Centennial Initiative

The rain fell pretty hard below 7K over the past few days. So hard, in fact, that Kautz Creek jumped its banks again and flowed over the Nisqually to Longmire Road. When it comes to the road repairs, the push is on to complete the Kautz Creek section. Installing the new culverts, which involve a serious amount of digging and creek diversion, will undoubtedly take the largest amount of time. The erosion and sluffing threats at mileposts #5 and #9 seem to be largely repaired by comparison.

If you're in Seattle on March 26th, stop by the Seattle Town Hall to meet the Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne. Mr. Kempthorne (and a number of other high level NPS officials including the Regional Director Jon Jarvis) will address an open forum of ideas and questions about the National Park Service's 100th birthday (in 2016). Called the Centennial Initiative, the Secretary will discuss a 3 billion dollar proposal to improve and expand National Parks over the next 10 years. If you're interested, there is more information on this NPS web page.

There is a photo exhibit (also in Seattle near Pioneer Square) about the damage to North Cascades, Olympic, and Mount Rainier National Parks. Lani Doely and Don Geyer share their photographic interpretation of the dramatic change and damage caused by the November storms, check it out. The event is hosted by the National Parks and Conservation Association Northwest Regional Office.