WHITE SALMON — The Yakama Indian Nation’s Mount Adams Recreation Area likely will be closed to the public in 2016 as the tribe repairs damage from this summer’s huge Cougar Creek Fire.
Steve Andringa, administrative forester for the Yakama Nation, told a forum on the fire here in December that about 8,800 acres of the 16,000-acre Mount Adams Recreation Area burned. Seventy-three percent burned at a moderate to high severity.
Work planned in 2016 includes removal of hazardous snags along roads and campgrounds, repair of the drinking water system and repair or replacement of the cattle fencing.
For 2017, the tribe hopes to open the area for day-use, at least the trail system, Andringa said. Campground recovery will begin with replacement of the outhouses, picnic tables and fire pits.
Camping is anticipated to reopen in 2018, although people may not want to camp in areas that were burned heavily.
The plan is subject to change, he added.
The Cougar Creek Fire began in mid-August and burned 53,500 acres in about a month. Eleven percent of the burned acreage was in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
However, many of the popular recreation spots inside of the perimeter of the fire escaped significant damage, said Darryl Lloyd of Hood River, co-founder of Friends of Mount Adams.
Bench Lake campground did not burn. Avalanche Valley was spared, as was most of Hellroaring Valley, he said.
All but two camp sites were destroyed at Bird Lake and the the trails leading to Bird Lake are in the heavily burned area.
Nearly all of scenic Bird Creek Meadows were spared, with the fire affecting only a portion of the east end, Lloyd said.
Round-the-Mountain trail No. 9, which connects the Yakama Nation portion of the Mount Adams with the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, was mostly unaffected by the blaze.
A few patches of timber burned in the Gotchen Meadows on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest side, but the area was mostly spared, he added.
The Forest Service was able to protect two historic structures, the Gotchen Creek Guard Station and Wicky Shelter,
More than 400 personnel were used fighting the fire at an estimated cost of $23.5 million.
