Document - Thunder Creek Wilderness Support Letter
Abstract
American Whitewater has an interest in the Skagit River system and specifically Thunder Creek, which is a highly valued backcountry whitewater kayaking destination within the Ross Lake National Recreation Area in the North Cascades National Park Complex. Because high glaciers in the watershed provide late season flow, Thunder Creek represents a unique regional resource for those seeking backcountry kayaking opportunities in late summer. American Whitewater and several of our local members actively participated in the development of the management plan for the Ross Lake National Recreation Area and we are pleased that the newly revised management plan recognizes the value of the area for paddlesports, specifically stating that “self‐propelled and non‐mechanized recreation will be encouraged throughout Ross Lake NRA.” While Thunder Creek has been threatened by hydropower development in the past, there is no current or future prospect of such development. With no existing or proposed uses of the river corridor that would be inconsistent with the Wilderness Act, we write to fully support the designation of Thunder Creek Potential Wilderness Area as a wilderness addition to an expanded Stephen Mather Wilderness.Description
Designation of Thunder Creek River corridor as wilderness to protect it from hydropower development.Document Information
Filename - Thunder Creek Wilderness Support Letter1067.pdf
Size - 140.66KB
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Skagit Wild and Scenic (WA)
Public access, riparian protection, and effective resource stewardship are all important to management of the Skagit Wild and Scenic River.