Now I want to be careful here because I do not doubt for one second that those slopes along the Wind River Fishway are steep — I have been down near that stretch more times than I can count and yes, you are watching your footing — but what I want someone to explain to me, and I mean actually explain, not send a press release about, is how land that is apparently so dangerous it needs to be permanently closed has been sitting there accessible this whole time, and nobody thought to mention it until April of 2026. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife filed their environmental review notice on April 6th and the public has until April 20th to comment, which, if you are doing the math at home, is not a very long window — and I am just noting that, not accusing anyone of anything, I am simply noting it.
I remember when my father used to take us fishing off a gravel pull-out somewhere along that corridor — I cannot tell you the exact spot because the roads have been renamed and rerouted so many times that my memory and the current map no longer agree — and the understanding back then was that state land along the river was there for the people who actually live here, not to be parceled off or closed down in chunks whenever an agency decides the paperwork is easier than the maintenance. That is not a scientific position. That is just what it felt like to grow up here. And another thing — this business of public comment periods that fall inside two-week windows has been bothering me since well before this particular notice, and I said as much last month when a certain hearing got cancelled without so much as a sticky note on the public record, and I will say it again now: if you want the people who actually live here to participate in decisions about the land they have lived next to their entire lives, you do not give them fourteen days sandwiched around a weekend to do it.
I will be submitting a comment before April 20th and I would encourage anyone who has ever walked that stretch, fished near that fishway, or simply driven the Wind River Road and felt like it belonged to them in some way — because it does, or it did — to do the same. The form is on the WDFW website and yes, it takes a few minutes to find, which is its own situation entirely. Permanent closures are permanent. That is the part I keep coming back to. They are not proposing a seasonal restriction or a trail reroute — they are proposing to close twelve acres forever, and the reason given is steep terrain, which has been steep for as long as anyone can remember, including me, and I remember quite a lot. I will circle back to this one.
That's all for this week. You know where to find me.