On August 3^rd, the ‘Friends of the Carbon Canyon‘ held their annual meeting and potluck at Brian & Sue McCluskey’s. Their home is south of the historic O’Farrell Bridge over the Carbon River and another smaller one-lane bridge that re-crosses the river closer to Mount Rainier Park.

At 5:00 p.m. the meeting began with discussion over successful interactions on issues related to the protection of the area from un-contained development and poor logging practices. Mardel Chowen introduced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is being constructed by the National Park regarding the valley. The Carbon Canyon has an inland rainforest and gets up to 110 inches of rain a year.  Since the serious flooding in 2006, the road into the Carbon River entrance of Mt. Rainier Park was never repaired and people must walk or bike 5 miles to the Ipsut Creek campground. There are far fewer visitors to the area than when the campground was easily accessible by auto. There is now a new visitor’s center, constructed closer to the entrance. The park actually bought additional property and expanded north by 800 acres, 3 miles of river frontage. Much pleasure was expressed over the expansion.

The neighbors have agreed to talk about the MOU and submit their responses and ideas. They agreed that being forthright, amicable, well-educated on topics and informative would be their best path toward preserving their way of life and the ecosystem in the canyon. Ideas expressed with class are more successful in the battle to preserve the area. The variety of species in the valley and the water quality are definitely worth preserving.

Jill Cartwright, a librarian, spoke of the need to educate the newest generation. “For the first time ever, we have a generation that is detached from nature,” she lamented. “There are people who never put their feet on dirt, they always walk on concrete.” She referred to present day kids who see all their food coming from a truck to a grocery store and don’t know the practices of former generations who had to bring up their sustenance from the land. She hopes they all get a chance to come to the area and see a different way of life.

Neighbors spoke about the proposal from Northwest Cascade, who wanted to aerial spray sewage products over the vicinity, a project which they successfully shot down. They also have concerns over property held by the White River School District, hoping to prevent it being turned over to a logging establishment. Their experience with logging related mudslides is notable.

Chuck Morrison of the Foothill Trail project spoke about ecologically sound recreational development. He also said they are trying to compile history with video of people telling stories of the Carbon River Canyon area. This information will become part of the collection in the Foothills Museum in Buckley. There are many amazing stories of the towns of Carbonado, Wilkeson and place like Burnett, Fairfax, Huckle Chuck, Manley Moore and Melmont.

Buzz Grant, President of the Foothills Rails-To-Trails Coalition, spoke very briefly about the desire to see the trail route completed.

John Thompson, former Superintendent of the Carbonado Historical School District, is also working on the history project. He and his wife Yolanda, sold their Carbon River Ranch for the expansion of Mount Rainier Park. Since he also held the position of Superintendent of the Ocean Beach School District in Illwaco, he also has an interest in protections for the Oregon and Washington Coastlines.

Around 6:30 the Potluck was in full swing. People bought awesome homemade delights to share. There were no paper plates, you had to eat on real dishes with metal tableware. After dessert, each person was expected to wash their plate and set it in the drainer. Items for disposal were sorted to compost, recycle and garbage.

After the dinner progressed, accordion, flute and other acoustic musical instruments were played around the bonfire. The event ran well after nightfall. According to the invitation, “Tent sites are available, no trailers, and please NO PETS. This will be a scaled-down version of our annual ‘Hippie’s Last Stand’, but we’d like you to come up and join us so we can keep in touch.​​”

Their email address is: contact@friendsofthecarboncanyon.com if you would like to contact them to help or add any history you know.

From their website

“The Friends of the Carbon Canyon are a group of people committed to the protection and the preservation of the pristine Carbon Canyon area. We believe that Nature has a right to exist. The Carbon Canyon is the northwest entrance to Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state. The unique and ecologically important inland temperate Rainforest inside the Park extends out to the surrounding areas.”

“We are approx. 40 miles SE of Seattle and 30 miles East of Tacoma. Our goal is to be the eyes, ears and voice of the Carbon Canyon and all those who reside within her boundaries: the rivers, creeks, migratory animals, birds, plants, trees, endangered and threatened species. We want to inform, educate and share our experiences and knowledge with you.”

“Our group was formed in response to mudslides in 1996 caused by the extensive logging in our little valley. Early on, someone told us, “You have a right to a say about what goes on in your neighborhood.” The mudslides endangered our lives and just missed our loaded school bus. Taxpayers paid $1 million to clean up that year. We protested at the site of the worst slide for over a month. The timber company promised not to log above the highway again. But three years later, they logged a steeper, wetter slope right above our historic O’Farrell Bridge.”

“We were also being endangered by the toxic sprays being applied by air on the clear-cuts, the meth labs, the dumping, poaching, trapping, the gas-well drilling, over-sized trucks on our road, and just recently they tried to spray sludge over hundreds of acres.”

“In the 90’s, the logging was intense in an effort to beat the impending federal salmon plans. So in 1998, when they logged above the bridge, we began to meet. Mowich Mick began pushing us to get in their faces because it seemed as though asking nicely and their ‘promises’ were not going to work. We demanded a one-mile-no-spray-zone around our houses after they over-sprayed onto our properties twice, citing ‘operator error’ both times. These sprays are a combination of several toxins similar to agent orange and are known to cause many health problems, including miscarriages. When there was no breeze, the smell would hang in our little 10-mile long valley for days and you could taste it in your mouth. They spray several times each year for the first few years. It kills every living thing, plants, seeds, bugs. It took nearly 10 years for the wildlife to come back. During that time, there was no bugs, no bees, no birds, no frogs, no coyotes were singing, no deer were here. The valley was dead. Apples in the old town of Fairfax laid on the ground from fall to spring uneaten. It was a dark time in our rainforest.”

There are two entrances to the park from the Carbon Canyon, Mowich and Carbon River. This is a unique, beautiful area that deserves to be preserved for all future generations. Everyone should go and enjoy the deafening silence of the deep forest and moss cathedrals. Take the time to stop, listen, take several deep breaths and admire the beauty.