LONGVIEW — Developed recreation sites in national forests should start to reopen some later this month, but the Johnston Ridge Observatory near Mount St. Helens will remain closed during the 40th anniversary of the volcano’s eruption for the first time since the facility opened in 1993.
The U.S. Forest Service has announced that it would conduct a “comprehensive review” of agency-managed recreation sites in Washington. The agency aims to lift some closures of trailheads and developed recreation sites by late May, according to a news release.
In the meantime, those sites remain closed.
“Developed rec sites are still closed. Trailheads are still closed,” said Sue Ripp, public affairs officer for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. “I don’t have a date yet to know exactly when those things will reopen.”
In another development, Southwest Washington Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler Thursday urged the Forest Service to quickly restore public access to its sites within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and Gifford Pinchot National Forest recreation areas. In a letter to the regional forester, she emphasized the need to both rely on proper social distancing guidelines but to avoid weeks of delay in reopening.
“Other federal agencies like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are already reopening outdoor public access areas, meaning that citizens have already resumed visiting the Gorge for recreational purposes. Washington state opened several state-managed recreational areas on May 5. By providing local residents more options for recreation destinations, we’ll be giving them more and potentially safer options if other sites are already “at capacity” under proper social distancing restrictions,” accoding to the letter. (The entire text is attached to this story online.)
Some Forest Service roads, trails and dispersed areas have remained even under the regional closure of developed recreation sites. And undeveloped areas on National Forest lands, where people can go to fish and hunt, and remain open.
“People can still go to the forest and go to the (Mount St. Helens) monument,” Ripp said. “It’s just that … the trailheads and campgrounds and cabins are closed.”
Also, “the road to the (Johnston Ridge) observatory will not be opening, nor will the visitor center,” said Cat Caruso, regional spokeswoman for the Forest Service.
Usually the observatory opens to the public on May 18, the anniversary of the destructive 1980 eruption. This year events commemorating the anniversary “look different,” Ripp said.
“Most everything that isn’t virtual has been canceled. Obviously we won’t have any events, and the visitors center won’t be open,” she said. “It’s just such a bummer because it’s the 40th anniversary. It won’t be as big as the 50th, but it’s bigger than the 39th and the 38th.”
The Forest Service wants to host a few Facebook live events in place of in-person gatherings, Ripp said. And the agency is creating interpretive videos to teach people about the volcano and forest lands.
“We just don’t have any control over it because there are so many things that are much bigger affected by this virus. … The safety and health and well-being of the public is our number-one priority,” Ripp said.
