Opinion: Get funding to expand Rainier national park

The News Tribune

Sept. 23, 2004

Washingtonians love Mount Rainier National Park. And soon there could be even more of it to love.

President Bush is expected to sign legislation, unanimously passed in the U.S. Senate last week, to authorize addition of about 800 acres to the park in East Pierce County. The House passed the bill in June.

One last detail has to be nailed down - funding. The state's congressional delegation needs to be sure the 2005 Interior Department budget actually has money in it for the purchase.

It should be slam dunk, given the bipartisanship that went into the enabling legislation. Democrat Maria Cantwell sponsored it in the Senate and Republican Jennifer Dunn pushed it in the House.

Expanding the park would be good news for the 1 million visitors to the park from all over the world and those of us who live in the shadow of the Northwest icon. It would mean increased recreational opportunities and a boost to tourism - which is good for the local economy.

Purchase of a three-mile strip along the Carbon River would extend the park's northwest boundary to include one of the nation's last inland old-growth rain forests. Wildlife would benefit because the park would be linked to Pierce County's Fairfax Forest, providing a migration corridor for elk and other animals. The area is also valuable salmon habitat.

The purchase could eventually result in better access to the park. That would take pressure off the park's Nisqually entrance and give economic boosts to the gateway communities of Wilkeson and Enumclaw.

The existing road to the Ipsut Creek campground, trailhead for the popular Carbon Glacier hike, is vulnerable to the ravages of the river. If it gets washed out again, the park will try to offer a shuttle service to the old trailhead.

It's been more than 70 years since Mount Rainier National Park saw the kind of expansion authorized by last week's legislation. State lawmakers should make sure the opportunity isn't lost.