A multipurpose trail through Anderson Lake State Park is a key to developing the Eaglemount Section of the Olympic Discovery Trail, and to safer recreation and travel on the Quimper Peninsula. With strong community support, we should be able to convince the Washington State Parks and Recreation
Commission to strongly support planning and development of the ODT-E in the Park.
The Commission has invited citizens and organizations to play an active role in planning and developing our state parks. http://parks.state.wa.us/268/Planning-Public-Input. In response, we should petition the Commission to direct its Agency Director or his designee to establish the planning and development of a section of the ODT in Anderson Lake State Park as a top priority in the Agency’s 2019-2021 biennium capital budget.
The Commission has invited citizens and organizations to play an active role in planning and developing our state parks. http://parks.state.wa.us/268/Planning-Public-Input. In response, we should petition the Commission to direct its Agency Director or his designee to establish the planning and development of a section of the ODT in Anderson Lake State Park as a top priority in the Agency’s 2019-2021 biennium capital budget.
ANDERSON LAKE STATE PARK
Anderson Lake State Park (ALSP) is
the second largest state park in Jefferson County. The Park is centrally located in the eastern area of the
county, midway between Port Townsend and the head of Discovery Bay and about
halfway between Old Fort Townsend State Park (to the north) and Gibbs Lake Park
(to the south). Chimicum Park and H.J. Carroll Park are about a mile to
the east. Roads and trails into
the eastern end of Olympic National Park start about four miles south. The rapidly-growing Tri-Area (Chimicum,
Irondale and Port Hadlock) is about two miles to the east.
ALSP’s
natural and cultural features are unique.
The Park combines a Puget trough lowland
forest with a 70-acre
lake and freshwater marshes. The lake has 8250 feet of freshwater shoreline. The Park is valuable habitat for wildlife, including elk, deer and eagles.
There are a number of Coast Salish cultural sites inside the Park, and Tamanowas Rock -- a sacred pilgrimage site to the Coast Salish peoples -- is just outside the Park boundary. In 2010, a coalition of Washington State Parks, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Jefferson County and Jefferson Land Trust worked together to permanently preserve 129 vacant acres adjacent to the Park, including Tamanowas Rock, investing $200,000 from Jefferson County’s Conservation Futures Fund.
ALSP is one of the few parks in the
region with a network of trails for walkers, horsemen and cyclists. In addition to 8 miles of hiking
trails, it has 7 miles of mountain-bike trails, and 5 miles of equestrian
trails.
Regrettably, there is no safe non-motorized public access to ALSP. The Park can be accessed only via Anderson Lake Road -- a shoulderless county road which runs between State Highway 19 to the east and State Highway 20 to the west. The Park is landlocked to the north, east and west by privately owned land, and to the south by two private ownerships and a section of undeveloped DNR land. There are no publicly-owned trails that connect the Park with other trails, other parks, or surrounding communities. To reach ALSP, non-motorized hikers, cyclists, disabled persons using wheelchairs, fishermen, joggers, moms with strollers, etc., must walk or roll for miles on dangerous highways (SR 19 or SR 20) and the narrow county road. Walking up Anderson Lake Road to the single park entrance is frightening. Navigating to ALSP by wheelchair or with a stroller or with a pet would be very dangerous.
Even worse safety problems exist on State Route 20, about a
mile west of the Park. It is a
busy, narrow (virtually shoulderless), winding, hilly, high-speed road running
over Eaglemount.
