U.S. House agrees to Stehekin road rebuild
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
STEHEKIN — A bill that would rebuild the flooded upper Stehekin Valley Road passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday.
The legislation, introduced by Congressman Doc Hastings, will now be considered by the U.S. Senate.
The upper 10 miles of road into the North Cascades National Park has been closed since a 2003 flood wiped out portions of the one-lane dirt road leading to several popular recreation areas. The road was in a strip of non-wilderness area, and cannot be relocated into the wilderness without congressional approval. The bill authorizes the National Park Service to relocate the road into the wilderness, with no net loss of wilderness area.
Hastings said in a news release that residents were promised vehicular access would continue to be allowed into the park when Congress was considering the wilderness designation. He called the road an “economic lifeline” for the people of Stehekin.
“There are several more steps to go before this bill becomes law, and I’ll keep working towards this goal,” Hastings said in the prepared statement.
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flabbergastedfool (Local Yokel) says...
I believe this to be the most meaningful piece of legislation Doc Hastings has put through for our district in a long time. Way to go Doc. Now if Senator Cantwell can have the same impact in the Senate we can all look forward to trips to the upper valley and High Bridge again, and we will have a bipartisan effort to thank for it. I know there have also been others involved, such as Dan Evans and Linda Evans Parlette, and their efforts should also be applauded. When I first heard that it would take a proverbial "Act of Congress" to rebuild this road I was sure it would never happen. We're not there yet, but it's starting to sound like it's going to happen!
October 27, 2009 at 3:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )