Loading....

Help stop the most significant helicopter intrusion in Wilderness we’ve ever seen

Eightmile Lake, Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Washington by Richard Cassan.

The Washington Department of Ecology is accepting public comments on its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for replacing the dam on Eightmile Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The lake is part of the Icicle Creek watershed within the famously scenic Central Cascades of Washington.

Dams were built at the outlets of several lakes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness decades ago, before the area was designated as Wilderness, and now the Icicle and Peshastin Irrigation Districts (IPID) are looking at rebuilding the low-level 90-year-old dam on Eightmile Lake. The DEIS is significantly flawed and would degrade the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Please raise your voice before the comment deadline on June 5.

Incredibly, the project would entail between 101 to 271 round-trip helicopter flights into the Wilderness, averaging 20 flights per day during certain phases of the project. In Wilderness Watch’s many decades of Wilderness advocacy work, this is—by far—the most significant helicopter intrusion we’ve ever seen proposed in Wilderness. The proposal is even more shocking given the relatively small size of the dam and its relatively close proximity to the Wilderness boundary.

It's not just the amount and intensity of helicopter use the DEIS proposes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness that is shocking, though. All alternatives explored in the DEIS would result in a dam that would be more visible and obviously developed than the current dam, and include the installation of permanent telemetry equipment as well. The alternatives will also increase the size of the dam and the amount of water diverted from the lake, even though the extent of IPID’s water right is disputed. The WA Department of Ecology needs to thoroughly analyze a wilderness-compatible alternative instead.

Please speak up to help protect the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

Take action by June 5 for the Alpine Lakes Wilderness

We just need a few pieces of information to connect you with the Washington Department of Ecology.

First Name*

Last Name*

Email Address*

Mailing Address*

City*

Country*

State*

Zip Code*

Yes, please keep sending me action alerts and updates from Wilderness Watch

Take Action

Photo: Eightmile Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness by Richard Cassan.

Help stop the most significant helicopter intrusion in Wilderness we’ve ever seen

Melissa Downes, Washington Department of Ecology

Subject: Eightmile Dam DEIS fails to protect the Alpine Lakes Wilderness

Message:

Please accept my following comments on the “Eightmile Dam Rebuild & Restoration” project DEIS. • The DEIS is inadequate because all alternatives ignore water rights relinquishment and irreparably harm the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. A wilderness-compatible alternative for the Eightmile dam must be analyzed. • The project cannot increase the water extracted from Eightmile Lake, the lake cannot be enlarged, the lake elevation cannot be increased four feet, and the low pipe cannot be made any lower than it currently sits. • The project should not rely on helicopters. The shocking amount of helicopter use proposed—101 to 271 round-trip flights—will significantly degrade the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. • The DEIS does not recognize that helicopters and other motorized equipment enable industrial-scale development and manipulation that are not possible with wilderness-compatible modes of access and non-industrial tools and materials. The impacts of industrial transformation should not be discounted as “temporary” and they should be eliminated or minimized accordingly. • The DEIS discounts the impacts of motorized and aerial noise and disturbance on both wildlife and human visitors. Dam construction would take approximately four to five months during the summer and compound other disturbance impacts related to recreation overuse and other helicopter and motorized uses in the Wilderness. The stress on wildlife is likely to be significant with impacts extending beyond the project completion date. • DEIS alternatives all result in a dam would be more visible and obviously developed than the current dam. • DEIS alternatives all call for telemetry towers, secured with guy wires, within the Wilderness, to allow for remote operation of release valves and gates. For nearly a century, administrators have hiked to the dam and released water manually. There is no need for telemetry installations. • DEIS alternatives all call for construction of a road to bring vehicles closer to the Wilderness boundary, increasing the already easy access and exacerbating overuse problems. The road should only be considered if it will serve as a replacement for helicopter access and if it will be completely and effectively decommissioned. • The dam was originally built without helicopters and heavy equipment, and it has persisted for nearly a century. The final EIS must explore a dam design that is similar to the current one and that only includes the minimum additional design features to comply with safety requirements. The design would include less reliance on industrial materials, instead relying more on those that can be packed into or sourced from the site, manual water release features that would alleviate the additional structures and installations in Wilderness, and dam sizing and design that would not increase the visual appearance of the structure, its footprint within the Wilderness, or its water storage capacity beyond the water right post-relinquishment.

Characters remaining:

Help stop the most significant helicopter intrusion in Wilderness we’ve ever seen

We are not targeting anyone in your area, but you can still help!

Thank you for taking action for the Alpine Lakes Wilderness!