Rally to protect Washington hiking trails
Published 1:30 am Sunday, January 8, 2017
If one of your New Year’s resolution was to “do something” to make the outdoors world a better place, next month offers an opportunity, thanks to the Washington Trails Association, the largest state-based hiking nonprofit in the nation (yes, the U.S.).
WTA is leading a Hiker Rally Day in Olympia from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 15.
WTA works with lawmakers to help them understand the importance of trails in the state and to its residents. The lobbying effort will, hopefully, convince them to help protect our trails and allocate funds to maintain them.
Once trails are lost, it will be incredibly difficult to convince the powers that be to provide the funding to reclaim them.
Hiker Rally Day will include a lobbying training session, an issue briefing on recreation funding in Washington state, meetings with legislators and the opportunity to network with other hikers.
This is no time to be sitting on the sidelines. Let your voice be heard, if not at the rally, then through telephone calls, email and social media to remind our legislators that this issue is important.
And feel free to take the message to your representatives in the U.S. Congress.
Even joining the WTA is a step in a positive direction because there is power in numbers.
WTA also has a first-class website that is a valuable resource for trail maintenance, trail reports and volunteer opportunities. Its Take Action section is a valuable resource of choices you might make to help be successful with a New Year’s resolution. Go to wta.org.
Freebies. National wildlife refuges that charge for entrance will waive fees Jan. 16, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Nearly 500 refuges already offer free entry year-round. Other free dates are Feb. 20, Sept. 20, Oct. 8 and Nov. 11-12.
Road closure reminder. Two gates along the Mountain Loop Highway, from Deer Creek (Milepost 23.5) to Bedal Campground (Milepost 36), are closed because of snow and set to reopen April 14. The gate on Road 42 from Heather Lake has also been closed for the season, blocking access to the Mount Pilchuck trailhead.
Also closed is the toilet at Heather Lake trailhead. If you find that you need to let nature take its course, bag it and carry it out, even if that means carrying it with you. That goes for your dog poop and toilet paper, too.
Birding fun. Registration for the 14th annual Olympic Birdfest is now open. The festival, based in Sequim, will be April 7-9. It’s a chance to look for birds with local guides who can choose the best sites, many of them unknown outside the birdwatchers of the Olympic Peninsula.
Or take a three-day birding cruise to the San Juan Islands, a three-hour cruise to Protection Island or a six-hour tour off the coast of Neah Bay.
The featured speaker is Bonnie Block, winner of the 2016 Audubon Photography Award Grand Prize. The proceeds of the Olympic Birdfest benefit the educational programs of the Dungeness River Audubon Center.
For more information about classes and outings, go to olympicbirdfest.org.
Hurricane Ridge. The snow season is in full swing at Olympic National Park’s popular Hurricane Ridge. The road is open Fridays through Sundays this winter, weather willing. All vehicles, including four-wheel drive, are required to carry tire chains when traveling above the Heart O’ the Hills entrance station.
For updates on weather and road conditions, call 360-565-3131.
Short 90-minute ranger-led snowshoe walks start at 2 p.m. Saturdays, Sundays and Monday holidays through March 26. The fee is $7 for adults, $3 for youth ages 6-15. Admission is free for children 5 years of age and younger. Sign up at the visitor center beginning 30 minutes before the scheduled walk.
Weather permitting, the ski, snowboard and tubing area will operate from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For information, go to hurricaneridge.com.
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or songandword@rockisland.com.
