Public Comments on Stehekin Corridor Mgmt Plan Accepted

Date: August 18, 2008
Contact: Charles Beall, 360 854-7302
Contact: Jon Riedel, 360 854-7330

North Cascades National Park Service Complex has taken public comments and the results of several internal agency workshops to complete the next step in the planning process for a Stehekin River Corridor Implementation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement within Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. The preliminary management alternatives range from continuing current management (“No Action” Alternative) to various comprehensive approaches to management of the Stehekin River corridor, and include general concepts from allowing floodwater to spread across the entire valley, to attempting to constrain the river and its floodwaters from some developed parts of the valley. 

Detailed actions are proposed at nearly twenty sites to address flooding and erosion issues to public property, including roads, campgrounds, and National Park Service (NPS) administrative facilities. Potential major actions include relocation of the main Stehekin Valley Road around the flood-prone McGregor Meadows area, changes to management of logjams, and revision of the 1995 Land Protection Plan (LPP). The 1995 LPP provides a method for the NPS to acquire, through trade or purchase, sensitive resource lands. 

The alternatives and actions proposed in this plan were reviewed by a technical committee of scientists, engineers, planners, and floodplain managers, all of whom had specific knowledge and/or experience with the Stehekin River. Among the public agencies represented on this committee were Chelan County, Chelan Public Utility District, Washington Departments of Ecology and Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The alternatives and actions are detailed in a newsletter that is available at the park planning website https://parkplanning.nps.gov/noca. Select “Stehekin River Corridor Implementation Plan”, then “Open for Public Comment”, then “Stehekin River Corridor Implementation Plan Newsletter #2”.

Public input can be provided in three ways:

1)     Hand deliver or mail comments to SRCIP, North Cascades N.P.S. Complex, 810 State Route 20, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284-1239

2)     Send comments to the park planning website https://parkplanning.nps.gov/noca

3)     Attend one of three public open houses:

Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm Stehekin, Washington Golden West Visitor Center

Wednesday, August 27, 2008, 8:00 am – 2:00 pm Stehekin, Washington Golden West Visitor Center

Thursday, August 28, 2008, 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm Seattle, Washington Seattle Mountaineers, 300 Third Avenue West, Fireside Room

Written comments must be postmarked or submitted via the internet, fax or hand delivery by September 14, 2008. Questions regarding this plan should be directed to Project Manager Jon Riedel at [phone]; Fax [phone].

Information gathered from the general public, other agencies, National Park Service staff, non-profit organizations, and community groups will be used to select a preferred alternative and actions in the fall of 2008. The ambitious goal of this effort is to complete the Stehekin River Corridor Implementation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement process by late 2009.