You need a pass in national forests
Published 6:45 pm Friday, April 2, 2010
Federal recreation passes, once experimental, are here to stay. They are used in national forests in Oregon and Washington for access to most improved trailheads, boat launches and picnic areas.
That’s right, even day-use picnic areas. Don’t get me started on a fee for a picnic area that might be used for an hour.
Revenue goes directly to maintaining and improving the trails and facilities. If you own a Washington state recreational-use permit for hunting and fishing, you’re out of luck. It can’t be used in place of a federal permit.
Picnic areas that require a pass in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest include Asahel Curtis, Austin Pass, Big Four, Evans Creek, Gold Creek Pond, Hemple Creek, Mount Pilchuck (and trailhead), Shuksan; interpretive sites Fire and Ice, and Shadow of Sentinels; and the boat launch at Lake Keechelus.
Fees are waived at U.S. Forest Service-managed day-use sites on National Trails Day (June 6), National Public Lands Day (Sept. 26) and Veterans Day (Nov. 11).
The cost of an annual Northwest Forest Pass for Oregon and Washington is $30; for the one-day, day-use version, it’s $5.
For those of a certain age (62 or older), there’s a $10 lifetime interagency senior pass that is honored at all forest service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sites charging entrance fees. It admits the pass holder and passengers in a private car.
For information about passes and how to obtain them, go to http://tinyurl.com/USFSpasses and follow the general passes and permits prompt.
On the bright side: All 392 national parks will waive admission during National Park Week, April 17 to 25, and some may have family friendly activities on April 24 for National Junior Ranger Day. Of the 392 national parks, 146 charge admission fees of $3 to $25.
Coyote thoughts: Laurence Harrod sent a thoughtful e-mail on human-coyote interactions, pointing out that humans and coyotes intellectually evolved from “oops, why did that happen?” to empirically derived knowledge.
“I believe coyotes learn from the practical experience of trial and error. If a coyote attempts to scavenge an existence in a given territory, it realizes that there is not enough subsistence to live on and moves on; or it finds the scavenging easy and plentiful, so will not move on until those resources are depleted,” Harrod wrote.
“When meals such as pet food left on the back porch or open trash cans dry up, coyotes as an opportunistic predator will naturally take the next step up the food chain ladder and start predation on whatever small life forms available to them. We have created the environment that allows subsistence nourishment for coyote populations in our neighborhoods.”
Humans are the greatest offenders of providing easy subsistence scavenging for coyotes, Harrod wrote. It is up to us to be responsible for keeping our trash locked down and unreachable; and that we are mindful of our pets when they are in the back yard.
Trail access blocked: Fortunately, it’s only a quick shutdown of Sloan Creek Road (Forest Road 49) April 5 through 9 that will block access to areas of the Glacier Peak Wilderness and the North Fork Sauk Trail.
Sloan Creek Road is 16 miles south of Darrington off Mountain Loop Highway at milepost 37. Road construction will block access to Sloan Creek/North Fork Sauk, Lost Creek Ridge, Bald Eagle, Sloan Climber’s Route, North Fork Sauk Falls and Harold Engles trails.
For more information, call the Darrington Ranger District for updates at 360-436-1155.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
