Posts Tagged ‘winter’

Winter Road Closures in Place on Gifford Pinchot National Forest (Washington)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Chris Strebig (360) 891-5005

VANCOUVER, WA – Due to the unusually low snowpack this year, officials with the Gifford Pinchot National Forest would like to remind all forest visitors that there is a winter recreation road closure from December 1 to April 1 that prohibits wheeled vehicles on certain roads. These closures are to protect wildlife during the winter period and to provide for winter sports such as skiing, snowmobiling, and snowshoeing. This closure helps to prevent damage to the surface of the groomed snowmobile and ski trails. Compliance with this closure will help save money targeted for snow grooming. Please check with your local Forest Service Office for the list of roads that are closed.

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Echo Ridge Nordic Area Opens (Washington)

News Release – USDA Forest Service – Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
Contact: Joe Kastenholz, Chelan Ranger District Resource Assistant, 509-682-4900
Ken Dull, Chelan Ranger District Winter Recreation Manager, 509-548-4962
Website: www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee
Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/okawennf

Chelan, WA- This week’s winter storms have brought deep powder snow to the Chelan area, allowing the winter season’s beginning of cross country skiing. The Chelan Ranger District is happy to announce that Echo Ridge Nordic Area is officially open for cross country skiing with most of the system trails already flat packed with a corduroy surface. Fantastic scenery may be seen from many of the trails that will have tracks set as snow conditions allow. Almost all trails are open. “Zoom” and the “Inner and Outer Rim Trails” are scheduled to be open before Christmas.

Ski passes are required and available on-site at Echo Ridge Trailheads. Fees for Day Passes are $10.00 per adult, with no charge for skiers and snowshoers age 17 and under. Season passes are $70.00 and are available at the Chelan Ranger Station located at 428 W. Woodin Avenue. The Chelan Ranger Station is open Monday – Friday from 7:45 AM to 4:30 PM.

For current winter trail information, please contact the Chelan Ranger Station at 509-682-4900.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/news/2009/12/04/index.shtml

Experience Winter Adventures on Snowshoes (Washington)

Contacts:
Snoqualmie Pass Kim Larned, 509-852-1062 klarned@fs.fed.us
Stevens Pass Nan Lammers, 360-677-2414 nlammers@fs.fed.us

Children race through the snow, kicking up clouds of snow and playing on their snowshoes. Sometimes they get to meet Smokey the Bear. Guides lead walkers through winding forest trails, teaching safety and winter ecology, while advanced snowshoers muscle through the backcountry, navigating the Commonwealth Basin. In the snow covered Cascades, outdoor enthusiasts enjoy their favorite trails on snowshoes.

Starting the first week of January, the Forest Service offers classes through March at Snoqualmie Pass off I-90 and Stevens Pass on US 2. “Nearly anyone can slap snowshoes on and start walking in the forest,” said Kim Larned, snowshoe guide on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
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Idaho City Park N’ Ski Area Special Event Ski / Snowshoe For Free: Saturday, January 9, 2010

Idaho City, ID – Come enjoy the winter season at the Idaho City Park N’ Ski area on Saturday, January 9th. Nordic ski and snowshoe clinics will be offered onsite. Classes are limited. Registration is required for snowshoe clinics.

The Park N’ Ski parking permit fee will be waived that day, to encourage participants to test out their new skis and snowshoes, or perfect their skills.

The Southern Idaho Regional (SIR) Nordic Ski Patrol will offer free ski tips from 11:00 am. to 2:00 pm., at the Gold Fork Park N’ Ski parking lot for beginners. For those anxious to learn new snowshoe skills, the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation (IDPR) will be offering free snowshoe clinics (registration required).
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Winter Logging Begins in Lion Gulch Near Liberty, Washington

Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest – USDA Forest Service
Contact: Kim Larned (509) 852-1062
Website: www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee
Twitter updates: http://twitter.com/okawennf

Cle Elum, WA – Winter logging operations have begun in Lion Gulch near Liberty as part of the Liberty Wildland Urban Interface Fuels Reduction Project. Logging operations and log trucks will be working Monday – Friday from 7 AM to 5 PM. The road will be plowed for log trucks but enough snow will be left on the road to allow continued snowmobile use. The road will remain closed to all other wheeled vehicles. Snowmobilers are urged to use extreme caution when riding on FS road 9712 as they will likely encounter log truck traffic during the week. The logging is expected to last through February.

The need for the fuels reduction project came from unnaturally extreme fire conditions in the Liberty area are the result of a century of well-intended fire suppression practices that have allowed fuels to build to unacceptable levels. This project is a step toward returning the area to a healthy condition and will create fuel breaks by commercially thinning approximately 1,310 acres, opening the forest cover, and reducing fuels. The focus of thinning will be on smaller diameter trees. In the planned fuel breaks, fuels will be reduced using a variety of means, including hand- and machine-piling and burning piles, and/or underburning.

