North Cascades

STEWARDSHIP OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN:
GOVERNMENT IN THE NORTH CASCADES

OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

Seattle City Light (SCL)

In cooperation with the USFS, other federal and state agencies had a presence in the North Cascades, some more noticeable than others. While they operated independently from the USFS, they were required to secure authorization from the USFS for their various projects and activities. Cooperative agreements and special-use permits were required unless the USFS was directly involved with the activity.

Second only to the USFS in the scale of its projects, Seattle City Light (SCL) came to the upper Skagit River region in the late 1910s and embarked upon an ambitious hydroelectric project on the Skagit River. SCL not only transformed the upper river from a wild, free-flowing watercourse into a tame and predictable series of three lakes, but it also altered the wilderness by introducing foreign elements into a relatively pristine landscape. Employees of SCL left their homes in metropolitan Seattle and relocated to a company town called Newhalem, 14 miles from the hamlet of Marblemount. Less than a decade later a second company town, Diablo, was built to accommodate additional employees on the dam project. Paved streets and sidewalks, electric lights, houses, garages, stores, manicured gardens, and other amenities of civilization were brought in, forever altering the appearance of the Skagit River corridor.

In addition to this new construction, SCL was forced to replace several USFS facilities, buildings, and trails lost to the rising Skagit waters. This work involved reconstructing trails on the east and west sides of the Skagit River at a higher elevation, rebuilding foot and horse bridges across streams draining into the Skagit, and replacing lost pasture lands. [90] For the latter, ten acres of dense forest were cleared, fenced, and seeded in the 1940s on the north side of Ruby Creek, establishing a pasture which remains obvious today. Other land inundated by the damming of the Skagit required the relocation of the USFS guard station at Reflector Bar near Diablo. In compensation, SCL rebuilt the USFS residence and barn on a new site nearby, and these stand today on the highly developed flat of land below Diablo Dam. [91]