Washington State - Cascade Chapter

South King County Group

Mason Lake Outing

On August 9 the SKCG led an outing to Mason Lake, which lies just inside Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Much of the trail leading to it is not currently protected as wilderness, but will be if Congressman Dave Reichert’s HR 4113--which would add 22,000 acres to the wilderness--is passed. In addition to learning much about Reichert’s proposal, we had a bear encounter--not just a sighting, but an actual sow and cub encounter. It took about 20 minutes to resolve and required us to use all the recommended do’s and don’ts for such a situation. Ultimately, it turned out OK for both the bears and us. We expect to lead outings in the future to introduce participants to other areas covered by Reichert’s bill.

Bi-Monthly Meeting-- Puget Sound Clean-Up

On September 17 the SKCG hosted a “Puget Sound Clean-Up Status Report” event as our first Bi-Monthly Meeting for the Fall. It was well attended by a broad group of interested people. Both Puget Sound Partnership--the state group charged with planning the clean-up--and Puget Sound Environmental Caucus made presentations. The overall plan was detailed. Many of the critical issues and potential solutions were discussed with the aim of achieving the goal of restoring the Sound to health by 2020.

If you would like to direct some of your environmental enthusiasm and have the opportunity to help plan Group activities, actions, etc., please consider running for election to our Group’s Executive Committee. We meet periodically in central locations in south King County. Contact Group Chair Dan Streiffert at danstreiffert@comcast.net.

The SKCG’s next major activity is our 11^th semi-annual service outing at Soos Creek Park in Kent in October. In November the SKCG will be hosting two very informative presentations: “Oil and Special Wildlife Areas in Arctic Alaska” in Des Moines and “Legislative Priorities Update” in Kent. (see Meetings, Outings, & Events).