PORT ANGELES — The lack of detailed information coming from Olympic National Park is frustrating some members of the Coalition for Hurricane Ridge Winter Access who are concerned about being able to access the Ridge this winter.
“It’s not just about whether you get it open. I don’t think you can tout that as a success,” said Julian Lamarshe, a coalition member who spoke to the Port Angeles Business Association last Tuesday.
“It’s the details of how you get it open that we need to be talking to them about,” Lamarshe said. “What does your plan actually look like, and how are you going to maximize the amount of time, hours and, in this case, parking spaces that are available?”
Amos Almy, the acting public affairs officer for the park, said Thursday that officials understand the process can be frustrating for the public, but federal agencies have certain processes they have to follow.
“We have to operate with the protocols that are set upon us, and we understand that’s going to move slower than people want,” Almy said.
Lamarshe on Tuesday expressed deep frustration with the bureaucracy of the National Park Service, which he said was preventing easy, common-sense solutions to issues ONP is facing.
Ever since the Hurricane Ridge Day Lodge burned down on May 7, the park has limited the number of vehicles allowed each day and said it will have to provide winterized bathrooms in order to allow public access in the winter.
But Lamarshe said winterized bathrooms were already at the ridge, put there by the construction company contracted to renovate the lodge before it burned down.
Lamarshe suggested the park simply take over the contract for the bathrooms from the construction company and use the bathrooms that are already there in the winter.
Coalition members and others have reached out to the park to communicate the importance of the issue and to offer any assistance, but Lamarshe said responses from park officials have been vague.
“It was a smoke show,” Lamarshe said of a meeting with park officials. “Nobody put their hand up and said this is what I’m working on, here’s what happening and this is what we’re doing.”
To the issue of the bathrooms, Almy said NPS contracting rules generally prohibit transferring contracts or splitting large contracts into smaller pieces after they have been awarded.
In this case, the restrooms were a part of the larger contract the construction company had for renovating the day lodge.
A new contract for a restroom trailer is currently out for bidding and the park hopes to have a trailer in place near the end of October, Almy said.
Lamarshe noted he didn’t believe park officials were intentionally stonewalling the project but said the federal bureaucracy was causing troubling delays.
“I’m sure there’s some things where they’ve got bureaucratic red tape, but isn’t that part of working in the park is working out how to figure out the ways through it?” Lamarshe asked.
“Other things have happened in the park that have been fixed,” he said.
Park officials are doing as much as they can to provide winter access, Almy said, and staff are working on the issue.
It can be difficult for the park to communicate specific details to the public because there are a lot of unknowns and things can be subject to change, Almy said.
“Things are in motion, things are happening,” Almy said. “Some of the things that are happening are part of the protocol.”
Contracts to do work at the Ridge are currently being awarded, Almy said, and park staff are pursuing multiple things at once to try and make sure the public can access the park in the winter.
“We know that can be frustrating because it does move quite slowly,” Almy said.
Larmarshe said a public-pressure campaign was likely the most effective way to communicate to the park the importance of winter access for the community.
In July, Lamarshe’s 13-year-old daughter Remi organized a car parade in downtown Port Angeles to raise awareness about winter access.
“I don’t know what other options there are,” Larmarshe said. “We’ve asked very directly; coalition meetings; formal letters. Lots of people have been talking about this and engaging with the park.”
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
