renowned as a rock climber’s paradise.

This area is also within the North Cascades Scenic Highway Corridor. Close proximity to Mazama and Winthrop would make it an attractive eastside addition to the national park. A new visitor center on the east side could be developed here as well, something that would directly benefit communities and local economies on the sunny side of the mountains. The public would be able to enjoy a more authentic national park experience by learning about this vast and fragile landscape just as they enter the park from the east.

High, craggy summits above broad valleys of virgin forest, the Golden Horn region is the last great wilderness in the North Cascades yet to be protected. It is located north of the highway and south of the Pasayten Wilderness and encompasses headwaters of the Skagit and Methow Rivers. One of the most dramatic sections of the Pacific Crest Trail provides access to this amazing region of jagged peaks, high lakes, and trail-less watersheds.

The 1968 Ross Lake NRA boundary does not reflect today’s needs. Some areas west of Ross and Diablo Lakes, along the highway, and at Thunder Creek could be added to the national park. Since the national park is closed to hunting, areas east of Ross Lake could remain in the national recreation area so that they continue to be available to hunters. The national recreation area west of Newhalem could be redesignated as park to offer a more complete national park experience (similar to Early Winters above). As it is today, most people traveling through the North Cascades never step foot in the park. That’s not such a bad thing, considering the need to protect the wilderness values of this great place. But it’s also not a bad thing to encourage the public to experience some portion of the park, that they might become advocates for protecting all of the North Cascades for its own sake and for future generations.

To learn more or to volunteer, visit http://www.americanalps.org. §