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‘Hazard trees’ close 2 campsites in Gifford Pinchot National Forest

By Isabel Vander Stoep, The Chronicle
Published: June 9, 2022, 7:43pm

CENTRALIA — Jeania Colman, 71, has been staying at campsite 55 at Iron Creek campground all her life.

Even though she lives just 12 miles away, the campground is her favorite weeknight getaway. For many years, it’s been her tradition to stay there on the nights of the campground’s season opening and closing.

Besides when Mount St. Helens blew, Colman can’t remember a time Iron Creek hadn’t been open for Memorial Day weekend, until now.

Most years, she said on the weekends of the Fourth of July, Labor Day and Memorial Day, Iron Creek is packed full.

La Wis Wis campground in Packwood and Iron Creek campground in Randle were both closed as of Thursday morning. At La Wis Wis, a sign on the gate in front of the grounds said it was closed due to “hazard trees.” Colman said the campground host at Iron Creek gave her the same reasoning.

The campgrounds, which are both in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, are both relatively low elevation spots, making them popular for late spring camping. Even with this year’s late season snowfall, both are low enough that they are currently snow-free.

Colman said the Forest Service is typically responsible for clearing fallen trees on the ground, and that usually only parts of the grounds affected by the trees are closed, rather than the campground as a whole. She guessed the new vendor in charge of the grounds, Rocky Mountain Recreation company, may be responsible for clearing the trees this year.

For Colman, the closures have been frustrating as a camper and a community member.

“A lot of people drive up here not knowing that gate is closed because they don’t make reservations, they just drive up. They get clear up here, the gates are closed. That isn’t fair,” she said. “Also, Memorial Day was last week. They didn’t call or text people until Wednesday, two days before, to tell them they’ve been canceled. So here’s these people who think they have plans to go to Iron Creek and they can’t get in. It’s just not right.”

Colman was first told the grounds would be open on May 20 for walk-ins, with reservations beginning later that week.

“So I packed everything up, went over there, the gate was closed,” she said.

Then, she made reservations for May 25 and 26, which she canceled because the grounds were still closed. She changed her reservation for June 8, but days later, she received a text canceling her reservation. Last she heard, the grounds were set to be opened Friday.

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