Everett, Wash.
Published: Monday, May 21, 2007

Mountain Loop opening delayed, possibly to 2008

Environmentalist claims repairs by Forest Service put salmon at risk

By Lukas Velush / Herald Writer

 DARRINGTON - It's been more than three years since a massive flood blew out portions of the Mountain Loop Highway, closing the scenic dirt road that connected Darrington and Granite Falls.

Another flood in the fall caused more damage. That delayed until summer a reopening that was supposed to happen in the spring.

And now there may be more delays, perhaps into 2008.

The problem is connected to claims that a U.S. Forest Service road construction crew violated environmental rules in repairs it made last fall when salmon were building nests in the nearby South Fork Sauk River.

To hear the Forest Service tell it, the delay has more to do with studying new damage the river did to the road when it flooded in the fall.

The Forest Service crew is accused of working too close to nests of endangered Chinook salmon in November.

Such work only is allowed in August, when there are no salmon eggs that could be suffocated by sediment released into the water.

Bill Lider, a Lynnwood resident and member of the Pilchuck Audubon Society, said he found a Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest road construction crew working below the high- water mark just after the massive Election Day flood.

"If this was a developer down here in Snohomish County or King County, the (state) Department of Ecology would be all over them," he said.

Lider, a professional road engineer, fired off numerous letters accusing the Forest Service of failing to follow standard procedures for keeping erosion under control.

He wanted the agency to revisit and expand the environmental analysis it used to figure out how to properly fix the road.

He also believes the road is too prone to flood damage to be reopened.

"The Mountain Loop Highway continues to wash out faster than the Forest Service can repair it," Lider said.

Peter Forbes, district ranger at the Darrington Ranger Station, said Lider's complaints are "a matter of disagreement."

He said the Forest Service could have done a better job of communicating what it was doing on the road, but that it largely did nothing wrong. Forbes also said the agency was legally allowed to work into the fall because it was following regulations and staying above the river's high-water mark.

Still, the Forest Service this spring agreed to begin again its environmental review of the project, Forbes said.

He said the agency took that step because of additional flooding last fall, not in response to Lider.

The additional study may delay reopening of the road until 2008, but he's hopeful the work will be done by the end of summer.

Based in part on Lider's observations, the Forest Service did decide to seek additional training for crews, and to hire an outside expert to oversee its sediment control efforts.

"We'll be more aware of this in the future," Forbes said.

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman called Lider's critique of the Forest Service's road repair efforts "professional," and said the agency is studying each point he raised.

A state Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist said Lider was correct in maintaining the Forest Service violated environmental rules and a memorandum of understanding between the two agencies.

To make amends, the Forest Service should remove rocks the construction crew placed along the riverbank, state biologist Jeffrey Kamps wrote in an April letter. He said crews should do the work by hand, if possible.

Kamps provided the Forest Service with nearly four pages detailing work that he maintained was substandard and that may have allowed sediment to reach the river.

Forest Service work crews will stop work shortly, Forbes said, and won't start again until the new environmental review is finished.

Forbes said reopening the Mountain Loop Highway remains a priority.

"The link between Darrington and Granite Falls is very important to the communities," Forbes said.

Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA