Southwest Washington has a spectacular opportunity to convert the old Columbia & Cowlitz Railroad into a centerpiece trail.  This 7-mile route would connect Longview and Kelso with Interstate 5 and Castle Rock at Ostrander.  The trail's stunning features would attract visitors from far and wide. Much of the route borders the Cowlitz River, and it crosses on a high bridge with abutting trestles and views galore. This crowning jewel--the bridge across the Cowlitz--is also the main obstacle keeping the trail from becoming a reality.   No single agency wants the costs associated with the structure (The line itself would be donated).  In a county with high obesity rates and low activity levels, a place to walk, run, bicycle, or enjoy the outdoors is drastically needed.  This opportunity of a generation could slip away if people do not care to improve, and are satisfied with the "status quo".    A few elected folks are actively against the trail.   Yes, there are challenges with such an undertaking, but rail-trails abound in the state and across the country, even in similar communities, bringing economic diversity, health improvements, and quality of life.  If you are in Cowlitz County, contact your Commissioner and urge him to support the rail to trail proposal. Do not forget to contact the state senator for the Longview area. Tell these representatives we do not want to be known as an unhealthy and undesireable community.  We must start moving toward a better future.  

Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners | Cowlitz County, WA - Official Website

Washington State Legislature - Member Email

The final comments have been tallied, and the answer is "More Fees and Higher Fees" to enjoy our public lands.  (Is anyone surprised?)

Gifford Pinchot National Forest - Home (usda.gov)

However, it could have been worse.  Last fall, I encouraged folks to comment on the ills of fees, especially the chaos and confusion that will come with having two different passes on the stretch of road between Coldwater Lake and Johnston Ridge.  The Forest Service seriously wanted a per vehicle parking pass for all the trailheads and a per-person entry pass for the visitor center, or something along those lines--it was so confusing I can't even remember exactly. 

That has been toned down a little bit.  It looks like they are going to increase the entry fee at Johnston Ridge to $12 per person, and require a NW Forest Pass or America the Beautiful Pass or a $5 daily parking pass at Coldwater Lake, the Hummocks Trail, and the Science and Learning Center. They also want to charge you $7 per person per night to camp in the Mount Margaret backcountry,  and they upped the price to $20 per person to climb our volcanoes (Adams and St. Helens).  The law that allows these passes actually requires sites to have facilities like restrooms or picnic areas with garbage cans.  A few commenters (like me) pointed this out, some with lawyer-like detail, so that might have saved South Coldwater trailhead and a few other places without facilities.   I don't know of any plans to add a restroom to the Hummocks Trail as required, but hey, laws usually don't slow the Forest Service bureaucracy down.  Oh, and the restroom at Coldwater Lake has been out-of-order since the fall.,,,

P.S. The best way to skip some of the fee hassle is to purchase a yearly $80 America the Beautiful Pass.  These can be bought at Johnston Ridge when you arrive.  It can be used to get into the Johnston Ridge Visitor Center and as a window parking pass all through the USA at nearly any federal fee site.  Better yet, bring up a senior citizen to purchase their lifetime pass, and take grandma to the mountains.  Each pass lets in three people (at least it did--I wouldn't be surprised if they got rid of that, too.)

Back when I was a kid, I testified in front of a Colonel Friedenwald of the Army Corps of Engineers in Longview, Wa.  My Grandma stood up, too.  Cousins, my mother, and other Toutle citizens, bravely testified against a project that was popular in that city.  We were fighting to save our river.  The Army Corps was proposing a huge dam across the North Toutle River to trap sediment that was washing into the Cowlitz and Columbia Rivers.  The dam would irreparably alter the Toutle Valley, force out one of the last homestead families, and cut off salmon and steelhead from vital spawning streams.  Yes, the eruption had damaged the river, but we could see, even back then, that the river could heal itself.  A local engineer and author, Alden Jones, gave tours to officials to highlight the natural recovery already taking place in the early 1980's.  Nature had done it with past eruptions, and it was fully capable of recovery if given a chance. 

But the needs of downstream shipping channels and towns were much more important that the future of the upper Toutle watershed. 

We put all our efforts into stopping the sediment dam, and (not recognizing our own impotence and insignificance) the Toutle community didn't push for mitigation for the permanent impacts of the dam.  The Reagan administration specifically refused to fund any mitigation, so it was passed onto the state and local partners, then ultimately mostly ignored.  (see my post Timber Giant Blocks Legal Public Access, June 2021)

Today you can hike across the dam and see first hand the huge sediment plain that was once the Toutle River Valley.  My previous post 'sediment dam hike' has the details.

Our fruitless battle was fought before some of the region's salmon, steelhead, and other river-dependent species were listed under the Endangered Species Act.  I would like to believe that things would be different today.

We may have a chance to find out.  The law that guided the Army Corps is set to be reviewed in 2035 and a new "cooperative" approach is being tried.  The idea is to bring all parties together and work toward common goals that take into account community, economic, recreation, habitat and safety needs.   The group is managed by the William D. Ruckelshaus center and it is called the SLTCRC:  Spirit Lake/Toutle-Cowlitz River Collaborative.  I'm not part of the group, but I'm keeping a close watch on their activities.  Hopefully, this time around, the future upper Toutle River will not be sacrificed further, but I'm not holding my breath.

April 2023 update: I attended a two day workshop with the group to comment and advocate for recreational access, but am not a part of it...yet. May 5 update:  opps, I lied.  Now I am involved in a workgroup.  

Check it out:

 Spirit Lake/Toutle-Cowlitz River Collaborative (SLTCRC) | The William D. Ruckelshaus Center | Washington State University (wsu.edu)

The Department of Natural Resources, which oversees most state land as well as all our navigible and saltwater areas, is working with a consultant to write a statewide Outdoor Access and Responsible Recreation plan.  I've reached out to the lead with some of my findings on landlocked state land, which you can see detailed in my posts under "land access".  According a study by OnX Company, the state of Washington has 316,000 acres of landlocked state land.  We need to start with obtaining legal public access to this land!  Right here in the Toutle Valley the DNR has 35,000 acres of landlocked state land where access is controlled by the largest landowner in the United States--Weyerhaeuser Timberlands.  We need Access First!  Basic legal access is required and needed before any facilities can even be considered.  Information about public meetings is here: 

 Outdoor Access and Responsible Recreation Strategic Plan | WA - DNR 

The Forest Service is modernizing the Northwest Forest Plan.  Mount St. Helens, which had their 1985 plan rolled into the Forest Plan has never been updated. My biggest comment would be "a little less talk (or study) and alot more action (on the ground)".  Geologic time moves faster than the Forest Service!  As an example, Mount St Helens was erupting in 1985, went dormant for over 20 years, started erupting again and then went back to sleep, all while the USFS was stuck in the past.  Comment by February 2.

US Forest Service NEPA Projects Home (usda.gov)

Tourism at Mount St. Helens hasn't panned out.  I've been involved with this industry from the start.  As a kid, my sister and I hammered together a few boards,  painted "volcano stand" on them, and converted our bus shed into a "business" in the summer of 1980.  We sold baggies of ash, copies of family eruption photos, and (of course) lemonaid.  By the next year, the adults had taken over, and 19 Mile House was born.  Over the years, I've seen millions of tax dollars pour into tourism facilities. A new highway 504 was dotted with FIVE visitor centers!  But these monsterous buildings seem to miss the mark. Cowlitz County's tax-funded visitor center has been sold to a church group.  The Forest Service built three of these centers, but today operates only one, at Johnston Ridge.  People drive up, watch the movie, and then leave, without sustaining any real long-term economic activity.  All the while I've been traveling the Western USA looking at other areas and comparing what they have done--right or wrong--with Mount St. Helens.  

Here's what I have learned: 

#1 People want REAL experiences.  Pavement recreation won't do.  Car rides and visitor centers and video screens are not a real experience.  Yes, fly-by tourists will drive up, spend an hour, and turn around.  But nobody stays and plays...and pays.  People want to do real activities: camping, lodging, hiking, boating, skiing, sledding, biking, horseback riding, kayaking, fishing, hunting, birding, climbing, berry picking, dining, swimming, backpacking.  

#2  Campgrounds.   The biggest whiff at Mount St. Helens is lack of camping.   The Monument intentionally didn't provide any campgrounds, and instead relied on private business for camping.  The leadership made this decision despite the fact that the Monument Act specifically instructs the Forest Service to provide campgrounds.  I've been to nearly all the National Parks Units in the West and they all have some sort of camping.  Even Craters of the Moon, in a bleak, hot, black lava bed, has carved out camping spots.  

#3 Year-round activities.  The successful outdoor recreation areas find ways to bring in people year round.  Ski resorts offer mountain biking and chairlift rides in the summer, Spring flowers and bird arrivals are promoted.  Fall colors and bugling bulls attract a wide variety of visitors.  Fortunately, Mount St. Helens has the ability to capitalize on the changing seasons.  Instead, along the Spirit Lake Highway, the Forest Service has made winter activities illegal!  No sledding, No snow play. No ski trails. No snowmobiles. No. No. No.  No wonder there are no visitors. 

#4  Access.  Last but not least, access is key.  Access to trails, access to lakes, access to and through the area.  Mount St. Helens in the opposite of accessible; it is locked up and closed off, all going against it own Management Plan.  The area is regulated to death, and people are turned off by all the threatening signs.  They simply feel unwelcome with threats of $100 fines for stepping off the trail around every bend.**  Here's the kicker, it was never supposed to be that way.  The 1985 Monument Management Plan is much more reasonable than what is on-the-ground today.  It calls for a trail along the shore of Spirit Lake for fishing, has a snowpark at Coldwater Lake, a dock and camping spot at the end of the lake, a trail to connect north and south areas, and easements to trailheads if they are ever blocked by private landowners (which they are now).  Currently, there are entire regions of the Monument that are locked behind private gates with trailheads only usable by people who purchase $350 private Weyerhaeuser permits.  

A Brighter Future?  Currently, the Mount St. Helens Institute, a non-profit that has taken over management of the old Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center, is proposing some of these very items for the site, including overnight lodging and a campground.  Although this is in the future, any move to add real experiences can only help the region.  I, however, would suggest the Forest Service spend a minimum amount on securing access to existing trailheads, which would broadly expand things to do, with very minimum of investment.  Beyond that, a designated winter snowplay area is also an inexpensive and key addition.

**I'm still investigating but it appears the decades of "administrative closure" were actually illegal (no kidding!) As of July, 2022,  the Monument has not renewed its administrative closures on much of the Monument, including all the land along the Spirit Lake Highway. This may be true, but I haven't seen any $100 fine signs come down yet.