Tonight was the public meeting for the proposed ski area expansion on Mount Spokane. The meeting was at SFCC, and I arrived early so that I could go running on one of my favorite loops out at the Falls. I went down nurses' hill and took the lower trail along the river all the way out to where it meets the rock trail and then back to campus. I found wild onions along the river, and on the rock trail the buttercups were blooming! These were the first wildflowers I have seen this spring! (As a side note, I shared my sighting with a couple of my classes the next day. My students didn't know what buttercups were. I was shocked (they are high school students,after all)! I said something about how they are one of the most common wildflowers in our area, and one student's response was "Well, they don't grow in my yard." Apparently these kids never get farther outside than their own backyards. Soooooooo sad. I wish I could teach a naturalist class complete with field trips to the Dishman Hills, Riverside, and Mount Spokane.)
The meeting was interesting. I'm still not sure how this whole thing is going to turn out. Apparently Pacific Biodiversity Institute found approximately 80 acres of old growth forest (trees aged 150+ years) within the 300 acre proposed expansion area. The maps show that the majority of it is at the base and along the side of the proposed new lift. The ski area is also quoted as saying that they believe the new lift will serve between 500-800 additional skiers. The parking lot and lodge can't really handle the current number of skiers on a busy weekend. I'm also frustrated by all of the misinformation that Mt. Spokane 2000 has been putting out in the news media. They claim the land was donated to parks specifically for a ski area. In fact, local conservationists raised $1500 during the Depression in order to protect the trees in that area (read this: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7819). They also claim that they are merely replacing a chairlift that used to be in this same general location. There was never a chairlift there.
In yesterday's newspaper a letter to the editor called the expansion opposition "armchair elitists." It implied that we were a bunch of people who like the theory of preservation without the actuality of visiting the area. Ah, the stuff that guy doesn't realize. I alpine ski there, I Nordic ski there, I snowshoe there, I hike there, I run there (well, not so much off-trail running in the PASEA, but I run through on 135), and I pick huckleberries there. I wonder how many of the proponents have been back there. Chris pointed out that that's truly the difference between the advocates and the opponents--those in favor merely Alpine ski on the mountain. It's the year-round, multi-sport enthusiasts who are adamantly against development on the backside. Well, year-round, multi-sport enthusiasts plus the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (quote from the agency: "The native mature forest habitat on the northern aspect of Mt. Spokane is an extremely unique forest ecosystem with a high value for wildlife and species biodiversity. Considering its size, its un-fragmented condition along with its stage of forest succession and structure, a similar forest could not be found anywhere else in Spokane county nor replicated [....] WDFW is opposed to the Potential Alpine Ski Expansion Area (PASEA) proposal due to the unavoidable and extensive impacts to wildlife habitat and wildlife species[....]" (WDFW letter dated January 29, 2007). That should stand for something, too.
I think the State Parks' Mission Statement and Core Values makes if pretty clear what should happen. Let's hope the Parks Commission shares my of interpretation of "stewardship that transmits high quality park assets to future generations".
Saturday, March 19, 2011
March 13, 2011
Diana organized a skijor demo day at Mount Spokane today. I brought both Kari and Blaze, and met several non-skijor people who wanted to try the sport for the first time. The first two people were on classic skis. I let them each take a dog first, and even with only one dog apiece it was pretty tough to stay in front of them with the dogs. On the way back to the starting point they took turns with both dogs. I couldn't keep up! It was pretty funny. After that Blaze was pretty much done for the day. The poor dog is such a wimp. I don't think he liked the fact that I was letting strangers ski with him; he kept trying to climb into my arms as if he was a little puppy. Of course, he's not a little puppy, so now I'm covered in bruises. Kari seemed a little nervous, too, but she was still willing to get into her harness and pull, so I let the last lady take Kari while I worked with Blaze. It's so much fun to see a person who has never tried it before take off for the first time--everybody seemed very surprised at how fast the dogs are. I think we got a few converts to the sport today!
March 5, 2011
Today was the annual Paws and Poles race at 49 Degrees North's Nordic area. I took Kari and competed in the skijor race (they also have a snowshoe race--one of these years I should try it). Kari did great, despite being nine years old now. In fact, if she hadn't been attached to such a slow human, she would have won. As it was, we were just barely second place to Deb Bauer and her dog, and she happens to be about the fastest local skier I can think of. Not bad at all.
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