North Cascades among federal parks to get stimulus money

JEFFREY P. MAYOR - THE (TACOMA) NEWS TRIBUNE

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National parks in Washington state will get more than $62 million to fund 33 projects, including $518,000 for work at North Cascades National Park.

An infusion of $54 million will mean a project to remove two Elwha River dams at Olympic National Park will happen about a year earlier.

Another $3.3 million will allow Mount Rainier to deal with a backlog of maintenance projects.

NORTH CASCADES PROJECTS
Here is a summary of the North Cascades National Park projects to be funded with federal stimulus money:
$185,000 - Energy efficiency improvement to the Stehekin Landing. Replacing heaters, windows, doors, hot water heaters, etc., in several of the concession-operated visitor facilities.
$118,000 - Exterior finishing and interior painting of historic houses that serve as employee housing in Stehekin and Marblemount.
$175,000 - Rehabilitate Stehekin Landing fuel system. Will bring both the land and boat fueling systems into compliance and upgrade components while using best management practices.
$40,000 - Repair storm damage at Stehekin. Relocation of the Harlequin Campground vault toilet to higher ground and complete bank barb repair on the Company Creek Road.

The money is part of $750 million of economic stimulus funding for the nation's parks, announced on Earth Day by the Interior Department. Nationwide, the projects are expected to save or create at least 20,000 jobs, said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

At North Cascades, the projects include improving visitor facilities with basics such as replacing heaters and hot water heaters and painting the historic houses that serve as employee housing in Stehekin and Marblemount.

"We're addressing our maintenance backlog and improving the park visit experience, while improving the local economy," said park superintendent Chip Jenkins.

"We're very pleased. These are projects we know we'll be able to get done now," Jenkins added.

Olympic National Park received the bulk of the funds destined for Washington, with $54.7 million going to nine projects related to the Elwha effort, the nation's largest dam removal project to date. The project includes water quality protection, flood and wastewater system protection and a new fish hatchery.

The park expects to seek bids for the dam removal work in early 2010 and award the contract that summer. Work would begin in early 2011, a year ahead of schedule.

"The money was already going to be available, but at a slower pace," said Olympic spokeswoman Barb Maynes. "What the Recovery Act funding does is let us get started and working more quickly."

Mount Rainier National Park will be able to start nine projects with its $3.3 million share.

Almost $840,000 will allow work to proceed once the park completes an environmental assessment on the Carbon River corridor. Some of the money will be used to improve parking at the entrance, install flood protection and convert Ipsut Creek to a backcountry campground.

Most of the $725,000 for trail work will be used on the one-mile reroute Glacier Basin Trail and the 1,500-foot Carbon River reroute of the Wonderland Trail near the Carbon Glacier, said Carl Fabiani, park trail foreman. The Carbon River reroute should be completed this year, while the Glacier Basin trail should be completed in 2010.

At Sunrise, $781,000 will be used to replace outdated exhibits first installed in the 1970s.

"This is all work we wouldn't be able to accomplish without the stimulus money," superintendent Randy King said.

Nationally, about $55.8 million will be used to fix the National Mall, about $30 million will go to fix the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and $26 million will repair buildings and a seawall at New York's Ellis Island.