For more information, please call the Cle Elum Ranger District at (509) 852-1100.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/news/2009/12/01/index.shtml

Gifford Pinchot Forest Roads 25, 81, and 83 Gated for Winter Season (Washington)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Chris Strebig (360) 891-5005 cell (360) 901-2131

Vancouver, WA – Increasing snow at higher elevations is causing the closure of some Forest roads for the winter. Winter recreationists should keep in mind that roads to Sno-Parks will not be plowed until December 1 or later.

Forest Road 25 is now gated at the south end due to increasing snow levels at higher elevations. The north end of Forest Road 25 is gated at Benham Creek, five miles north of Forest Road 99, due to an ongoing landslide. Forest Road 81 is closed beyond Cougar Sno-Park, and Forest Road 83 is closed beyond Marble Mountain Sno-Park.

Forest Service Road 52 (Skate Creek Road), from Packwood to Highway 706, is still open, however, wintry conditions should be expected. Gates at both ends of the road will be closed when snow accumulates.

On the west side of Mount St. Helens, State Route 504 remains open east of the Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitor Center as far Coldwater Lake recreation site. The Johnston Ridge Observatory is closed for the winter. Travelers on State Route 504 should watch out for ice in shaded areas and on bridges as well as for wildlife. The Washington State Department of Transportation plans to maintain State Route 504 for winter travel to Coldwater Lake and the Hummocks Trail as weather conditions and available equipment permit. Winter visitors need to be aware that road conditions can change quickly due to blowing snow. For the latest information on State Route 504 and other Washington State Highways visit WSDOT’s web site at: www.wsdot.wa.gov/regions/Southwest/. Motorists can receive updates by calling 511.

As winter snows arrive many roads on the Gifford Pinchot will be closed for the winter months. As winter closures take effect, vehicular access will be restricted to many popular spots on the Forest. These closures are to protect wildlife during the winter period and to provide for winter sports such as skiing, snowmobiling, and snowshoeing. All closed areas, are open to the public with access by foot. Wheeled vehicles are restricted from all-winter sports travel routes. Snowmobiles are not allowed in wildlife winter range areas. Once implemented winter wildlife and winter sports closures will be in effect until April 1, 2010.

Please make sure you and your vehicle are prepared for winter travel. Remember to carry emergency equipment and chains. Your safety depends on good planning and good judgment. For updates on weather and road conditions, contact Forest Service offices and for statewide road information visit www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/.

http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/news/2009/documents/final-20091025a-Roads-closures.pdf

Ashton/Island Park Ranger District Travel Regulations (Idaho)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patty Kraayenbrink 208-524-7639

Idaho Falls, ID – Caribou-Targhee National Forest winter travel regulations for Ashton/Island Park Ranger District go into effect Thanksgiving Day. The official Travel Map for the Ashton/Island Park Ranger District describes winter travel opportunities for both winter cross-country use and winter designated routes. This map along with the snowmobile map produced by the Island Park Chamber of Commerce shows winter recreationists groomed snowmobile trails; groomed cross-country ski trails, areas with seasonal closures and areas closed to protect wildlife winter ranges or designated Wilderness. Maps may be obtained through the Ashton/Island Park Ranger District or the Island Park Chamber of Commerce.

Light snow conditions may still allow passenger vehicle traffic on National Forest roads open to summer motorized travel. Vehicle travel will be allowed until snow depth prevents cars and trucks from using the roadways or Fremont County begins snowmobile trail grooming. Roads maintained by Fremont County are not open to snowmobile use.

Most of the Ashton/Island Park Ranger District is open to winter cross-country motorized use. However, there are a few areas displayed on the map in purple hues that are closed to winter cross-country motorized use. The area known as Big Bend Ridge is closed to winter cross-country use until January 1st for the security of the elk and deer migrating to their winter range west of the Forest. Another large area closed to over-snow motorized vehicles is an area from the south side of the Island Park Reservoir east to Henrys Fork River, south to Highway 20 and Green Canyon Road. This area is the Thurmon Ridge area and Harriman State Park. Winegar Hole Wilderness and Jedediah Smith Wilderness are closed to snowmobile use.

People recreating on snow machines are asked to be respectful of private property. District Ranger, Adrienne Keller, has received complaints from area property owners about people on snow machines who ride their machines wherever they please and don?t pay attention to private property boundaries. “I’ve received complaints about people riding their snow machines around private cabins, running over trees in yards and leaving trash when they’ve stopped for a break on a deck of an unoccupied residence.” The groomed snowmobile trails in Fremont County depend on the approval of private land owners to allow the trail to cross their property to connect the trails to the National Forest. Keller adds, “If private property owners near the trails are affected by this rude behavior of some people on snow machines, we could lose their support for the trail going across their property, affecting the connectivity of the trail system in the Ashton and Island Park areas in Fremont County.”

For more information on winter recreation opportunities on the Ashton/Island Park Ranger District, contact either the Ashton Ranger Station at (208) 652-7442 or Island Park Ranger Station at (208) 558-7301. Safe riding!!

USDA Forest Service
Caribou-Targhee National Forest
1405 Hollipark Drive
Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401

http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/caribou-targhee/news/2009/09-61%20ashton-islandpark_winter_travel_regs.doc