I posted a story on this in November when 18 inches of rain fell. Since then the weather has continued very wet, and the full extent of the damage to the infrastructure is immense.
I can already see one political issue emerging. A large portion of the main entrance road washed away and is now the river. The build-around route would require construction in the Mt. Rainier designated wilderness. That would be clearly illegal under the Wilderness Act.
Story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. By Debera Carlton Harrell
Other national parks in Washington were damaged too. So was Glacier NP in Montana by the same storm.
Mt. Rainier NP flood page (a NPS web site).
Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He was a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and was also its President for several years. For a long time he produced Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of "Hiking Idaho." He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
