ELLENSBURG — New efforts are underway to allow Washington's Department of Natural Resources to join other state agencies in creating a plan to manage the proliferation of outdoor recreation, and it's time for the public to help.
Around 20 interested recreationists met with staff from DNR in Ellensburg earlier this month and a similar-sized group gathered in Lacey last week. Many more are expected to join online meetings over the next seven days to continue a process that began at last July's DNR Tribal Summit and will conclude with the release of an Outdoor Access and Responsible Recreation Strategic Plan by the end of 2024.
Nearly everyone's documented more people going outside in recent years, especially during the pandemic, and DNR saw the biggest increase of any Washington state agency. Data showed a 21% spike from 2019 to 2020, reaching a total of more than 20 million visitor days.
Two of the three scheduled online meetings already reached the capacity of 125 people, but spots remain for the one scheduled to last from 6-8:30 p.m. on Feb. 6. Statewide recreation manager Andrea Martin said they've seen plenty of diversity in users at meetings so far, including hunters, hikers, mountain bikers and more in Ellensburg.
"It's super critically important for us to be engaged with all those user groups," Martin said. "On the operational side, they can be our best tool in helping to curb the illegal or inappropriate behavior."
Public outreach
The DNR put a special emphasis on seeking input from all 29 federally recognized tribes in the state, setting up presentations and putting out a standing invitation for one-on-one meetings.
Some tribes, including the Yakama Nation, have yet to participate in the planning process. But Martin said staff has already implemented some changes based on tribal concerns, which centered on what DNR's materials describe as "landscape abuse" and desecration of sacred places on the more than 5.6 million acres of land and water managed by DNR.
Participants at the meeting in Ellensburg voiced similar concerns regarding trash, especially from illegal dumping, and DNR staff often deal with harmful unsanctioned trails. Recreation policy manager Brody Coval explained all of those cleanup efforts fall on the recreation staff, but they simply don't have the resources to handle an average annual cost of $10.19 million in public abuse and misuse, which includes more than $4 million in wood stolen from state trust lands.
DNR's presentation noted the agency received only a little more than $25 million of the $34.2 million allocation it requested from the state for the 2023-25 biennium. However, they've made some progress on enforcement thanks to the state giving half of the money DNR asked for — equal to five or six new officers — and HB 2312/SB 6011, a bill currently in committee that would allow tribal officers to address civil infractions on DNR lands.
Accessibility represented another key concern for those present in Ellensburg, especially for groups traditionally excluded from the outdoors and people unable to pay for parking passes. At the same time, another suggestion proposed a $5 increase for the $30 annual pass and Martin pointed out those two ideas could co-exist thanks to free passes at local libraries, 12 free days per year and the ongoing development of a new Discover Pass donation program.
Everyone seemed to agree education will be key to finding solutions for all of the agency's biggest challenges. That means organizing volunteers, which DNR's Sam Hensold said still haven't returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Groups like the Kittitas Field and Stream Club or Evergreen Mountain Biking Alliance can be valuable partners, Martin said, especially with their recruiting abilities. Those without connections seeking volunteer opportunities can go to DNR's website for staff contact info, and the agency's working to resurrect its volunteer calendar.
Collaborative efforts
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife released a recreation strategy for the lands it manages in July 2022, and the state's Recreation and Conservation Office followed with the release of its Washington State Recreation and Conservation Plan in 2023.
Governor Jay Inslee and the National Park Service approved that plan last week, and Martin said staff from both WDFW and RCO, as well as State Parks, are all invited to join DNR's March statewide partner workshop. Similarly, DNR staff participated in the process of creating statewide plans for those other agencies.
"We want to take as much as we can from already developed plans so we're not starting from the very beginning," Martin said. "Especially on the eastside, we have so many intermixed plans, so we want to be as consistent as we can be while knowing that we have different agency plans and missions."
An Ahtanum State Forest recreation plan last updated in January 2010 and a Teanaway Community Forest Management plan released in May 2015 are among 10 landscape-level plans for DNR areas throughout Washington. Martin said those shouldn't be affected by the state plan, which would ideally clear some roadblocks to achieving more clearly defined management goals.
She said DNR's statewide plan should look a little more specific than those from other agencies when a draft becomes public later this year. Tribes will be offered a chance to review it first, followed by the public before an official release.
