Upper Stehekin Valley Road Letter
by Gregg Herrington
Sunday, June 27, 2010 11:11 AM

Wyatt King
c/o Sen. Maria Cantwell
Washingotn, D.C.

Mr. King

I urge Sen. Cantwell to push for a hearing and subsequent adoption by the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks of HR 2806 -- or a potential companion bill that would be the equivalent of HR 2806 insofar as the land exchange in the Stehekin Valley of Washington state is concerned. I realize she is not a member of that subcommittee. But I am hoping that as as a member of the parent Energy and Natural Resources Committee she will make a concerted effort to move this bill along.

I am 65 years old and have hiked in the upper Stehekin Valley maybe a half dozen times, twice entering from the west over Cascade Pass (via Marblemount, WA, in Skagit County) and the other times from Stehekin at the head of Lake Chelan in Chelan County. Since the flood wiped out the upper valley road, we have not hiked that area from the east. Slogging several miles along the valley floor just to reach the actual ascending trail is not our idea of a rewarding or enriching wilderness experience.

The absence of the road is a deterrent of the first order. It has essentially blocked the vast majority of both day-hikers and back-country backpackers from this iconic east-west route that is emblematic of the meaning of the Indian word Stehekin: "The way through." With more than 10 miles of the road gone, "the way through" has vanished for future generations of hikers and campers, and that diminishes popular support for the whole notion of wilderness preservation. How can people appreciate what they can't experience?

I am satisfied that HR 2806 has sufficient safeguards, including this one: "(c) No Sale or Acquisition Authorized- Nothing in this Act authorizes the sale or acquisition of any land or interest in land."

I urge Sen. Cantwell to support this land transfer so the road, which existed for several years and made this glorious route accessible to so many, can be rebuilt outside of the Stehekin River flood plain.

Thank you,

Gregg Herrington
4101 NE 130th Street
Vancouver, WA 98686