One step back, two steps forward

Over the weekend, efforts to restore access to northwest parks had some bad news and some good. The bad news is this past winter's storms damaged water tanks at the North Cascades' Colonial Creek campground leaving it indefinitely without drinkable water. The Park Service plans to close the campground on May 27th to begin repairs.

On a positive note, last Friday the Park Service at Mount Rainier National Park reopened the Paradise Inn. The Inn had been closed more than two years for renovation. Renovation was slightly slowed by the 2006 storms, but basically opened on schedule. The nearly $23 million renovation has restored, renovated and improved the facility. However, work was done so carefully that many visitors will not notice the changes. Representatives Norm Dicks and Dave Reichert, both big supporters of Mount Rainier, attended the reopening ceremony.

The Park Service took the opportunity to once again thank the storm recovery coalition and the public for all its support these past 18 months.

Olympic Access Being Restored

The National Park Service at Olympic National Park is making progress and repairing some of the road damage caused by last Fall's storms. Most notably, access along the Quinault Valley road will be restored April 1, while partial access to the Hurricane Ridge road will continue through May 4th.

For information on the park's other roads and trails, please click here.

Storming the Parks: Catch it on TVW!

Last night, the Northwest Storm Recovery Coalition held Storming the Parks a town hall forum bringing representatives from Mount Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades National Parks and Olympic and the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forests, together to describe the impact from storms over the last two winters, the current state of repairs, and how upcoming visits to public lands may be affected. Staff from Congressman Norm Dicks' and Dave Reichert's offices, as well as Senator Patty Murray's office also provided information on congressional efforts to raise funding to support the repairs.

The coalition, which was recently named by Outside Magazine as one of the 2007's 100 best ideas, also provided attendees an opportunity to ask questions, visit with the land managers to learn more about volunteer activities and how to get involved.

TVW, Washington State's public affairs network, recorded the event and will air it in its entirety over the upcoming days. However, if your cable provider doesn't carry TVW, the event can be seen here.

Images from the night's festivities can be found here.

The storm coalition thanks REI and Boeing for their generous support of our work.

Coalition Wins National Conservation Award!

The NW Storm Recovery Coalition has won the 2008 Cooperative Conservation Award (CCA)
from the Department of the Interior. The CCA, the Interior Department's highest award, is presented to private citizens and organizational partners who support the agency's mission and demonstrate significant contributions to its programs. On April 21st, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne will officially present the award to the coalition partners in Washington D.C.

The coalition is honored to receive this recognition, yet the award truly belongs to everyone who volunteered in the recovery effort.

The coalition's work received additional coverage this past week, when NPCA's Sean Smith appeared on KTPK's community matter's program. A link to the March 9th interview can be found here. Look for it on the left side of the webpage.

Finally, be sure to join us March 17th at the Seattle REI to learn how to help in the recovery. Click here for more information.

You're Invited: Taking the Parks by Storm!

Community Support for Restoring Washington's Treasures

A series of storms battered the Pacific Northwest during the fall and winter of 2006 and 2007, bringing major flooding, hurricane-force winds and heavy snows. Washington’s national parks - Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades - were severely impacted.

The Northwest Storm Recovery Coalition is sponsoring “Taking the Parks by Storm: Community Support for Restoring Washington's Treasures” on Monday, March 17, 2008, to bring members of Congress and representatives from the three parks together to describe the storms' impacts, the current state of repairs at the parks, and how upcoming visits to the park may be affected. Also, this event will provide attendees an opportunity to ask questions, visit with representatives from each park to learn about volunteer activities, and to find out how they can be further involved.

When:
Monday, March 17th, 6:30PM-8:30 PM

Where:
Seattle REI Flagship
222 Yale Ave N
Seattle, WA 98109

The Northwest Storm Recovery Coalition, which includes the National Parks Conservation Association, the Student Conservation Association, Washington’s National Park Fund, and Washington Trails Association, works to help support, repair, and restore affected parks and other public lands.

For more information, contact: David Graves at dgraves@npca.org or (206) 903-1444, x25

Good News: Park Flood Recovery Moves Along

There is good storm recovery news coming out of the parks lately. First, it was reported this week that the Boeing Company contributed nearly $100,000 to the Storm Recovery Coalition’s work. The Boeing grant will be used for trail crew training, park recovery and restoration and an access conference. The coalition wishes to thank Boeing for its generous gift.

Meanwhile, the National Park Service at Olympic recently annouced the reopening of the Hoh River road. The road had been closed since the December 3rd record-breaking floods. Visitors are asked to used caution when traveling the road, as a portion of the road is now gravel.

Five Million Needed for Olympic Storm Repairs

Reported today, the National Park Service at Olympic estimates it will costs upwards of $5 million to repair the damage caused by this past fall storms. The Park Service is finding the 2007 storm, as compared to the one in 2006, was more devasting to Olympic in part because the damage is more widespread.

Olympic damage during the early December storm includes three severely damaged sites along Hurricane Ridge Road and Crescent Lake access roads, as well as significant damage in the Quinault Valley, and areas of Staircase, near the southern end of the park.