Clallam County officials consider updated plan for Dungeness Recreation Area

SEQUIM — The Clallam County Parks, Fair & Facilities Department is considering changes to the Dungeness Recreation Area Master Plan which could alter the face of the park as visitors and residents know it — including the addition of more than 40 spaces for recreational vehicles.

The Clallam County Park and Recreation Advisory Board hosted a public meeting March 6 to discuss proposed changes to its master plan which could potentially add a new RV camp to the park and move the walking trails by the bluffs closer to the existing camp sites.

Joel Winborn, county parks department director, said the cost of the updated changes to the park is still being determined.

“Given the possible cost, we do anticipate a phased approach is likely and would look at addressing problem areas and trail and day-use improvements first,” he said.

In addition to the March meeting, comment also was taken at a November public meeting, letters of notice were mailed to 80 people living within 1,000 feet of the park boundary, 42 stakeholders were emailed and a survey was emailed to about 2,000 people from Nov. 9 to Dec. 11, Winborn said.

The comment period on the proposed plan has been extended through next Friday, March 23.

It is posted on the parks department’s webpage at, www.clallam.net/parks/DRAMP, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ClallamCountyParks, and at site kiosks at both Dungeness and Salt Creek Recreation Areas.

Comments can be emailed to parks@co.clallam.wa.usparks@co.clallam.wa.us or mailed to the Parks Office at 223 E. Fourth St., Suite 7, Port Angeles WA 98362.

The Dungeness Recreation Area is a 216-acre county regional park with 66 campsites and miles of pedestrian and equestrian trails. Development of the master plan for the park began in 2006.

It was completed in 2010 by the Board of County Commissioners.

“There are many reasons that the improvements are needed and are being proposed at this time,” Winborn said. “User trends change, habitat changes, and a host of other issues impact the park now and certainly in the future.”

Winborn said officials expect Clallam County’s population to increase 17 percent over the next 14 years, and as a result local parks can expect more visitors.

He said the parks department needs to consider the changing needs of the park’s visitors.

He said other reasons for the proposed changes include Baby Boomers trending toward more comfort as they enjoy parks during overnight stays, bluff erosion, utility and service costs that continue to rise, improving safety in the park for all users, an economic and recreational deficit for the loss of campgrounds on the North Olympic Peninsula and enhancing the park experience with more trails, restrooms and shelters.

The parks board urged in January that the master plan be updated in preparation for the 2018 grant cycle of the state’s Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO), an organization that manages grants from various federal and state sources.

A controversial aspect of the park department’s preferred plan would add an estimated 42 to 45 new RV spots to the park in Camp Loop C where conifer forest now stands.

“A majority of the comments made at [the March 6] public meeting did not favor the installation of a third camp loop,” Winborn said.

Josh and Rachel Duerst, who live within walking distance of the park, said they were concerned about the environmental impacts of adding a new RV camp loop and were not aware these proposed changes were on the table.

Rachel Duerst said that 45 more RV spaces used seven days a week and multiplied by eight to 12 months of the year, could result in thousands and thousands of more people coming into the park — increasing the amount of foot traffic and waste.

“If they put an RV camp in there with power, it would change the whole feel of the park,” Josh Duerst said.

Kay and Roger Slagle, who live on Lotzgesell Road, which is close to the park, also worried about the ecology of the park if a new RV camp loop was added.

The Slagles said they attended both the November and March meetings.

“We spend a lot of time in the (Dungeness Recreation) area,” Kay Slagle said. “This time of year we haven’t been out there as much but during better weather we’re out there almost seven days a week.”

Kay Slagle said she is concerned with how more deforesting would affect wildlife.

“From my standpoint, I hate to see a big chunk of the forest, one of the better habitats of the whole area, taken out,” she said. “There is a lot of bird life and wildlife and a lot of interesting plant life and it’s not going to be replaced.

“This is why we live here. We like to walk and we like that open space,” she said. “We’re out here because we really like being out in the county and being remote.”

The Slagles said they did receive a flier in the mail about the meeting, but they were the only people in the area to their knowledge who received a notification about the meeting.

“If there was one uniform concern from the people I spoke with it was ‘Well gee, I didn’t know this was happening,’” Kay Slagle said.

The plan also would realign the trails along the bluffs to be closer to the two existing camp loops in the park.

“One of the biggest future impacts we will face is the continued erosion of the feeder bluff,” Winborn said. “Year after year, we lose a little more and are forced to move trails and fencing away from the bluffs edge.”

The county plan would expand the bicycle camping area with services; improve the group camping area and picnic area with better power, water and potentially other services; and establish a new bike trail.

Possibly, four cabins at most could be added in a future phase, but Winborn said the cabins will not likely be a part of initial improvements.

The Dungeness Recreation Area is adjacent to the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, operated by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and visitors must travel through the recreation area to reach the trailhead to the Dungeness Spit. Fish and Wildlife leases the property at the end of the road from the county for parking, restroom use and Spit access.

Once the parks department has all of the comments, the parks board committee will assess and make a recommendation to the full parks board, which will in turn will make a final recommendation to the county commissioners.