Read More at: http://www.lemarts.com/2/post/2012/03/little-si.html

Initially, the area was closed while federal and local teams conducted an investigation into the cause of the crash. The area remained closed so that a helicopter salvage operation could remove the wreckage safely without risk to the public. Recovery efforts have been delayed due to winter-weather conditions and poor visibility.

DNR anticipates the plane wreckage will be removed prior to Friday. However, if efforts to remove the wreckage are postponed again, DNR will still reopen the area. The agency may need to close Mount Si NRCA for one day in the future to enable the salvage operation to take place safely.

“Public safety was our main reason for keeping the area closed during the attempted salvage operation,” said Doug McClelland. “We know how much the public enjoys visiting the Mount Si area. We appreciate everyone’s patience.”

Source: http://www.tukwilareporter.com/news/141988763.html
Tukwila Reporter
March 8, 2012

“We know this closure affects a lot of people’s weekend plans, and we appreciate everyone’s patience,” said Doug McClelland, Assistant Region Manager for DNR’s South Puget Sound Region. “For public safety reasons, DNR is keeping the area closed through the weekend to give the contractor and crews … clear access to the site.”

DNR will provide updates on the status of the Mount Si area through its social media tools.

Sorry, folks: Mount Si trails closed until Feb. 28
February 24, 2012
SnoValleyStar.com

Source: http://snovalleystar.com/2012/02/24/sorry-folks-mount-si-trails-closed-until-feb-28

Spokeswoman Toni Droscher says trail reopenings could be delayed longer if work this weekend is delayed by snow. She says the wreckage was spread over a larger area than initially thought.

Three people were killed in the crash in the Little Si section of the peak near North Bend.

Mount Si hiking trails closed through Tuesday to remove wreckage of plane in which 3 died

Source: http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/1591c206ee074787ab08bdbeb72d6100/WA–Mount-Si-Plane-Crash/

DNR closed the area immediately after the crash was discovered so it could help teams from the National Transportation and Safety Board conduct their investigation.

“Depending on weather conditions and how well the removal of the plane wreckage goes, we hope to reopen the area for the weekend,” said Doug McClelland, Assistant Region Manager for DNR’s South Puget Sound Region.

Source: http://www.issaquahreporter.com/news/140185163.html

DNR hopes to reopen Mt. Si and Little Si hiking trails by Saturday
By CELESTE GRACEY
Issaquah Reporter Staff Writer
Feb 23 2012

Rob Marshall Hill was a swim coach at Decatur High School, where he had graduated in 1999. He also coached the Valley Aquatics Swim Team in South King County, according to his sister, Becca Goode of Federal Way.

Hill was a pilot and a private flight instructor, according to his sister.

Seth Dawson, also a swim instructor at Valley Aquatics Swim Team, was identified by his relatives as another victim of the crash. The 31-year-old native of Vancouver, Wash., was swim coach at Kentlake High School.

The identity of the third crash victim, Liz Redling, 29, of Federal Way, was confirmed by a woman who answered the phone at her house, but she declined to speak further.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office had not officially released the names of the crash victims.

A candlelight vigil for the victims will be held at Decatur High School, at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Hill was a popular and well-loved coach, known for his encouragement and kindness, Goode said.

“He was a wonderful coach because he would find the best in everybody,” she said. “He was the person who looked at people’s interior strengths and then had them build on that.”

Goode said her family does not know of any particular flight plans her brother had, and they are speculating that he and the two other victims had simply gone for a night flight when the Cessna crashed into Little Si, near Mount Si.

The probe into the cause of Wednesday’s crash will focus on the weather, the pilot’s background and the aircraft’s maintenance, investigators said.

According to Mike Fergus, spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, preliminary information indicates the crash occurred between 1:30 and 2 a.m.

Cindi West, spokeswoman for the King County Sheriff’s Office, said two deputies on patrol heard an explosion and began searching for the wreckage. Neighbors also reported hearing a “sputter, pop and an explosion,” she said.

“I heard it crash into a sheer cliff, and indeed that’s what’s up there,” North Bend resident Terry Jensen told KING-TV. “It’s a tragedy.”

An emergency transmitter was either activated on impact or by someone in the single-engine Cessna, said Tom Peterson, aviation emergency-services coordinator for the state Department of Transportation. While the sheriff’s helicopter followed the signal to the crash site, searchers using night-vision goggles spotted aircraft debris hanging from broken tree branches, Deputy Ken O’Neal said.

Ground searchers reached the crash site at daylight and found the bodies of the victims, West said.

One of the bodies was carried by a search-and-rescue team more than a mile through rugged terrain, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The other two victims were airlifted by helicopter to a medical examiner’s van near North Bend.

Little was immediately known about the plane’s itinerary, according to Fergus. He said the pilot had not been in contact with air traffic control.

Nighttime flying under visual rules without contacting air traffic control is permitted and not unusual, said National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator Wayne Pollack.

The Cessna 172 was registered to Christiansen Aviation in Wilmington, Del., according to Fergus.

Eric Housman, an employee of Christiansen Aviation, said that the company leases planes to flight schools all over the country and that he had no information about the people in the crash.

It can take an NTSB investigator months to determine a probable cause for accidents, Fergus said.

Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017513134_planecrash16m.html?prmid=4939

Victims in Mount Si plane crash are identified
By Christine Clarridge
Seattle Times
February 15, 2012

View All Trip Reports for Mount Si Here:

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/tripreport_search?hike_uid=88e5c764c1fafbb99d1f3e712efe81f9

Courtesy: Washington Trails Association

The list highlights what the trails association sees as the two major threats facing public trails — lack of money and incursions from all-terrain vehicles and other motorized vehicles.

The trails are maintained by volunteers, and state and federal employees. The money for the work comes from federal and state sources, much of it as grants.

But with the federal and state governments facing budget problems in the coming years, money for trails and parks could be cut.

Washington state almost closed several trails and outdoor recreational facilities last spring when legislators were grappling with a $2.8 billion budget shortfall.

At the time, public support for the trails helped preserve the state funding, said state Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Bellevue, one of the key budget writers.

With more budget cuts coming, the trails association wants to begin building that public support sooner rather than later.

“I have faith that hikers can do amazing things when they get mobilized,” trails association lobbyist Jonathan Guzzo said.

Of course, most publicly-supported entities and services face budget cuts.

“Obviously, there are lots of needs in Washington that are not recreation that are critically important,” such as state-subsidized health care, Guzzo said.

But recreation plays a big role in Washington’s economy, he said.

According to a 2007 trails association report, recreation and related industries in the state generate $11.7 billion, including taxes.

North Bend knows the value of the outdoors. The city is using Snoqualmie Valley’s natural amenities as the focus of its campaign to market itself as a vacation spot.

“Mount Si — and Mailbox Peak to a lesser degree — is the centerpiece of our outdoor recreational efforts,” North Bend City Administrator Duncan Wilson said.

The city has not quantified the economic significance of hiking and other outdoor recreation, but Wilson said he is confident that it is large.

“Sometimes, you just have to use common sense in absence of hard data,” he said.

It is easy to see what he means on the city’s downtown streets, which often have several dirty cars with mountain bikes, kayaks and other outdoor equipment parked on them. The downtown area also supports several outdoor recreation shops.

Hikers, mountain bikers, kayakers and other outdoor enthusiasts contribute to North Bend’s sales tax, which is “by far, the largest revenue in our general fund,” Wilson said.

Cuts to funding

The Mount Si and Mailbox Peak trails could be closed due to cuts in state funding, but potential cuts to federal funding threaten other trails.

Maintenance of the Mount Si Trail is paid for by the recreation program of the state’s Department of Natural Resources. The program was nearly cut by lawmakers last spring and could again be on the chopping block when the state Legislature meets to hammer out the 2011-2013 budget. The current budget included about $600,000 for the program for two years.

Guzzo realizes that the Legislature is “staring down the barrel of a $3 billion deficit,” he said.

He said he doesn’t expect the state to increase the money for the department’s recreation program, but he wants Olympia to at least keep it at its current level.

Mount Si is among the most popular hikes in the state, and annually draws about 500,000 visitors, according to department estimates.

Mailbox Peak Trail is another popular Snoqualmie Valley trail, and it has seen rising use in recent years that have contributed to its deterioration. The department has applied for a state grant to pay for its upkeep, but money for the grant program — the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program — was slashed from $100 million to $50 million in the last budget.

Guzzo fears that even if approved, money might not be available for Mailbox Peak.

Other areas in the state also could suffer if federal funding is cut.

The trails association wants Congress to preserve two federal grant programs and increase money for land management from $83.1 million to $90 million, Guzzo said.

The choice, according to Guzzo, is pay for trail maintenance now or pay much more for rebuilding trails in the future.

“If the money’s not there, they really fall apart really quickly in our wet Washington winters,” he said.

The area’s climate can be harsh on trails: Erosion eats away at them, and wind knocks trees down across them.

Legislators are sympathetic.

“We want to make sure that recreation opportunities stay available to Washington families, because they can’t all afford trips to Disneyland,” Tom said.

But large budget problems lay ahead.

“There’s a lot of tough choices that need to be made,” he said.

Full Article Here: http://snovalleystar.com/2010/09/08/two-local-trails-make-most-endangered-list

Two local trails make most endangered list
September 8, 2010
By Dan Catchpole

From the broad parking lot, the trail climbs moderately for 1 mile to the first views of the long hike. Here, at around 1600 feet, you’ll find wonderful views from atop a rocky bluff on the side of the mountain. Hikers short on time and stamina could turn around here for a modest 2-mile outing.

As you near the 1.8-mile mark, you’ll sweep alongside a small brook, with grassy banks on which to rest. This is Snag Flat–the site of an old burn, as evidenced by the blackened scars on the trunks of many of the old Douglas-firs in the area.

The trail then pushes on, never wavering from its steep ascent, until you finally crest the last slope and step out into the wildflower-filled meadow at the summit, or rather, the summit basin. The true summit of Si is atop the big rock “haystack” that towers over the edge of the meadow. The haystack does sport a scramble path to its summit, but the route is tricky, with incredible exposure (one slip and you’ll plummet hundreds–thousands?–of feet). It’s best not to attempt the Haystack, especially considering the added danger of other people kicking loose rock down, creating deadly missiles from above. Besides, the views atop the rock are no better than those you’ll enjoy from the meadows at its base.

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