Yet that stretch of highway is currently used by cyclists and
hikers, and sometimes other non-motorized travelers, because there is no other
reasonably direct route from Port Townsend to the head of Discovery Bay and
beyond. Sergeant John Ryan of the Washington State Patrol
wrote to the County about this very-dangerous section of Highway 20:
As a Washington State Patrol sergeant
that supervises troopers in Jefferson County, I wholeheartedly support the
study and development of such a recreational trail. My troopers regularly
patrol SR 20 often observing cars, logging trucks, loaded chip trucks,
motorhomes, trucks with trailers, etc, trying to navigate SR20 over Eaglemount
while dealing with bicyclers and hikers and oncoming traffic. I myself was
assigned to Jefferson County from 1999 to 2003 and patrolled SR 20 often so I
know firsthand how dangerous it is. …
Finally, there are safety issues
for some trail users inside the Park itself. There are no trails in the Park
with surfaces that are safe and suitable for road bicycles, wheelchairs,
rollerblades, wheeled walkers, skateboards or other small-wheel equipment. None of the trails inside the Park meet
the guidelines for multipurpose trails set by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. AASHTO is a standards setting body which publishes guidelines used in design of highways, multipurpose trails, and other types of public transportation. AASHTO’s Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities is viewed as the national standard for bikeway design, and trails must adhere to its guidelines to receive federal or state transportation funds. AASHTO recommends a minimum of 10 feet for multi-use trails. Surface types should accommodate a variety of users: softer surfaces for pedestrians (walkers, hikers, joggers, runners, bird watchers and dog walkers), hard surfaces for bicycles, and loose or compacted dirt trails for equestrians. Grades up to five percent are acceptable, with steeper grades requiring design accommodations. Separate, parallel treads can be provided for bicyclists, pedestrians and equestrians. None of the trails or roads in ALSP currently meet the AASHTO safety guidelines.
The safety problems on the roads and highways around ALSP, and in the park itself, will only
increase in the future. Jefferson County planning
officials expect the county's population to grow by more than 30 percent by
2035.
THE STATE PARKS COMMISSION SHOULD
SELECT A MULTIPURPOSE TRAIL THROUGH ALSP AS A PRIORITY PROJECT FOR THE
2019-2021 BIENNIUM.
To deal
with these safety problems, and to gain multiple additional benefits for the
Park and the communities around it, a section of the Olympic Discovery Trail
(ODT) should be constructed in ALSP, connecting to other sections of the ODT running
from Port Townsend (to the north) and the head of Discovery Bay (to the
south). Funding for this multipurpose
trail through ALSP should be sought as a Commission project in its Capital
Budget request for the 2019-2021 biennium.
As
stated on the “Funding” page of the Parks website at http://parks.state.wa.us/177/Funding, Commission projects have been chosen specifically to “[1] reduce risk; [2] protect natural and
cultural heritage; [3] generate revenue; [4] reduce operating costs; [5] encourage
use of parks; and [6] engage volunteers and donors.” (numerals added) The
ALSP multipurpose trail project qualifies in every respect:
[1] A Multipurpose
Trail Through ALSP Will Reduce Risk
A multipurpose trail through ALSP,
connecting to sections of the ODT running to Port Townsend, Discovery Bay and
Olympic National Park, and eventually to the Tri-Area and Gibbs Lake County
Park, will reduce risks and promote a safer, healthier, greener and more robust
use of the Park. Non-motorized users such as mountain bikers,
equestrians, road cyclists, anglers, skaters, birdwatchers, wheelchair users,
and long-distance hikers, will be safer because they will be able to access the
Park without having to navigate SR 20 or SR 19 and Anderson Lake Road. Taking
non-motorized users off Highways 19 and 20 and Anderson Lake Road will reduce
risks for motorists on those roads (who now have to take risks in order to
avoid cyclists and foot traffic).
In addition, a partially-paved multipurpose trail will increase safety within
ALSP. Such a trail in the Park
will allow many additional recreational activities. More people will access and use the Park in a healthier and
risk-free way.
An AASHTO-compliant,
partially-paved multipurpose trail in the Park will also better serve Jefferson
County’s aging population. As the
Parks’ Statewide Park Acquisition and Development
Strategy (“SPADS”) states:
Population
growth due to “natural increase” (births > deaths) is slowing. As the
state’s population ages, state parks will need to provide facilities and activities
that appeal to, and are accessible by, older people.
