Federal Funds Flow into Washington Backcountry
New highway construction projects in Whatcom and King counties aim to bridge the gap between wilderness and commercial accessibility.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The expenditure of $96,000 of National Forest Development funds for the construction of 16 miles of highway in the State of Washington has just been approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, according to an announcement made by the District Forester’s office in Portland. One of these road projects is the Baker River road in Whatcom County within the Washington National Forest. The project is nine miles in length and will run between the south boundary of the forest to the south end of Baker Lake. The sum of $46,000 has been allotted for the work. The road, when completed, will open up a large interior region that can now be reached only by trail, thus being of great value from a protective as well as a recreational standpoint. It will also be of value to the United States Fish Hatchery located at Baker Lake. The other project consists of seven miles of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie highway located partly within the Snoqualmie National Forest and partly outside, all within King County. The sum of $50,000 has been appropriated for the construction work, King County co-operating to the extent of building a bridge over the Pratt River. This highway, when completed, will be of immense value to the Snoqualmie National Forest from the protection standpoint, as it will open up a large interior region containing heavy timber.
“The road, when completed, will open up a large interior region that can now be reached only by trail.”
Early 20th-century road expansion into Washington's national forests was driven by the competing interests of resource extraction, fire protection, and nascent recreation. Today, the balance between environmental protection and human access remains a contentious issue in the same forests, as climate-related fire risks and population pressure challenge 1920s-era management models.
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