Steve Bloom/The Olympian
Forester Tom Poch drives up a portion of Fall Creek Road in Capitol Forest that is scheduled to be closed because sediments from the road are hurting fish habitat in Sherman Creek.

Capitol Forest roads slipping away

JOHN DODGE, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published December 10, 2001

LITTLEROCK -- While not quite an endangered species, the road network in the Capitol Forest is shrinking.

In the past two years, the state Department of Natural Resources has decommissioned 22 miles of roads in the 90,000-acre forest west of Olympia.

Another 12 miles are set to be abandoned in the next two or three years, said DNR forester Tom Poch, who manages the Black Hills District of Capitol Forest.

It means about 10 percent of the road network in the state-owned forest is being eliminated or rerouted, drawing praise from some and criticism from others.

Most of the roads slated for removal have environmental problems. Typically, they are close to fish-bearing streams and are pushing sediment into those streams, degrading water quality, Poch said.

In other cases, the roads cross streams in a way that prevents fish from moving upstream or downstream of the road.

Road closures in the Capitol Forest are a microcosm of what's happening on public and private timberland all across the state.

The new Forest and Fish timber rules the state Legislature adopted in 1999 call for repairing and phasing out logging roads that damage water quality and fish. That process is supposed to take 15 years.

So far, road closures have drawn more praise than public ire. A case in point was a one-mile stretch of road decommissioned last year on the northwest end of the forest near McCleary.

The move better protects several unnamed tributaries of Mox Chehalis Creek.

"The streamside vegetation is recovering," said Janet Strong, a McCleary area resident. "I'm very happy about that."

Plans to abandon a popular road leading to the Fall Creek Campground have drawn a much harsher reaction.

Equestrians, hikers and mountain bikers use the nearly 5-mile-long road as a launch point for trail riding. The road has a gentle slope that backcountry equestrians pulling horse trailers favor.

"They want to close the easiest access to the campground," said Loren McGovern, executive director of the Backcountry Horsemen of Washington.

The remaining access to the campground from the north is a steep and winding road difficult to maneuver with a horse trailer or camper, he said.

"It's a popular place that they're going to make less attractive -- and inconvenient," he said.

The reason the road was targeted to be closed is it butts up against Sherman Creek in several places, Poch said.

The creek is cutting into the road bed, which floods during heavy winter rains. As a result, sediments from the road end up in the stream, violating the federal Clean Water Act and damaging fish habitat.

Poch concedes it's the public's best route to the campground. However, he said, it's scheduled to be abandoned next summer.

"We've got competing issues here: water quality and fish passage versus recreational use," Poch said.

John Dodge covers the environment and energy for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5444.

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