The
proposed Olympic Discovery Trail-Eaglemount (“ODT-E”), running to and through
ALSP, would be such a trail. It
would connect ALSP to other trails, other parks and nearby communities, taking
non-motorized users off the highways and roads. It would provide a multipurpose route within the Park which
would permit safe use by more visitors, including older people. Here are two possible routes:
As
the map shows, ALSP’s location, virtually at the center of the proposed Highway
20 ODT-E bypass, is of crucial importance to achieve this result. For non-motorized users, a
multipurpose trail through ALSP is the key to
safe park access; safe state and federal trail systems; safe travel on SR 20:
and safety for new users inside the Park.
The
new trail through the Park would be part a 120 mile non-motorized multipurpose
recreation pathway that runs from Port Townsend to the Pacific Ocean.
The basic concept of the ODT is a 120+ mile non-motorized route from
Puget Sound (Port Townsend) to the Pacific (La Push) that links the population
centers of the North Olympic Peninsula. The ODT has always embraced and
designed for a wide user community, including road cyclists, mountain bikers,
pedestrians, equestrians, mobility impaired users, and others. The ODT route
passes through numerous jurisdictions: tribal, federal, state, county, and
city, who are the underlying owners of the trail segments.
The ODT currently
runs over Eaglemount on Highway 20.
It shares that highway route with the Pacific Northwest National Scenic
Trail (“PNNST”), which runs from Glacier National Park to Olympic National
Park. Both the ODT-E and the PNNST could run to
and through ALSP, and from there to the new segment of the ODT which is
currently being built by Jefferson County at the head of the Discovery
Bay. Such a trail could also
connect the PNNST to the roads and trails running to the east end of Olympic
National Park. If the ODT-E bypass
is built and these connections are made, they will substantially reduce risks,
making recreation and transportation much safer for travelers and recreational
users on the Quimper Peninsula.
[2] A Multipurpose Trail Through ALSP Will Help
Protect the Park’s Natural and Cultural Heritage.
ALSP’s natural and
cultural heritages are inextricably intertwined. The Park’s cedar,
fir, maple and alder forest, 70-acre
lake and freshwater marshes are a
prime example of a Puget lowland natural system in which northwest coast
natives, such as the S’Klallam Tribe, lived, hunted and fished for thousands of
years. There are few, if any, such
sites left in western Washington.
Urbanization, agriculture and tree farming have wiped most of them
out.
A
carefully-planned multipurpose trail through the Park will protect this natural
and cultural heritage, including the prehistoric
Coast Salish archeological sites in the Park, and Tamanowas Rock
just outside. The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe is the current steward of these
heritage sites. It has planned and
built several sections of multipurpose trail that have been incorporated into
the ODT. This managed approach to
trail building increases awareness of the tribal heritage while limiting
uncontrolled activities that might lead to damage of the sites. (In 2014, Tamanowas Rock
was desecrated with graffiti, gaining national and international attention.)
Improved access would also lead to more
use of the Park, and other improvements would likely follow. The lake, which is now closed at times
because of toxic algae blooms, could be protected from phosphorus runoffs from
the old dairy farm at its south end (perhaps the trail could be constructed to
serve as part of the barrier), and the toxic algae in the lake could be
treated. The lake cleanup would be
a catalyst for renewed beach activities, swimming, boating and fishing. Perhaps campsites could be developed to
accommodate the new ODT traffic.
Generally, routing the ODT-E through the Park would lead to the Park’s revitalization,
thereby protecting its natural and cultural heritage.
[3] A Multipurpose
Trail Through ALSP Will Generate Revenue.
Increased
use of the Park should increase Discover Pass revenues. ALSP’s central location on the Quimper
Peninsula would make it a natural hub for the ODT route from Port Townsend to
Discovery Bay, Olympic National Park and beyond. As visits to the Park via the ODT increase, additional
revenue could be generated from camping and from small-scale commercial
activities like a food concession, bike and boat rentals, or sales of fishing
equipment and goods. Possibly an
annual run-and-ride event could be sponsored by the Peninsula Trails Coalition
and other volunteer organizations, to raise donations for the Park.
[4] Maintenance
Commitments by Volunteers Will Reduce the Park’s Operating Costs.
A
multipurpose trail through ALSP will require substantial maintenance. To reduce the Park’s operating costs in
that regard, three well-established volunteer organizations have committed to
maintain the trail in the Park:
The Peninsula Trails Coalition (the ODT’s primary promoter and
advocate), and others, will execute commitments to maintain the ODT-E in the
Park. Specifically, these
organizations will remove refuse (trash, fallen
branches, etc) on or alongside the trail; mow and otherwise control vegetation along the
edges of the trail (for clearances for trail users and for fire protection); make
minor trail repairs (small washouts, potholes,
root invasions, moss removal); repair and repaint signs (directional signs, warning
signs, and fire danger signs); and make minor repairs to
deterioration/vandalism of bridges, kiosks, and other trail related
structures. These commitments will substantially reduce operating costs
related to the trail.
[5] A Multipurpose
Trail Through ALSP Will Encourage Use of the Park.
A non-motorized multipurpose trail
to and through the Park will encourage use of the Park by many new classes of
visitors. First and foremost, it
will encourage non-motorized travel to and through the park by persons seeking healthier
and greener recreational activities. It will annually draw thousands
of road bikers, walkers, joggers, roller-bladers and others exploring the ODT
from Port Townsend to LaPush.
Mobility-impaired users on the Quimper Peninsula will have a new
AASHTO-compliant trail that will expand their recreational choices. Hundreds of through-hikers traveling
the PNNST from Glacier National Park to Olympic National Park will pass through
ALSP annually, enjoying its forests, lake, marshes, and cultural sites. More equestrians will come to the Park
from the Port Townsend area to the north and the Olympic National Park area to
the south. Special events (like a
Quimper Peninsula trail marathon, or a park-to-park bike ride, or a
run-and–ride park benefit, could be organized. Generally, there will be a far more robust use of the Park by
more people using environmentally-friendly means.
[6] A Multipurpose
Trail Through ALSP Will Engage Volunteers and Donors.
Volunteers
have already been engaged, and monetary donations are likely. We are asking individuals and organizations to sign the petition to the Parks Commission, and to pledge donations to a fund that will partially match the funding to be sought by the Parks agency from the state legislature.
THE COST OF A MULTIPURPOSE TRAIL THROUGH
ALSP WILL BE MODERATE.
A
multipurpose trail through ALSP could be constructed mostly on existing Park
trails and roads, modified to establish AASHTO-compliant unpaved tracks for
horses and hikers and a paved track wheeled vehicles. One possible route is shown on this map:
It
is difficult to accurately predict the cost of the multipurpose trail without a
complete planning study.
Reasonable estimates can be made, however, based on costs for recent
construction of comparable sections of trail in Jefferson and Clallam Counties. Based on actual costs for ODT trail
sections recently completed those counties, the cost to build a one-mile ODT-E
section in ALSP, in 2017 dollars, would be about $500,000. Inflated at 5% per year, the cost of
construction in 2019-2021 would be in the range of $550,000 to $600,000.
PLANNING SHOULD
PROMPTLY BE CARRIED OUT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE STATE PARKS’ CLASSIFICATION
AND MANAGEMENT PLANNING PROCESS (CAMP).
None of the benefits of the ODT-E will occur without all of
the property owners and jurisdictions on the proposed route -- including
Washington State Parks -- acting as partners with each other, and with private
organizations such as the Peninsula Trails Coalition, to achieve the mutual
benefits of the trail. Parts of
the preferred ODT-E route (to be determined by the County with the aid of a
consultant) may run on Jefferson County roads, WSDOT rights-of-way, City of
Port Townsend properties and easements, DNR forest lands, and ALSP. Unless all of the owners and agencies
act together, however, the project will fail. Each agency should do its part to
plan and develop the bypass since each will benefit from it. Delays or inaction by any will damage
them all.
