Lady of the Lake
Lake Chelan Boat Company
www.ladyofthelake.com
P.O. Box 186
Chelan, WA 98816
509-682-2012
December 11, 2007

To Whom It May Concern:

Please consider supporting Bill HR3408! Please help to restore access to the upper Stehekin Valley and this beautiful part of the North Cascades National Park to all citizens. This remote area is accessible by way of the Stehekin Valley, in the middle of Washington State. However, with the washout of the upper 10 miles of the road in a 2003 flood, access to awe-inspiring backcountry destinations like Horseshoe Basin, Goode Mountain and Cottonwood camp is now restricted to just the very hardy long-haul backpacker.

Prior to this major flood, people of all ages and abilities were able to reach this point and beyond, by way of the access road that this flood destroyed. It has been determined by the National Park Service that this road should be abandoned forever (with no replacement option) for many reasons, including the fact that in some places the road is entirely gone, leaving just sheer cliff. Common sense tells us that this is not the best place for access now.

Bill HR3408 would allow the moving of this access corridor out of the Stehekin River flood plain and do that without losing any wilderness area in the process. The part of the road that was claimed by the river would return to wilderness to offset the area designated for replacement access.

Our family operates the privately owned ferry service on Lake Chelan (Lady of the Lake) that provides the public transportation to the Stehekin Landing. This is the starting point for those wishing to get deep into the North Cascades National Park. We can truly attest to the fact that people of all ages enjoy traveling to and exploring the remote Stehekin Valley. A beautiful experience has been taken away from the citizens, and we support a solution to this, by relocating the road with no net loss of wilderness area.

We hope you will find that supporting Bill HR3408 is the right thing to do.

Sincerely,
Jack Raines
Jack Raines
President / Owner

Cc: House Subcommittee on National Parks Forests and Public Lands
Cc: Governor Chris Gregoire
Cc: Congressman Doc Hastings
Cc: Senator Linda Evans-Parlette
Cc: Don Duncan

Please consider supporting Bill HR3408! Please help to restore access to the upper Stehekin Valley and this beautiful part of the North Cascades National Park to all citizens. This remote area is accessible by way of the Stehekin Valley, in the middle of Washington State. However, with the washout of the upper 10 miles of the road in a 2003 flood, access to awe-inspiring backcountry destinations like Horseshoe Basin, Goode Mountain and Cottonwood camp is now restricted to just the very hardy long-haul backpacker.

Prior to this major flood, people of all ages and abilities were able to reach this point and beyond, by way of the access road that this flood destroyed. It has been determined by the National Park Service that this road should be abandoned forever (with no replacement option) for many reasons, including the fact that in some places the road is entirely gone, leaving just sheer cliff. Common sense tells us that this is not the best place for access now.

Bill HR3408 would allow the moving of this access corridor out of the Stehekin River flood plain and do that without losing any wilderness area in the process. The part of the road that was claimed by the river would return to wilderness to offset the area designated for replacement access.

Our family operates the privately owned ferry service on Lake Chelan (Lady of the Lake) that provides the public transportation to the Stehekin Landing. This is the starting point for those wishing to get deep into the North Cascades National Park. We can truly attest to the fact that people of all ages enjoy traveling to and exploring the remote Stehekin Valley. A beautiful experience has been taken away from the citizens, and we support a solution to this, by relocating the road with no net loss of wilderness area.

We hope you will find that supporting Bill HR3408 is the right thing to do.

Sincerely,
Jack Raines
Jack Raines
President / Owner

Cc: House Subcommittee on National Parks Forests and Public Lands
Cc: Governor Chris Gregoire
Cc: Congressman Doc Hastings
Cc: Senator Linda Evans-Parlette
Cc: Don Duncan