The Olympian/File
Access to Mount Rainier, shown in the background as bikers pedal near Yelm last summer, will undergo some changes under a plan unveiled by federal officials.

Details of Rainier plan emerge

'Welcome centers,' shuttles will help regulate traffic

N.S. NOKKENTVED, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published December 5, 2001

ASHFORD -- Future visitors to Mount Rainier National Park might not head to Paradise if they're looking for information about the park -- and hikers might not always be able to drive to trailheads.

Visitors would get most of the information they need at "welcome centers" outside the park entrances, and shuttles would take hikers to the trailheads when parking lots inside are full.

Federal officials recently released the new plan, which would guide the operation of the park for the next couple of decades. Among the plan's goals are to reduce the effects of human use on the park's resources and to reduce the congestion that comes in the peak summer season.

Many user groups have accepted the plan.

"I'm encouraged by what I've seen," said Jonathan Guzzo, director of advocacy for the Washington Trails Association.

The National Park Service must provide recreational opportunities while protecting park resources.

But Guzzo commended the plan's approach to develop a carrying capacity that is based on what the resources can absorb without serious consequences.

"It's holistic and pretty fair to hikers," Guzzo said.

But hikers will have to do more planning, and they may have to be ready to take a shuttle to the trailhead.

"It won't be a huge impact, but it will affect hikers," Guzzo said.

Outside the park, would-be visitors would be greeted by multi-agency welcome centers that would provide visitors with trip-planning information before they reached the park.

Message signs, information booths at outdoor equipment stores, and daily updates on the Internet about the status of popular areas in the park would provide access information to visitors.

"We've been working on this for six years," park Superintendent Jon Jarvis said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

One thing that doesn't appear obvious in the plan is the balance between spending on construction while the park still has trouble keeping up on maintenance.

The plans calls for replacing the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center with a smaller, more efficient center.

The move would save the park money during the 25-year lifespan of the building, Jarvis said.

The old, non-insulated building is expensive to maintain and operate.

"It'll burn 500 gallons of fuel oil a day up there this winter," Jarvis said.

And the welcome centers outside the park would be public-private partnerships that benefit gateway communities.

They would help direct park visitors before they get inside the park, Jarvis said.

The primary visitor center is now at Paradise, which is in the center of the southern portion of the park.

But people looking for a particular kind of camping might not need to drive to Paradise before they head to a campground in some other part of the park, Jarvis said.

Not everyone favors the plan, which also would limit pack stock to two trails.

Stock, such as horses, mules and llamas, would be allowed only on the Pacific Crest Trail and Laughingwater Creek Trail.

A staging area at Ohanapecosh would provide access to the Laughingwater trail.

Mount Rainier is more restrictive than other parks, said Loren S. McGovern, executive director of Backcountry Horsemen of Washington.

Many of the trails and facilities in the park were built with pack strings, "and now they're locking out a part of history," McGovern said.

If the park were open to more equestrian use, group members would do more trail work that would benefit all users, he said.

"We've got the volunteer labor and the expertise to do that kind of maintenance," McGovern said.

The plan also seeks to:

-Preserve natural sounds and quiet.

-Protect air quality within the park.

-Eliminate snowmobile use within the park.

-Repair the Westside Road.

-Move parking away from Mowich Lake to protect the shoreline.

-Buy about 1,100 acres along the Carbon River for a new campground.

To learn more

Copies of the 448-page Mount Rainier National Park General Management Plan and environmental impact statement are available:

- By mail: Superintendent, Mount Rainier National Park, Tahoma Woods, Star Route, Ashford, WA 98304-9751.

- By phone: 360-569-2211, Ext. 2301.

- At libraries: Public, regional and university libraries throughout the region.

On the Web:

- www.nps.gov/planning.

- Mount Rainier National Park

The Olympian Copyright 2001

back to main Outdoors: Environment index