To
assure that the trail is completed on a unified basis, the Commission should direct
its Agency Director or his designee to promptly plan the ODT multipurpose
trail project for ALSP. If the
Parks trail planning and development process begins now, and funding is
obtained for the 2019-2021 biennium, the ODT-E project can expeditiously
proceed on a coordinated basis.
The State Parks
planning process, also known as the classification and management planning
(CAMP), includes four stages:
•
Identify
issues and concerns of park stakeholders
•
Explore
alternative approaches to address identified issues
•
Prepare
preliminary recommendations to address issues or suggest a realistic compromise
•
Propose final
recommendations for formal agency and commission adoption
Each park planning
project must go through these four stages or some similar variation, depending
on the particular park. The
Commission should therefore direct its Agency Director or his designee to plan the trail
in accordance with CAMP.
Planning
under CAMP should begin immediately, to coordinate with planning by Jefferson
County. The County has
incorporated the ODT-E into its Comprehensive
Plan. http://www.co.jefferson.wa.us/commdevelopment/Comp%20Plan%20Pages/CompPlanGeneral.htm.
The Update to the Transportation element of the Plan expressly identifies
a multipurpose trail through ALSP:
ODT – Forest and Lakes Route: Four
Corners - Anderson Lake State Park –
Multipurpose trail from
Four Corners south on utility easements and across forestland to Anderson Lake
State Park.
ODT – Forest
and Lakes Route: Anderson Lake –
Discovery Bay –
Multipurpose
trail from Anderson Lake State Park south on utility easements, forestlands,
and County roads to US-101 at the south end of Discovery Bay.
To move forward with this Plan,
Jefferson County has included the ODT-E project in its 2017-2022 Transportation
Improvement Plan (TIP). County
funding for the TIP project came from the Washington State legislature, which
authorized the RCO to provide “… a maximum of $1,000,000 for further
planning, acquisition, and development of the Olympic discovery trail project
between Discovery Bay and the trail's intersection with the Larry Scott trail
in Jefferson county.”
The
County has hired an engineer to manage the planning, acquisition and
development process of the County’s segments of the ODT-E (including the
construction of an ODT segment at the head of Discovery Bay). We anticipate that a trail consultant will soon be engaged to assist the County in identification of a preferred route
and development of an acquisition plan and a sequence for construction.
If
planning and development for the trail through ALSP is not promptly undertaken
by Washington State Parks, another link for the bypass, outside the Park, will
have to be found. Because of
severe topographical and ownership limitations, there appears to be only one
possible alternative to an ALSP route. Under this alternative, the trail would
run alongside Shika Road, a private road just west of the Park. But availability of that route
alternative is not assured. It
would have to cross an additional half-mile of Pope Resources land plus a
half-mile of private ownerships next to or on the private road. It is quite possible that some or all of
the private owners would not agree to a trail on their properties. Or the cost of purchasing an easement
could be prohibitive.
The trail could also conceivably run on the SR 20 right-of way, but that route would probably be prohibitively expensive to build and maintain due to numerous steep hills, cliffs and ravines along the highway. See http://arcg.is/0TGiq9. A route along the shore of Discovery Bay, on an old railway grade, likewise does not appear viable. When the rail line was abandoned in the 1980’s, the land reverted to private owners, many of whom have constructed residences or other improvements on the old rail line. In addition, the rail bed has eroded away in several areas, and rebuilding it would be a massive undertaking -- if permitted at all under current shoreline standards. Finally, the old rail bed is below projected sea-rise levels in many places, so a new trail bed would have to be cut into the cliffs above the bay.
So, if the ALSP route is not planned and built and the Shika Road route is not available, the ODT-E bypass will be stymied and all of the benefits to the public and the Park will be lost.
