The state parks system could close popular Wallace Falls State Park near Gold Bar, among others, as a way of coping with a drastically reduced budget.
The attraction is one of 33 state parks that the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission could mothball. The list comes after a proposal to transfer 13 state parks, including Wenberg State Park on Lake Goodwin, to local governments.
Temporarily shutting Wallace Falls is merely a suggestion at this point, not a certainty.
“Let’s just hope we don’t have to do this at all,” state parks spokeswoman Virginia Painter said. “It’s not a final list by any means.”
Wallace Falls is a 4,735-acre camping park with popular hiking trails, shoreline on the Wallace River, Wallace Lake, Jay Lake, Shaw Lake and the Skykomish River, according to the parks commission. Its 265-foot waterfall, old-growth coniferous forests, and fast-moving rivers draw about 145,000 visitors every year.
Mothballing does not mean closing a park completely, Painter said. The parks system would try to reopen the parks as soon as it has more money. In the meantime, employees would occasionally monitor the area to prevent problems such as vandalism or illegal harvesting of plants.
“These are the parks that the commission definitely wants to have continue in the state parks system,” she said.
During the shutdown, the front gates would be closed, but patrons could still enter at their own risk. There would be no rest rooms or other amenities.
State Parks would like to enlist help from community groups to keep any eye on the shuttered parks.
Advocates with the nonprofit Washington Trails Association fear that mothballed parks could attract all kinds of undesirable activity, from target-shooting to methamphetamine labs. In the past, these kind of problems have surfaced on Department of Natural Resources lands in the Reiter area in Snohomish County.
“History tells us that when public lands are neglected … those kinds of things do flourish,” said Jonathan Guzzo, Washington Trails’ advocacy director. “One of our big concerns is enforcement. You can’t just close the gates and walk away.”
Wallace Falls and Wenberg State Park are the only state parks in Snohomish County.
The idea of giving Wenberg and a dozen other state parks to county or municipal governments arose last year as a way to deal with a possible 10 percent budget cut. Snohomish County officials have said they are weighing the option.
Since then, the Legislature has asked the parks system how it would deal with much larger cuts — a quarter of its budget, or about $23 million.
That prompted the “mothballing” list. Released on March 5, it includes only sites that cost more than $300,000 to run over a two-year period.
The list ranges from the Jarrell Cove State Park on the south end of Puget Sound, with 36,000 yearly visitors, to St. Edward on the north shore of Lake Washington, with 715,000 yearly visitors.
Wallace Falls costs the state about $181,000 to run each year but brings in about $21,000 in revenue. The state could potentially save $160,000 annually by closing it.
No final decisions are likely before late April, when the Legislature is expected to pass its final budget. After that, parks commissioners will call a special meeting to decide what steps to take.
Advocates with the Washington Trails Association know that the Legislature and the commissioners have tough choices to make. For Guzzo, all state parks are important. Suggesting that some are more valuable than others is missing the point, he said.
“Although it’s not a done deal, it’s very hard to see how they’re going to make the cuts without mothballing those parks, or a very significant chunk of them,” he said.
Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.
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