Parks releases plans for Wallace Falls State Park

Washington State Parks has released preliminary recommendations for the Wallace Falls State Park’s long-term plan.

Parking, trail use, expanding recreation resources and coordination with the Department of Natural Resources are among the key proposals. Planner Randy Kline led last Wednesday’s third public meeting in a series that began last fall.

Finding room for visitor vehicles was one of the biggest points that came up throughout the process, Kline said, and a number of potential solutions are being explored.

Staff has counted nearly twice as many cars as there are spaces available in the park on weekends and holidays, according to the preliminary recommendations. Motorists stop outside the parking lot entrance, especially along Ley Road, which parallels the southwestern corner of the park.

About 225,000 people visited Wallace Falls State Park in 2016. It is primarily a day-use park, although the five cabins inside its boundaries are very popular.

Kline said a number of lots, some which are already opened by the owner for parking, have been identified as potential areas to develop. He said he was interested in talking to whoever owns the land.

Gold Bar Mayor Bill Clem said he was asked by a resident to attend Wednesday’s meeting. He said he was particularly interested in the parking issue, which has come up in recent Gold Bar City Council meetings. People are concerned about the dangers with overuse on main roadways like May Creek Road.

Parking is such an issue that it is part of the reason the planning process was started for Wallace Falls, according to the preliminary recommendations. Although, every state park in the system will eventually have a land use plan.

About 100 of Washington’s 120 state parks have one, created through an agency-wide system called Classification and Management Planning (CAMP). Each takes 10-15 months to complete. The final product incorporates zoning sections of the park under state code to preserve heritage, recreation and natural forest areas, and classifying the level of land use from low to high.

A long-term boundary will be incorporated that includes properties that are not owned by the state, but could be acquired at some point, or may impact the park if the land is used for a purpose like a timber harvest. In that case, the plan includes cooperating closely with the DNR.

Land use has also been a major topic. The park’s boundaries are bordered in part by the Reiter Foothills State Forest, site of the controversial Singletary Timber Harvest, which has been stalled indefinitely for the time being.

Local environmental groups have been concerned about the impact of a harvest on tourism and the economy. They argue a clear-cut is a detriment to the overlapping trail system, another focus of the long-term plan.

Wallace Falls officially opened around 1977. Sections of the forest were among the lands in the corridor logged in the early 1900s. The state-protected area was named after Wallace River, which was itself a nod to early homesteading families.

The recreation area has three lakes, more than a dozen waterfalls, three backcountry sites and five miles of mountain biking trails. It is home to two rare plant species, the Gnome Plant and Pine-Foot, which are tiny wildflowers that grow no taller than 10 centimeters, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

A focus on forest health, protecting wetlands and fish and wildlife habitat were included in the preliminary recommendations. Many of the document’s points center on the park’s trail system.

About a dozen miles are currently developed within the park boundaries.

The agency also added supporting events is important to help the park thrive. Close to 75 participants signed up for one of the few, if not the first, long-distance races held in the park. Resident Brian Nelson hosted the inaugural Wallace Falls Trail Run in March. He also attended Wednesday’s meeting.

Kline addressed a few comments that were not included in the preliminary recommendations. John Graham was concerned the plan didn’t address motorized vehicles, such as ATVs.

The Northwest Quad Association member said he wanted an explanation for keeping those vehicles out of the park. The Snohomish man said he has bad knees, and wants to be able to access more remote sections of the public space. Graham said ATVs are well regulated, and the drivers are also responsible, and would use the park with care. Kline said there is only one other park in the system that has a plan for motorized access.

Dave Archer was there to speak up for metal detector use. He too said he knew his fellow metal detector enthusiasts would use the park in a positive way. He said most people who are involved in the hobby go by a code of ethics, including leaving a space exactly how they found it after finding an item.

State parks staff took a survey of visitors during peak season last year. About one in five had come from within 25 miles of the park, three in five from within 26 to 50 miles, and one in five from further away. It was the first visit for three out of the four people surveyed.

The majority who participated were from Washington. Nearly half said they planned to shop or eat in surrounding communities, which illustrates the economic impact of each trip.

Kline said the public has until Friday, Aug. 3, to submit comments on the preliminary recommendations, at which point the agency will begin revisions. Then the final draft will be presented to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission within a few months.

Kline can be contacted at 360-902-8632 or randy.kline@parks.wa.gov.