The trail could also conceivably run on the SR 20 right-of way, but that route would probably be prohibitively expensive to build and maintain due to numerous steep hills, cliffs and ravines along the highway. See http://arcg.is/0TGiq9. A route along the shore of Discovery Bay, on an old railway grade, likewise does not appear viable. When the rail line was abandoned in the 1980’s, the land reverted to private owners, many of whom have constructed residences or other improvements on the old rail line. In addition, the rail bed has eroded away in several areas, and rebuilding it would be a massive undertaking -- if permitted at all under current shoreline standards. Finally, the old rail bed is below projected sea-rise levels in many places, so a new trail bed would have to be cut into the cliffs above the bay.
So, if the ALSP route is not planned and built and the Shika Road route is not available, the ODT-E bypass will be stymied and all of the benefits to the public and the Park will be lost.
DEVELOPMENT OF A
MULTIPURPOSE TRAIL THROUGH ALSP WILL BE CONSISTENT WITH THE STATEWIDE PARK ACQUISITION AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY (SPADS)
In July 2016, the Commission adopted a Statewide
Park Acquisition and Development Strategy (SPADS) for the agency, to “guide its
acquisition and development of new state parks, and its redevelopment of
existing state parks.” As the
Parks website explains at http://parks.state.wa.us/DocumentCenter/Home/View/7904:
The
overarching strategic goal is for Washington’s state parks to be recognized as
the collection of places and experiences that are distinctly Washington.
To achieve that goal, the state park system should include:
- Places to be: Connecting people with Washington’s iconic landscapes
- Stories to know: Engaging people in authentic Washington stories
- Things to do: Providing Washington’s recreational mainstays
- Ways to grow: Inviting novices to experience Washington’s outdoors
- Something for everyone: Improving the quality of life for all Washingtonians
…
This Statewide Acquisition and Development Strategy
is intended to guide State Parks in acquiring, developing, and redeveloping
lands in a more intentional and directed manner. And it hopes to do so in a way
that inspires and enlists local communities and partners to support and
participate in park acquisition and development. [Emphasis added.]
Constructing
a section of the ODT-E in ALSP will be perfectly consistent with these
strategic goals, which are described in more detail at pages 7-12 of the SPADS:
[1] The New
Trail Will Take ALSP Visitors To “Places To Be, Connecting People With Washington’s Iconic Landscapes.”
The SPADS at page 7 identifies “Puget trough lowland
forests” as one of those iconic
landscapes. ALSP
itself includes such a forest. And
the ODT – of which ALSP could be a key part – will connect people to many
historically significant and spectacular places on the Olympic Peninsula: Port Townsend (Victorian seaport and arts community on the National Register of Historic Places);
Discovery Bay (where Captain Vancouver and Lieutenant Puget first anchored on
their 1792 exploration down the Straits of Juan de Fuca and into Puget Sound);
Sequim Bay (home of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and site of one of the most
impressive collection of totem poles in the world); Port Angeles (second national city designated by
Abraham Lincoln);
the Elwha River (site of
the largest dam removal project in history); Lake Crescent (deep,
crystal-clear lake believed to have been formed by landslides about 8000 years
ago. (According to a S’Klallam legend, Mount
Storm King was angered by
warring tribes and threw a boulder to cut a single lake in two, forming lakes
Sutherland and Crescent.)); Forks (site of historic timber industry, Twilight films, and Olympic rain forest);
and LaPush (home to the Quileute
tribe, known for its
whale-watching and natural environment).
And
ALSP will also be part of the PNNST -- one of only eleven National Scenic
Trails – which will connect people to an even larger list of places to be: three national parks, seven national
forests, and three of the most wild and majestic mountain ranges in the United
States.
[2] The
New Trail Will Tell Visitors “Stories To Know, Engaging People In Authentic Washington
Stories.”
