Beacon Rock on list of Parks for mothballing

[Ryan Ojerio]

Facing deep cuts, WA state parks has created a list of parks that could be closed this season. WTA is advocating for a minimum of law enforcement and maintenance to protect such parks from vandalism and degradation in hopes that they can be reopend with minimal expense in the future.

WTA blog: http://www.wta.org/trail-news/signpost/ ... y-to-close

Columbian Story: http://www.columbian.com/article/200903 ... 1/OUTDOORS

Google Map of Parks on list: http://maps.google.com/maps[…]61506.000464777facdaf912cfc

[OneSpeed]

We are certainly living in an age of decline.

[AlexanderSupertramp]

We are certainly living in an age of decline.

You said it! Very sad.

[nyxlily]

Aw.. but Beacon Rock is such a fun trip! I keep trying to convince my non-hiking friends to go out by saying, "yeah, it's not that far from town and it's not even that much hiking! It's just a little rock you go up! Practically no dirt to speak of!" Or something to that effect.

Must amp up the sell and get them out there before it's too late, if it does get closed. Thanks for the heads up!

[chameleon]

That's an interesting article. From what I can tell from it, it seems a ridiculous waste to have 7 full-time employees for Beacon Rock! How goofy is that? I think they need to think about efficiency rather than "shutting parks down." That really seems a bit drastic. How bout this, have one full-time care taker, in charge of monitoring, cleaning the bathroom, etc... and just see how it works. I highly doubt they'll find that huge problems develop.

[Charley]

What a shame. Would it be closed off, like private land? It would turn into a favorite dump site, I bet. And all the historical value at risk. And climbers will lose one of the premier climbing destinations in the area.
Here's to approving fee hikes by ballot. If Mannix ever tries to ram one like that down Oregon's throat, remember this. . .

[retired jerry]

That's an interesting article. From what I can tell from it, it seems a ridiculous waste to have 7 full-time employees for Beacon Rock! How goofy is that? I think they need to think about efficiency rather than "shutting parks down." That really seems a bit drastic. How bout this, have one full-time care taker, in charge of monitoring, cleaning the bathroom, etc... and just see how it works. I highly doubt they'll find that huge problems develop.

If you found out what the 7 full time employees do, it would probably seem less goofy. It would probably be related to the goofy public. I don't have any first hand knowledge, but it seems easy to take things out on the employees sometimes.

[chameleon]

I agree that the public necessitates some regulation for sure, and I'm sure there are some hard-working folks at Beacon Rock. But if it comes down to either locking the gate, or cutting services or whatever requires that much man power, its a pretty dumb move to just shut up shop. To go with recent campaign terminology - that's taking a hatchet to a job that needs a scalpel. Or perhaps even more pertinent expression might be "cutting off your nose to spite your face." They need to trim up, not shut down, which also allows for re-expansion in the long run.

[bcostley]

waste to have 7 full-time employees for Beacon Rock!

Don't forget that Beacon Rock includes the camping and day use areas on the other side of the highway too.

[Jane]

waste to have 7 full-time employees for Beacon Rock!

Don't forget that Beacon Rock includes the camping and day use areas on the other side of the highway too.

The State Park is a 4,650-acre year-round camping park.
http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?se ... eacon+Rock