Pumice_Pounder

Before you send your letter to your senators and congressman: Mt St Helens climbers DO NOT need a Northwest Forest Pass. They get a parking pass with their permit so that they do not need to buy a NWFP. Right now, you don't need any parking permit because it's after snow park season. The season ends some time in April. So if you climbed in May, you did not need a snow park permit. In the winter, until sometime in April, the State of Washington pays for the snow park, not the feds. When you buy a snow park permit you pay the STATE, not the forest service. Then the STATE pays qualifying agencies (i.e. the Forest Service) to plow snow, clean the shitters, etc. The deal is, if you get money from the state snow park program, you must require a state snow park permit. So it is the STATE that requires the snow park permit. Also, if you have Oregon plates, you can use an Oregon snow park permit. The annual SP permit's a hell of a lot cheaper in OR than in WA. The snow park program has been around for way longer than fee demo. 'Bilers DO need a permit after May 15. That's the way the Gifford Pinchot regs read. They DO NOT need a permit before May 15. I fully support and encourage climbers' writing letters to make things better and more fair. Some of the details of some fee programs are bogus (i.e. bilers' not needing the same permits as climbers, and climbers' needing a snow park permit AND climber permit for a couple of weeks). However, it never ceases to amaze me how some of you bitch and moan about fees. Who are climbers? In general, they are doctors, lawyers, surgeons, software engineers, etc. You people drive to the mountains in Land Rovers, Lincoln Navigators and other assorted behemoths, tote $900 worth of ski gear up a hill, and then you have the gall to bitch and moan about paying a few bucks to go hiking or skiing. You know who gets your money? Mostly temps who make from $8 to $11 per hour. No fancy federal health benefits, no stock options. They clean your outhouses, clear you trails, pick up your trash, throw your dogs' shit off of ski trails, answer your phone calls, run your visitor centers and God only knows what else. It has always cost money to run forests and parks, but now your elected officials refuse to fully fund the programs that you use with your taxes. Instead, they fund those programs with fees. Tell your elected officials what you want out of your public land (clean bathrooms, clear trails, resource protection, decent roads, service, accountability, whatever) and tell them how you want them to pay for it.

The road is open, I've driven it several times lately. In fact, I'm gonna drive over it in about an hour. The hole in the levy, and the damaged powerhouse are interesting to see. You're right, the slide potential is generally low. But don't be lulled into a false sense of security by the apparently gentle terrain, or by people who tell you there isn't any risk. Slides can and do occur on and near the Worm Flows Route almost every spring.