The SPADS lists such stories at page 8. One of the listed stories is “Native American
history and culture.” ALSP
includes several native American cultural sites within its boundary, and Tamanowas Rock
just outside.
[3] The New Trail Will Give Visitors
“Things To Do, Providing Washington’s Recreational Mainstays.”
The SPADS lists those recreational mainstays at page 9. The first five on the list are “Walking
and hiking, Cycling, Horseback riding, Picnicking, and Fishing.” ALSP has them all. The ODT-E will bring more visitors to
the Park in a healthful and environmentally-conscious way, to enjoy these
recreational mainstays.
[4] The
New Trail Will Provide “Ways To Grow, Inviting Novices To Experience Washington’s
Outdoors.”
The SPADS at page 10 identifies “Multi-park recreation opportunities” as ways to grow: “State parks should offer systems of recreational
facilities that encourage novices to explore multiple parks” via “cross-state
trails.” The ODT and the PNNST are
such systems. The ODT encourages
novices to explore multiple parks on its 124 mile route, including (to the west
of ALSP): Sequim Bay State Park, Carrie
Blake Park, Railroad Bridge Park, Robin Hill Farm County Park, Francis Street Park, Valley Creek
Estuary Park, Ediz Hook Reservation for Native Birds, Lower Elwha Off
Reservation Trust Lands, Olympic
National Park, and Camp David Jr. County Park. And the PNNST encourages novices to explore three National Parks, seven National Forests,
and numerous state, county and local parks along its 1200 mile route.
[5] The
New Trail Will Offer “Something For Everyone, Improving The Quality
Of Life For All Washingtonians.”
The SPADS at page 11 identifies benefits that state
parks should provide, including “health, economic development, transportation,
environmental and heritage education, community identity, and intergenerational
continuity.” ALSP with the ODT and
the PNNST has it all.
·
Obviously, accessing and using the Park
via a non-motorized multipurpose trail will be healthy.
·
Completing the artery from Port Townsend
to LaPush will be a huge benefit to the economies of all of the communities
along the route (Port Townsend, Discovery Bay, Gardiner, Jamestown S’Klallam
Reservation at Blyn, Sequim, Carlsborg, Agnew, Port Angeles, Forks, and
LaPush), bringing cyclists and hikers and other tourists from all over the
world to make the epic journey.
·
The ODT, when completed through ALSP,
will provide a safe transportation route for non-motorized commuters traveling
to and from Port Townsend. Now, non-motorized
commuting is practically impossible.
·
ALSP itself provides an environmental and
heritage education, with its Puget trough forest, a lake damaged by excess
phosphorous runoff and in need of
remediation, and Coast Salish heritage sites.
·
Completion of the ODT will unify the
communities along the trail in their common interests in healthy, green
recreation and transportation.
·
A multipurpose
trail through the Park will encourage use by all generations: moms with babies in strollers, children
learning to skate or ride a bike, young adults practicing horsemanship, middle-aged
employees out for an evening run, families vacationing together on a trip from
Port Townsend to LaPush, retired seniors testing their stamina by hiking the
PNNST from Glacier National Park to the Pacific, and aging grandparents
exploring the park with their grandchildren on a smooth-surfaced trail.
[6] Development
Of A Multipurpose Trail Through ALSP Will Accomplish The SPADS Goal Of “Inspir[ing] And Enlist[ing] Local
Communities And Partners To Support And Participate In Park Acquisition And
Development.”
The signatures of a large number of individuals and organizations on the petition will show that local communities and partners are so inspired
and enlisted.
CONCLUSION
THE
COMMISSION SHOULD DIRECT ITS AGENCY
DIRECTOR OR HIS DESIGNEE TO ESTABLISH THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF A SECTION
OF THE OLYMPIC DISCOVERY TRAIL IN ANDERSON LAKE STATE PARK AS A TOP PRIORITY IN
THE AGENCY’S 2019-2021 BIENNIUM CAPITAL BUDGET.
