Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Washington was a great place to grow up.
We used to be able to use the parks and boat launches without additional fees. We were able to hike, boat, swim, camp and otherwise enjoy the recreational opportunities here without interference from pencil-pushing bureaucrats masquerading as “experts” in state jobs. We used to be able to enjoy our corner of the world without having to acquiesce to tribes expanding their political power off reservations.
Those days are almost gone. And with them, the quality of life we had as here as young children, teenagers and young adults are disappearing.
Over the last 20 years, state agencies have been ratcheting up their hold on public lands and water, and their control of recreation based on the say-so of non-elected state employees. As a result, we are losing access to camping, fishing, boating, hiking and more because of those bureaucrats.
Where we haven’t lost access, we’re paying more through boat launch, parking, camping, access and other fees, thanks to state employees wanting to expand their ranks.
Head into the Cascades, Blues, Selkirks and adjacent foothills and you find historic logging and other roads blocked by berms and state gates. Drive along the Yakima River, Crab Creek and other small streams and you find few unabated areas still remain.
At the same time, you’ll likely find signs that say you need a parking or Discover Pass — a backhanded way of dissauding visitors from stopping.
The trails we used to hike at Dry Falls and Palouse Falls have been shuttered by state employees who think they are too dangerous. They were safe enough when we were kids; they’re safe enough now.
During in the last two years, the state has stepped up its attack on camping at places like Palouse Falls and as of last week, Vernita Bridge.
The Palouse Falls campground was shuttered two years. Washington State Parks employees said a replacement campground was coming at nearby Lyons Ferry — which years ago had a campground. But in two years time, nothing has been accomplished and state bureaucrats say a new replacement campground there may still be a decade away.
Last week, the state said it will completely eliminate camping at the Vernita Bridge recreational area by 2026. (I concede that camping there was never “officially” allowed, but state employees never cared.)
State Department of Fish and Wildlife says it will open camping nearby. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Unfortunately, if Fish and Wildlife does open a campground, it’ll be asking the Legislature for more money to buy land, build a campground and hire a staff to maintain it. And that’s how we ended up with burdensome over-management of recreation to begin with.
Rather than give state agencies more money to increase agency fiefdoms, state agencies should be divested of their control of numerous parks, boat launches, recreation areas and other publicly owned lands.
Failure to limit state control of recreation here will lead to a complete loss of the quality of life Eastern Washingtonians have enjoyed since before statehood.
— Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Email him at [email protected].
Roger Harnack is owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. An award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher who grew up in Eastern Washington, he's one of only two Washington state journalists ever to receive the international Golden Quill for editorial/commentary writing. Roger is committed to preserving local media, and along with it, a local voice for Eastern Washington.
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