Providing Recreation Opportunities
Quincy Lakes Trails Plan: Staff members are working with a non-profit recreation organization to finalize a trail conditions assessment of approximately 60 miles of trails on the Quincy Lakes Unit. They began the process of contracting an archaeology consultant to conduct a cultural resources survey on the draft trail alignments.
Rulemaking: Planning and Recreation Section staff members have been working on rulemaking related to the unauthorized construction of trails and structures on Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) lands.
Recreation Ecology: Staff members facilitated a presentation by Recreation Ecologist Dr. Christopher Monz from Utah State University on research methodology related to recreational impacts on habitat within protected lands.
Conserving Natural Landscapes
Cultural Resource Inventory: Staff members are drafting a request for proposal for a contract with Historical Resource Associates, Inc. They plan to conduct a cultural resource inventory in Quincy Lakes to determine if the TREAD proposed re-routes are free of cultural artifacts.
Cowlitz Wildlife Area Planning: The planning team met with Tacoma Power for a series of field visits to discuss adaptive forest habitat management on the Cowlitz Wildlife Area. Staff members are developing a recreational survey for the wildlife area that will soon be available to the public. In addition, staff members are working with the University of Washington Outdoor Lab to develop both intercept surveys and a remote survey using a chatbot to gather recreational data for the 2024 field season.
L. T. Murray Wildlife Area Planning: The L. T. Murray Wildlife Area final draft plan is pending signature by the director. Both the internal and external reviews are complete.
Providing Education and Outreach
Ambassador Program: Partnership Coordinator Browning is gathering information about interest among land managers for a potential 2024 Ambassador Program. We will have a formal debrief of 2023 programming with Washington Trails Association, the contractor for the program, next week.
Kiosks: Kiosk production is moving along at a steady clip. Staff members designed and ordered kiosks for Lewis Butte and Ponds 4 and 5. Additionally, they are working with land managers to get cultural inventories completed ahead of the next bulk kiosk rollouts.