MAZAMA -- A plan to add about 109,000 acres of the Methow Valley Ranger District to the North Cascades National Park has been dropped, due to opposition from mountain bikers, hunters, dog-owning hikers and others.
The American Alps Legacy Project on Friday released its final proposal, which would now add nearly 238,000 acres to the park, instead of the 350,000 acres once envisioned.
Established in 1968, the 684,000-acre park would increase by more than one-third its current size, and could bring more than 1,000 new jobs to rural communities surrounding the park, an economic study of the proposal found. The park is one of the least-visited in the lower 48 states.
In the final proposal, a large area between Washington Pass and Mazama was taken out, while land in western Washington was added.
"There were other ongoing activities or interests that we felt were very legitimate, and maybe the national park wasn't right for this area at this time," said Jim Davis, executive director of the North Cascades Conservation Council, a founding group of American Alps Legacy.
The Legacy group includes several influential advisory members such as conservationist Polly Dyer and former governor and senator Dan Evans, and is supported by numerous bipartisan conservation groups.
The now-excluded national forest land west of Mazama includes some well-known mountain biking trails, popular bear hunting areas, and high mountain slopes used for helicopter-assisted skiing.
Dog lovers also worried they would be excluded from bringing their pooches on hiking trails there. None of those activities are allowed in a national park, although they could have been grandfathered in, Davis said.
"We've tried to achieve a balance of conservation, recreation and economic benefit, and at the same time, recognize pre-existing uses, and try to be sensitive to those," he said.
The initial proposal drew excitement and political support from communities in western Washington hoping to cash in on nearby access to the North Cascades National Park, Davis said.
People clamored to be among the park-front communities that could economically benefit, he said.
But east of the Cascades, some conservationists worried the tiny unincorporated town of Mazama would be overdeveloped if it bordered the national park, now 22 miles west of Mazama as the crow flies, and with many additional miles necessary for actual access to the park.
Davis said one reason for the concern is that Mazama could replace Winthrop as the Methow Valley's current destination for tourists.
The proposal still includes a National Park Service visitor center in Winthrop and an interpretive center at Washington Pass.
It also still encompasses nearly 85,000 acres that are managed by the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, but are technically part of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
And, it includes 9,355 acres in Chelan County, between Washington Pass and Rainy Pass west of Liberty Bell Mountain.
