The Nov. 13 letter “It’s selfish to not fix, re-open roads” about the South Fork Sauk River or Mountain Loop Highway is confusing and contradictory. The contradictions come when it suggests that the road be re-opened, but then suggests that people not come through Darrington because they don’t spend money and they trash the place. The writer blames the Audubon Society for stopping the U.S. Forest Service from re-building the road. He is far too premature on that score.
If the Forest Service wants to build the road, they would need to file environmental impact statements and it would possibly be a legal process that would determine a “yes” or a “no.” But it may just be possible that the Forest Service will not have the final say on whether the road would be rebuilt. That decision may end up being the responsibility of the National Marine Fisheries Service. The road at places of the washout is presently non-existent and would require expensive excavating and extensive digging into the surrounding rock hillside. This, or it means that the river at that point will need to be re-shaped. Either will cause damage to the South Fork Sauk River to some extent.
At the present time, salmon use the river to halfway up to the slide area. The National Marine Fisheries Service may not be willing to see this happen to salmon area they are mandated to protect. A precedent may be what has recently happened in the east Olympics. NMFS has blocked rebuilding by the Forest Service for a washout of the river.
PHILIP H. ZALESKY
Everett
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